Any bets on this guy in the running?
Put a robot on moon, win up to $30 million | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle — Classic publicity stunt except for the fact that Paul Allen would probably finance the idea and spend $60 million to win $30 million. Since this is all about developing cheaper methodologies perhaps they should be honiest about it all and put a budget cap on the amount spent to win the money. This is laughable BS.
Google, the popular Internet search engine, joined with the X Prize Foundation on Thursday to offer up to $30 million in a competition for privately financed groups to reach the moon with robotic rovers.
The X Prize Foundation organized the competition that produced the first privately financed human spaceflights in 2004 with a $10 million purse.
The latest competition — the Google Lunar X Prize — is open to contestants from around the world and was organized to spur commercial interest in the robotic exploration of the moon and the other planets in the solar system, said Dr. Peter Diamandis, the X Prize chairman.
My question: why is there a deadline on this prize?
Yes, there is a dead line. They said 2012 after that the price is lowered. Then by 2014 it will be over.
Let me ask a follow up to your question… By putting the money in this have they sheltered it from taxes? Always follow the money.
Why is it considered laughable BS? If there is a company that wants to put in $60 million to accomplish it in the hopes of recouping $30 million of their R&D, then let them. That’s exactly what happened with the company that won the last prize. They paid more than they won. The goal for them wasn’t only to win.
This type of laughable BS works.
why is there a deadline on this prize?
To prove the speed of the google lunar search engine, of course.
Steve Fossett is working on it now.
I agree with #3, Ascii King. I think this puts a “burr under the saddle.” It gets the companies involved to spend more money in order to recoup some of the expenses. Plus the deadline gives the project more urgency.
Besides $30M is not chump change. Remember, it’s private companies doing this, not the government.
it isnt going to make anyone a profit, but at least it gives incentive to continue our seemingly stagnant space exploration. Perhaps next time it will be 100M to put a robot on Mars?
Is this prize funded by an insurance policy like the Ansari X prize was? If so, it makes sense that the insurance company would impose a deadline to limit the risk.
There is a deadline on the prize because as technology is developed it is more likely there will be a winner.
We just can’t have that, can we?
“My question: why is there a deadline on this prize?”
That’s because Paul Allen has an expiration date.
There is a timeline because like the X prize there is an insurance policy taken out the longer the timeline there is the more likely they have to pay out the money. Th X prize was insured for a very, very low price because it was thiought that no one could ever acheive it. Who backed the X prize Boeing and other so called top companies in the feild who said it could never be done. so the real question is who are the people betting that this will never happen????
Looks to me like a great way to fund the privatization of space for about the amount of money one could find in Bill Gates’ couch cushions.
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… spend $60 million to win $30 million
Similar thing happened at the Fusion household last night. Mrs Fusion was talked into hosting a “party” where various useless trinkets were sold. Mrs Fusion spent about $100 on various refreshments and such. In turn, she was awarded some trinkets for herself.
Me? I get all those leftover little fluffy cookies, dainty pastries, pretty little cut cheese pieces, and a horrid dip with half a ton of cauliflower, celery, and carrots. Oh, and a whole pile of previously frozen, commercial meatballs that are far inferior to mine. There is other stuff I don’t know the name of but I don’t it’s English.
Yup, it is so easy to convince someone to spend $60 million in order to win $30 million.
[off topic]
#13, Mr. Fusion, too bad it wasn’t a pyramid scheme involving real food…. Just the mental image of “fluffy cookies” made me snort coffee out my nose. Great story, I can’t stop laughing! 😆
There’s probably a deadline, because the money’s in bonds that mature by then. But let’s take a step back and look at what this is all about. They want to spur the private sector to go back to the moon? Believe me, the corporations who could easily do it, are all waiting for Johnny deep pockets taxpayer to pay them to do it. That just leaves all the amateurs that might be able to scratch together enough private capital to fail. But it will give Congress the excuse it needs to fund a return to the moon, because the average joe seems to want it. You can bet that there is defense corporation interest behind this reward. But what’s not being said about it, is what are rovers going to tell us that we don’t already know? And if there is that great of a need to find out something about the moon, why hasn’t NASA even bothered? It’s because they’ve focus all their resources on Mars. If we want to go back to the moon, well that’ll cost you extra. All the present funding is already committed to the ISS and Mars projects. But just like those old 1950s movies, they haven’t come up with a good reason why we need to go back to the moon. It’s all pie-in-the-sky speculation. Right now, it’s apparently asking too much of our government to repair our nations infrastructure. But billions are always ready to be spent on space adventures and wars abroad. Anything that puts money in the pockets of Boeing, Northrop, General Electric, N.A. Rockwell, etc. The real welfare/subsidy queens of this country.