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Google's Goal: Inspire First Privately Funded Moon Landing

Google's Goal: Inspire First Privately Funded Moon Landing

While orbiting the moon, Apollo 8 astronauts were greeted by this view of the rising earth. Today, competitors in the Google Lunar X PRIZE are trying to build robots that could reach the moon by the end of 2015.

As 29 teams worldwide are compete in the Google Lunar X Prize, they’re trying to build robots that could reach the moon by the end of 2015, roam around the moon’s surface, and send photos and videos back to earth. Why is Google offering $30 million in prizes to winners, what rules must be followed, and have rivalries formed? Guest host Allison Keyes speaks with the X Prize Foundation’s founder.

Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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