Google Lunar X-Prize 'fashion show'

As yet unnamed rover design by the Part-Time Scientists.

Nick Azer, author of the Luna C/I (Colonization and Industrialization) blog and now an official part of the LPI's MyMoon Street Team, has been busy, "running down the Best of the Best, 'fashion-wise,' of the competing Google Lunar X-Prize lunar rovers.

"The $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE has 26 teams competing for the prize - each with their own rover, and each jockeying for the adoring love of the space community.

"Each rover, lander, hopper, ball, and other budding moon explorer has different functionality, but their own brand of robochique. The best rover may win but the foxiest will walk away with the style points.

"To that end, I'll be rolling out each of the 26 teams' rovers onto the catwalk for the ultimate in wheeled robotic fashion shows! Bundle up and brace yourself for a whirlwind tour of the finest Mr. and Mrs. Moons Luna will have to offer circa 2015."

Begin a tour of the Google Lunar X-Prize rovers, HERE.

Part-Time Scientists go for GLXP

Shooting for the Stars, Settling for the Moon, their motto, the "Part-Time Scientists" Team is officially contending for the Google Lunar X-Prize.

With their official entry into the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, Part Time Scientists marks another German team the new race to the Moon, the $30 million contest "that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the globe to build and launch a privately funded spacecraft to the Moon."

The GLXP winner must complete a series of tasks outlined in the GLXP rules.

Team Part-Time-Scientists is headquartered in Berlin, and has seven team members, now among 19 teams from 42 countries competing for the GLXP purse.

"The Part-Time-Scientists are not only the first German team to join the competition but also one of the youngest as the vast majority of team members are in the 20’s. In addition, this is the first team made up entirely of non-space professionals. The seven members are scattered across northern Germany and welcome everyone who wants to join their efforts."

Team leader Robert Boehme: "We want to prove to the world that the labor of a few dedicated, hard working people is equivalent with that of a 100 rocket scientists. We believe the future of humans is among the stars. For that to happen, we have to get humans out of low earth orbit again. One doesn't have to be in a space agency to fly into space. Thanks to the X PRIZE Foundation, private companies have built vehicles that can travel beyond the edge of our atmosphere. Going to the Moon, even if it's just a man made robot, is the next logical step for private space exploration.”

Team website HERE.