Thursday, November 7, 2013

Ahead of Chang'e 3 landing attempt, 'government landing penalty' removed from Google Lunar XPRIZE terms

Alexandra Hall
Senior Director
Google Lunar XPRIZE

If all goes according to plan, the moon will soon have its first surface visitor after a three-decade lull. In August 1976, the Soviet unmanned spacecraft, Luna 24, touched down softly on a mission to retrieve some lunar rocks and soil. Since then, humans have only sent spacecraft to orbit or crash into the moon. This is set to change in December 2013, with the anticipated launch of Chang’e 3, China’s first lunar lander. Because of this latest development, those very familiar with the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE have started to ask about an original clause in the competition – the “government landing penalty.”
Read the post at the Google Lunar XPRIZE Staff Blog, HERE.

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