A special report on the Google Lunar X Prize

[Wade Roush]

Hello followers --

Due to work demands (and my new weekend pursuit, marathon training) I haven't sent out any regular updates to this Google list for a quite while. But I hope to resume soon. 

Meanwhile, I just published an investigative piece that I wanted to let you know about. It's a look at the Google Lunar X Prize, the $30 million competition to send a robot lander to the Moon by the end of 2015. The piece introduces several of the people behind the competition --- at Google, at the X Prize Foundation, and at two of the competing teams. It also examines some of the issues that may be keeping teams from raising the money they'll need to launch their vehicles in time. The money quote: "If nobody has a ride booked by this December, then the competition has become unwinnable."

The piece is here:

http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2012/04/18/in-googles-moon-race-teams-and-x-prize-foundation-face-a-reckoning/ 

I'm pretty excited about it, so I'd be thrilled if you could take a look and pass the word to your networks.

Thanks!
Wade