சந்திரனில் வண்டி ஓட்டினால், 20 மில்லியன் டாலர்கள்

இந்து இளைஞர்கள் இந்த வாய்ப்பை பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். சந்திரனில் வண்டி ஓட்டினால், 20 மில்லியன் டாலர் தருவதாக கூகுள் லுனார் எக்ஸ் பிரைஸ் அறிவித்துள்ளது

அறிவியல் மற்றும் தொழில்நுட்பங்களில் சிறந்து விளங்கும் இந்து இளைஞர்கள் மேன்மேலும் சிறக்க வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Run over on moon, win 20 million dollars

Hyderabad, Sept 25: Run a rover on the moon successfully and you could win 20 million dollars as prize money.

The X prize foundation and Google Inc have announced a robotic race to the moon to generate awareness among the people to devise low-cost methods for space exploration.

The project should be privately funded without any government subsidy or support, Bretton S F Alexander, Executive Director, X prize foundation said here today.

The rules of the game are that participants must land a rover on the lunar surface, run it for at least 500 metres and send video images and data back to earth, he told reporters on the sidelines of the 58th international Astronautical Congress here.

"The Google Lunar X prize calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," he said.

The announcement, made about 10 days back, has received over 150 expressions of interest and seven persons have signed up by making an initial payment of 1,000 dollars, Alexander said.

"We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual-presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration," he said. The total prize money for the competition is 30 million dollars of which 20 million would go to the winner while the runners up would get five million dollars. Another five million dollars would be given as performance bonuses to the participants.

An international panel of experts will judge the entries, which have to land on moon before the end of 2014, Alexander said.

The registration will cost 10,000 dollars this year and those signing up in 2008 will have to pay 25,000 dollars while others have to cough up 50,000 dollars as the entry fee.

The participants are free to use any launch vehicle to put the project in orbit but have to ensure that the same facility is made available to other participants to maintain equal opportunity.

To keep up the excitement, the 20-million dollar grand prize will be awarded to missions that meet the criteria before December 31, 2012.

Thereafter, the purse will drop to 15 million dollars until December 31, 2014.

"Legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship at a cost of 25 million dollars to win the 10 million-dollar Ansari X prize in 2004," he said.

Bureau Report