An Israeli team has booked a rocket ride to the Moon - the first group in the Google Lunar X Prize to do so.
SpaceIL are the first team in the competition to lodge a contract with the organisers, thus triggering an extension in the prize's deadline to the end of 2017. To win the competition, a team must land on the Moon, roam for at least 500m and return high resolution video and images to Earth. The winning team will be awarded $30m (£19.5m).
SpaceIL intends to visit the lunar surface with a unique 'hopping' probe, launched by a SpaceX rocket. Most space exploration vehicles drive across surfaces, but the Israeli team has designed a vehicle that will 'hop'. The spacecraft will land on the surface of the Moon before taking off again with fuel left in its propulsion system, saving mass and fuel. It will then perform another landing, 500 metres away, in accordance with the prize's criteria.
If successful, the team will be the first Israeli mission to the Moon as well as the world's first privately funded lunar mission. The launch is scheduled for late 2017.
"The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated," said X Prize president Bob Weiss. "This is the official milestone that the race is on."
Spaceflight Industries, an American space company, will assist SpaceIL with its launch. "Only three countries have soft-landed a vehicle on the surface of the Moon: the US, the former Soviet Union, and China. Now the notion of Israel being added to this exclusive list looks more promising than ever," said SpaceIL CEO Eran Privman. "Last year, we made significant strides towards landing on the Moon, both in terms of project financing and engineering design. We are thrilled to finally secure our launch agreement."
The Google Lunar X Prize is an attempt to incentivise space organisations to make lunar missions more affordable. Established in 2007, the XPRIZE has highlighted the technological achievements of the competition's global teams.
SpaceIL hope to use the potential prize money to "inspire the next generation in Israel to think differently about science, engineering, technology and maths". "SpaceIL is committed to using the Google Lunar X Prize money to promote science and scientific education in Israel to ensure that Israel will continue to live up to its reputation for excellence in these fields."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
