The Army of New Lunar Rovers that Could Soon Be on the Moon

[Buster's Uncle]

The Army of New Lunar Rovers that Could Soon Be on the Moon
Popular Mechanics
By Jay Bennett  3 hours ago






Sixteen teams are competing for $30 million in prize money, with the bulk going to the first team to successfully land a rover on the moon, have it travel 500 meters, and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth. The Google Lunar XPRIZE has inspired engineers from around the world, physics professors and backyard hobbyists alike, to build lunar rovers with hopes of sending them to the moon.

The two teams who have actually secured contracts from rocket companies to launch their rovers have a slightly different approach from the rest-they'll use a single vehicle that can hover or fly across the moon's surface, rather than a landing vehicle that deploys a traditional rover. Moon Express is even hoping to gather moon dust samples and return them to Earth, with the dream of using the abundant Helium-3 in the moon's crust to power fusion reactors in the future.

But a number of teams already have sophisticated rovers built, and the competition is still anyone's for the taking. Here's a look at some of the most exciting designs from the new mini-documentary series about the competition, Moon Shot, available on YouTube.

















Learn more about the spacecraft and the teams that are building them by watching the mini-documentary series, Moon Shot.

Source: Google Lunar XPRIZE


http://news.yahoo.com/army-lunar-rovers-could-soon-141309180.html

[Unorthodox]

 

to successfully land a rover on the moon, have it travel 500 meters, and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth.

they'll use a single vehicle that can hover or fly across the moon's surface, rather than a landing vehicle that deploys a traditional rover

...sounds like a bad idea.   

[Buster's Uncle]

Sounds like a lie told by a science-ignorant PR flack to a science-ignorant reporter...