The race to win in the Google Lunar XPRIZE global competition has just become more exciting for the team from Israel after securing itself a "ticket to the moon" from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Team SpaceIL announced that its spacecraft will hitch a ride on Falcon 9's specially designed capsule. After being launched and released, the spacecraft will then use its navigation sensors as it explores the lunar surface.
"SpaceIL is an Israeli nonprofit founded by three young engineers at the end of 2010, answering the Google Lunar XPRIZE challenge. SpaceIL is aiming to make history and land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon and to inspire a generation along the way," states the group on its official site.
So far, only the United States, China and Russia have successfully landed a spacecraft intact on the Moon.
The process of gently landing a spacecraft onto the lunar surface is much trickier than simply launching a probe or a lunar orbiter into the environment surrounding the Moon. While the Moon is big enough to exhibit a gravitational pull, it is void of an atmosphere that would slow down the descent of incoming objects from space. In order for a spacecraft to slowly make its way down without crashing into the rocky surface, it should be able to fire retro-rockets in the opposite direction of the Moon in a very precise manner.
All in all, landing a spacecraft onto a lunar surface is a delicate procedure that would also need expertise and a lot of time and money. With this in mind, it's no wonder why space missions have been funded by government agencies up until now.
The Google Lunar XPRIZE competition is formed to meet the challenges brought by space travel. Launched by the XPRIZE Foundation which is an international nonprofit organization, the contest is meant to inspire people to pursue creating things using their vast knowledge in technology which will later on benefit the society. Specifically, the contest wants teams to create soft-landing lunar robots and in so doing, they should be able to come up with technologies and strategies that are essential in reducing the high cost of space travel.
"We kicked off this challenge in 2007 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in space through low-cost, efficient access to the moon. But until now, all the tinkering has been on terra firma. SpaceIL's securing of a verified launch contract by the December 2015 deadline keeps the competition open to all Google Lunar XPRIZE teams, who now have until the end of 2016 to secure their own launch contracts to head to the moon by the end of 2017," writes Yasemin Denari Southworth, manager of cultural activation and partnerships, on Google's official blog post.
The first privately funded team to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon will receive the grand prize worth $20 million. The second winning team will receive $5 million. Lastly, an additional $5 million will be awarded to any team that goes above and beyond which means they were able to cover some extra distance or survey certain locations on the moon.
All competing teams have one thing in common: they are all independent. While their respective governments can give support by providing some funding, the teams must make sure that the bulk of their money is sourced from other means.
As for SpaceIL, the team said that should they win the top prize in the competition, they will use the 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."
The other teams that are competing in the "race to the moon" are: Astrobotic (United States), Team Italia (Italy), Moon Express (United States), Stellar (International), Independence X (Malaysia), Omega Envoy (United States), Synergy Moon (International), Euroluna (International), Hakuto (Japan), Part-Time Scientists (Germany), Team Puli (Hungary), Spacemeta (Brazil), Plan B (Canada), Angelicvm (Chile) and Team Indus (India).
