Two United States cable television networks are apparently planning to go to the moon.
The Discovery Channel and Science Channel have joined the Google Lunar XPrize initiative, a $30-million project with the goal of getting a mission back to the Lunar surface.
Founded as a way to challenge and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration, the groundbreaking contest currently has more than 20 international teams, all vying to get their robotic spacecraft to the moon first.
In order to win the top award, however, a privately funded team must not only successfully place a robot that explores an area at least 1,640 feet, or, three tenths of a mile, on the surface of Earth’s biggest natural satellite, but also transmits high-definition video and images back to their home world.
