Press Release

Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Summit Highlights

By SpaceRef Editor
February 3, 2010
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Competing teams in the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP) gathered in Southern California February 1-2 for a two day summit to discuss upcoming competition items and key initiatives in addition to meeting with X PRIZE and NASA officials. Held at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), a joint NASA/Caltech facility that has been responsible for some of the most impressive and inspiring planetary exploration missions ever conducted, below are a few items of note from the sessions.

  • Representatives from more than a dozen teams from 8 countries (USA, Canada, Isle of Man, Italy, Denmark, Romania, Russia, and Germany) came together for the 3rd annual Team Summit.
  • Teams had a chance to interact directly with senior JPL management, including the center
  • director, the head of the Lunar Robotic Office, and technical leaders from missions such as Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity), and Mars Phoenix
  • The timing of the summit relative to President Obama’s announcements regarding the future of NASA underscores both the ability and the advantages of having a private sector that works in friendly collaboration with NASA–both sides were eager to meet with and learn from the other.

The GLXP is a $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. Keep up with the GLXP competition by visiting www.xprize.org and following Twitter updates at twitter.com/GLXP.

SpaceRef staff editor.