Odyssey Moon, a British-based private spaceflight company, is seeking Google's $30 million X-Prize for successfully landing a rover on the Moon.
Headquartered on the tax lenient Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the company, brainchild of CEO Robert Richards (founder of International Space University), is fixed to win this new age space race.
The company consists of many experienced space engineers, and is potentially one of the strongest competitors at this point.
The Google X-Prize requires a team to land a rover capable of moving 500 meters and transmitting back video, data, and images to qualify for the entire prize by December 31st, 2012.
Richards, confident of his company's ability, has been quoted as saying, "We believe the Google Lunar X Prize goals are achievable. And we do intend to win."
They intend to reduce the cost of moon travel "by an order of magnitude."
He describes the moon as "an eighth continent rich in energy and resources floating just offshore." Very accurate considering the Helium-3 isotope, an extremely efficient, potent, and clean fuel that could power the Earth, in its entirety, for many centuries.
Along with Carnegie Mellon and a slew of other potential teams, its great to see the competition heating up. The moon is the "gateway" to the private sector of solar system exploration.
Look out moon. We're coming back, and this time it's for good!
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