Moon Express Acquires Next Giant Leap: Now 25 Teams Competing for Google Lunar X Prize

The Google Lunar X Prize is the largest incentive prize in history -- a reflection of the vast technological and financial challenges of landing a spacecraft on the Moon. First prize of $20 million (£13m) will be awarded to the first company to land a robotic rover on the Moon, travel 500 metres and transmit video, images and data back to Earth.

Although the NGL acquisition removes a competitor there are still 24 other teams competing for the $30m (£20m) prize pot. The runner-up gets $5 million (£3.2m) and the remaining $5m prize money will be made available to teams that go beyond the basic requirements -- such as travelling five kilometres, capturing images of relics of the Apollo programme, verifying the presence of water, or surviving a lunar night. But there is a time limit. Whoever makes it to the Moon must do so by the end of 2015 when the prize fund expires. _Wired

The Google Lunar X First Prize of $20 million will go to the first team to safely land a robot on the moon, have the robot travel at least 500 metres on the lunar surface, and send images, video, and data back to Earth. As noted above, this feat must be achieved on or before December 31, 2015.

The acquisition of Next Giant Leap by Moon Express, Inc., reduces the number of competing teams to 25. Don't be surprised if their are more acquisitions and mergers over the next year or so, as teams become pressed by the deadline and attempt to combine their strengths.

More about the recent acquisition:

Moon Express Inc, a company set up to explore and mine the Moon for precious resources, has acquired Next Giant Leapto advance its plans to be the first company to land a spacecraft on Earth's natural satellite.

The Next Giant Leap acquisition gives Moon Express access to additional technology and scientists, as well as the benefit of several strategic partnerships with companies such as Sierra Nevada Corporation, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, MIT Space Systems Laboratory, Aurora Flight Services, Jolted Media Group, The Centre for Space Entrepreneurship (eSpace) and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.

The company plans to send its first robotic lander to the Moon in late 2014, to be launched atop of either SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket or other commercial launch vehicle._Wired

As noted, the Moon Express team plans to launch in 2014, possibly using a SpaceX booster.

It is interesting to see the list of strategic partners that the Next Giant Leap team brings to the table. Such partnerships can be extremely valuable in terms of sharing experience and research, and in facilitating necessary product deliveries etc.

If this competition is successful, we may see a proliferation of similar prizes meant to spur visionary and potentially disruptive technological developments.

Google's ChinaGate: Finally Admits China Dangers

Google has played co-dependent to the CCPs obsessive compulsion for total control of internet content within China.  Google has appeased, acquiesced, acceded to virtually every unreasonable demand from the Chinese government to spy and censor and betray . . . .

But suddenly, Google has acquired a conscience?

Google said Tuesday that it may pull out of China because of a sophisticated computer network attack originating there and targeting its e-mail service and corporate infrastructure, a threat that could rattle U.S.-China relations, as well as China's business community.

The company said it has evidence to suggest that "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists," but it said that at least 20 other large companies, including finance, media and chemical firms, have been the targets of similar attacks. Google said it discovered the attack in December. _WaPo

Google said it suffered a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China" in mid-December, which it said resulted in "the theft of intellectual property." The company said it found evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights activists.

A company spokesman declined to identify the other companies affected, saying only that it was in the process of notifying the companies and working with U.S. authorities. A spokeswoman for Adobe Systems Inc. said Tuesday that the software company experienced an attack that appeared to be related to the attacks Google described. _WSJ

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers. _GoogleBlog

Whether you call it GoogleGate or ChinaGate or just a very late awareness on Google's part that it was acting as enabler to a monster, this belated comprehension and public admission by Google should raise public awareness of a huge problem.

ClimateGate should have raised public awareness of a similar problem of obfuscation within the world science establishment, but the news media has kept a fairly firm lid on this awareness -- by refusing to pursue the stinking and cancerous rot within science.

Will the world media likewise ignore the problem of western corporate acquiescence to a Chinese government that uses such unscrupulous means to cling to power.

China's economy is suffering from huge problems. Facing its problems would be a helpful first step, instead of using companies such as Google to cover them up.