14 DAY TRIAL // A Google Lunar X Prize team spearheaded by experts with the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has just launched a new campaign on RocketHub, calling for crowd funding for the Penn State Lunar Lion Team. This is the only university-led team still in the race for the $20 million (€14.7 million) purse.
Representatives from the university say that this is one of the best ways available to boost public interest in space exploration and going back to the Moon. Thus far, the team was able to collect just $2.5 million (€1.84 million) of the $60 million (€44 million) it needs to complete the spacecraft.
“We want this to be a mission done by the university but one that allows people around the world to participate and to be a part of this project,” explains the director of space system initiatives at the university, Michael Paul, as quoted by Space News.
The Google Lunar X Prize will be awarded to the first team that successfully launches a robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon by the end of 2015. The vehicle has to be able to move, or to deploy a rover that can move, up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) away from the landing site, and snap pictures that can be relayed to Earth.