NASA isn't heading back to the moon anytime soon

, with astronauts or robots, but that doesn't mean there are no lunar races to follow.

Today the organizers of the Google Lunar X Prize announced the final roster of teams competing in a $30 million race to the lunar surface. And much to their surprise, 29 teams have signed on to the mission, more than they ever expected. "When we started this thing [in 2007], we were hopeful that we'd have a dozen teams," says Will Pomerantz, senior director for space prizes at the X Prize Foundation. "Now we're pushing 30 teams... Some came out of the woodwork at the end."

The terms of the contest are easy, but succeeding is hard. A private firm has to send a robot to the moon. After it gets there, the bot will travel 980 feet and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. The prize: $30 million. (See PM's 2009 cover story.)

Google says this X Prize is the world's largest ever global contest, with businesses from 17 nations taking part. "A lot of countries are taking part that are not known for their large space programs," Pomerantz says. "They see this as an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities."

The 29 teams in the Google Lunar X Prize are not only racing each other, they are also squaring off against national efforts by China and a joint Russia-and-India effort to land robots on the moon in 2013. The Lunar X Prize's time limit expires in 2015. "I think we'll see a friendly competition," Pomerantz says.

NASA has taken notice of the prize and has sweetened the pot with contracts aimed at farming the data generated by the contestants. NASA is looking for information on engineering lunar robots and data on conditions on the moon. These contracts can run as high as $10 million. Three contracts have been issued to teams so far, each examining ways to cheaply design and manufacture robots that are suitable for the lunar excursions. In the future, if teams ever reach the surface, NASA will pay for information on lunar dust, new ways to track telemetry, novel landing mechanisms and other data on surface mobility that could support its own missions.

Pomerantz said that the Obama administration's retreat from the manned space mission, the Constellation Program, did not influence the urgency of the Google X Prize, though he conceded that the uncertain future of NASA's space program has hampered some cooperation with the agency. But no matter what U.S. mission to the moon happens next, robotic or manned, the X Prize teams hope to help make the trip easier and less expensive. "Whatever direction NASA takes, the agency will have interest in what the X Prize teams are doing." He added that the data could be up for sale by foreign nations with lunar ambitions.

For a full list of the teams, see www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/teams

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