A little over forty years ago, humankind successfully achieved the world's first soft lunar landing. Back then, getting to the moon was the focus of a competition between two of the greatest science and engineering efforts ever undertaken, with the might of the USA and USSR behind them. Now Google wants to see private enterprise repeat that goal, and it's coughing up $30 million to make it happen.

Back in 1966, Luna 9, a Russian probe, completed the first successful soft landing on the moon. Before Luna 9, previous probes had touched down after free falling to the moon's surface, often with serious consequences for the probe's health. A mere three years after Luna 9, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on our closest celestial neighbour and the farthest place man has physically ventured away from home.

Hot on the heels of the success of the Ansari X PRIZE, which was designed to spur on the development of a commercial spacecraft able to reach low earth orbit, the Google Lunar X PRIZE will be awarded to "the team that can soft land a craft on the Moon that roams for at least 500 meters and transmits a Mooncast back to Earth. The Grand Prize is $20M until December 31, 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15M until December 31, 2014, at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation."

In order to keep competitors interested, there will be a second prize of $5 million, awarded to the next team to land on the moon by the end of 2014. There will also be bonuses awarded for lunar landers that complete certain tasks, such as roving, finding water, or surviving the fortnight-long lunar night.

Google is getting involved, in the words of cofounder Sergey Brin, "because we believe in the entrepreneurial spirit and its ability to accomplish the most ambitious tasks." The complete rules are still being worked out, but since there's only a little more than five years left to claim that $25 million, if you want to be in with a chance, you better get building!