{"id":18670,"date":"2018-01-22T21:54:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T13:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/moon-ambitions-get-a-reality-check-plus-a-boost-from-apollo-moonshot-memories\/"},"modified":"2018-01-22T21:54:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T13:54:06","slug":"moon-ambitions-get-a-reality-check-plus-a-boost-from-apollo-moonshot-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/moon-ambitions-get-a-reality-check-plus-a-boost-from-apollo-moonshot-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon ambitions get a reality check \u2014 plus a boost from Apollo moonshot memories"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blue
An artist\u2019s conception shows Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon lunar lander. (Blue Origin Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Update for 10:54 a.m. PT Jan. 23:<\/strong> The managers of the Google Lunar X Prize competition acknowledge that the prize will go unwon.<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong> Who\u2019s going to the moon? The prospects are looking dimmer for any commercial lunar landings in the short term \u2014 but Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture today used a milestone in space history to spotlight its longer-term lunar aspirations.<\/p>\n

The bad news is that none of the remaining five contenders for the Google Lunar X Prize is likely to get to the moon in time to win a $20 million award in March.<\/p>\n

Google has repeatedly extended the deadline for doing a lunar landing, but CNBC quoted the company as saying there\u2019d be no more extensions beyond March 31.<\/p>\n

The competition was established in 2007 as a follow-up to the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private-sector spaceflight, with the aim of encouraging commercial lunar exploration. More than 30 teams registered for the competition, but the field has been winnowed down to five finalists.<\/p>\n

Three of those teams \u2014 Israel\u2019s Team SpaceIL, India\u2019s TeamIndus and Japan\u2019s Team Hakuto \u2014 acknowledge they won\u2019t be able to launch by March due to issues relating to funding and launch logistics.<\/p>\n

Two U.S.-based teams \u2014 Moon Express and Synergy Moon \u2014 haven\u2019t issued statements about their launch timeline, but the window for testing and launching their spacecraft by March 31 has all but closed.<\/p>\n

Lunar X Prize without Google?<\/h4>\n

This weekend\u2019s successful orbital launch of Rocket Lab\u2019s low-cost Electron rocket gave a lift to Moon Express\u2019 longer-term prospects, considering that Moon Express has a contract with Rocket Lab for up to five launches. But since then, neither Rocket Lab nor Moon Express has said anything about lunar launches in the near term.<\/p>\n

In recent interviews, Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards has been talking up the company\u2019s long-term plans to ship cargo to and from the moon, while downplaying the prize.<\/p>\n

In a CBC interview that aired on Saturday, Richards said the competition served as \u201can important bootstrap\u201d for investment, but was merely \u201cicing on the cake\u201d rather than an essential ingredient of Moon Express\u2019 business model. He took a similar stance with GeekWire last July when he stressed that \u201cnobody invested in Moon Express to win a prize.\u201d<\/p>\n