Israel Slated For Moon Landing In 2017 In Google Prize Competition

Yesterday, Google announced that an Israeli nonprofit group is now in first place to win a $20 million prize to land a working spacecraft on the Moon. Kudos for its success in the Moon landing competition thus far go to Space IL, a company founded in 2010 by three young Israeli engineers.

The Google initiative, Google Lunar XPrize, is a global competition “to land a privately funded rover on the Moon, travel 500 meters [1,640 feet], and transmit back high definition video and images.” Under the terms of the prize, the entrants have until December 31, 2016, to produce a contract to launch their proposed Moon landing vehicles. Space IL is the first competitor to secure a bona fide agreement, linking up with SpaceX to launch its craft on the Falcon 9 launcher. (SpaceX is the first private company to launch a rocket with orbiting capabilities.) The Lunar XPrize and SpaceX have moved space age exploration beyond governments and opened it up to private enterprises.

Google’s interest is fueled by its ever-increasing, outrageous profits, which allow it to fund numerous just-because-it-wants-to projects. This endeavor is designed with the goal of opening “a new era of affordable access to the moon and beyond.”

The success of the Israeli group was announced in a press conference held in Jerusalem on Wednesday. President of Google’s XPrize, Bob Weiss, heaped glowing praise on the nonprofit for its accomplishments.

“We are proud to officially confirm receipt and verification of SpaceIL’s launch contract, positioning them as the first and only Google Lunar XPrize team to demonstrate this important achievement, thus far. The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated, representing an unprecedented and monumental commitment for a privately-funded organization, and kicks off an exciting phase of the competition in which the other 15 teams now have until the end of 2016 to produce their own verified launch contracts. It gives all of us at XPrize and Google the great pride to say, ‘the new space race is on!'”

The official Google Blog gave viewers an animation of the SpaceIL spacecraft, and is now featuring the Israeli company on the Google search engine page, just under the search box, with a congratulatory message: “Mazal Tov SpaceIL!”

In the final phase of the Moon landing competition, a team must be the first to actually launch its spacecraft, achieve a successful Moon landing, conduct the required vehicle walk-about, and transmit live video feed back to earth. The first team to do that wins the grand prize of $20 million. If a second team also accomplishes the tasks, it will win $5 million. Additional prize money of $5 million will be awarded to teams for special achievements accomplished by their spacecraft on the Moon.

The Israel SpaceIL Moon landing team already has big plans, not only to win first place but also for what it will do with the prize money.

“Aside from landing on the Moon, SpaceIL’s collective vision is to create a new ‘Apollo effect’ to inspire the next generation in Israel and around the world to think differently about science, engineering, technology and math. Despite its technological excellence, Israel faces a severe need for more scientists and engineers.

SpaceIL is committed to using the potential prize money to promote science and scientific education in Israel, to ensure that Israel will continue to live up to its reputation for excellence in these fields. But we’re not waiting for the landing to create the impact. To date, SpaceIL has presented to over 50,000 kids in classrooms all over the world. We are developing curriculum, videos, and online content to reach many more.”

The nation of Israel was an early entrant into the space age, launching its first two-stage rocket in 1961. For military reconnaissance capabilities, Israel began plans for a satellite program in 1979, when surveillance by military aircraft over enemy territory became increasingly difficult. Israel launched its first orbital satellite on September 19, 1988. Today, Israel is one of only eight countries to both build their own satellites and launch them into space on their own launchers. Israel is also the smallest country to do so.

The nation collectively mourned for its decorated fighter pilot, Ilan Ramon, who was an astronaut aboard the American NASA Space Shuttle, Columbia. All crew on that mission lost their lives on the ill-fated reentry on February 1, 2003. Ramon was posthumously awarded the U.S. Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and remains the only foreigner to receive the distinction. That mission left a lump in the throat and a loss of appetite for space exploration among the Israeli public.

It is hoped that the accomplishments of Space IL in the present Google competition and the efforts Space IL is making in the Israeli school system will refuel the public’s interest. An Israeli moon landing would indeed whet the appetite for exploration, “to the moon and beyond.”

In related news, competition is still underway for a $1 million cash prize to write a message to send into space to communicate with extraterrestrial life.