Google offers $20M for lunar robot

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Google is offering $20 million for the first lunar robot paid for with private funds, The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported Thursday.

The company also offered a $5 million prize for the runner-up and $5 million bonuses for finding ice on the moon and other discoveries, the newspaper said.

The competition is being conducted through the X PRIZE Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif.

To win, a robot must do more than simply get to the moon. The terms of the competition require it to travel at least 500 meters on the lunar surface and transmit high-definition video images and data to Earth.

After 2012, the prize will drop to $15 million, and the competition ends in 2014 unless Google and the foundation decide to extend it.

The X PRIZE Foundation was started by Peter Diamandis, a medical doctor and geneticist inspired by the prize offered in the 1920s for a non-stop flight between New York and Paris. The foundation awarded $10 million in 2004 for the aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, which flew into space.