Third on the Moon
Very high geekdom -- from
Forbes Magazine:
Israel, The Third Nation on the Moon?
If all goes according to plan, by December 2012 a team of three young Israeli scientists will have landed a tiny spacecraft on the moon, explored the lunar surface, and transmitted live video back to earth, thereby scooping up a $20 million prize (the Google Lunar X Prize), revolutionizing space exploration, and making the Jewish State the third nation (after the U.S. and Russia) to land a probe on the moon. And they�re doing it in their spare time.
The three engineers � Yariv Bash (electronics and computers), Kfir Damari (communication systems), and Yonatan Winetraub (satellite systems) all have high-level day jobs in the Israeli science and technology world, and also both teach and study. They all had heard of the Google Lunar X Prize independently, before being introduced by mutual friends who, as Yonatan puts it �thought we were all crazy enough to do it, so we should meet each other.�
By the end of November 2010 they had sketched together a novel plan to win the prize and submitted it to organizers. Only on December 21 (10 days before the December 31 deadline) did they set about raising the $50,000 entry fee. �Like good Israelis we left it to the last minute,� Yonatan laughs.
Since then they�ve recruited around 50 volunteers from across the Israeli science and technology community and have gained support from academic institutions, including the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science (founded in 1933 by Chaim Weizmann, himself a successful chemist who went on to become Israel�s first president). They�re operating as a non-profit (�we�re looking for stakeholders,� says Project Coordinator Ronna Rubinstein), and any winnings will be invested in promoting science among Israeli youth.
The X Prize�s organizers say their competition is intended to attract �mavericks� who �take new approaches and think creatively about difficult problems, resulting in truly innovative breakthroughs.� They see the moon as a largely untapped resource, and believe that �inexpensive, regular access to the Moon is a critical stepping stone for further exploration.�
I love it. Quite the finger in the eye of the Muslim world as they worship the Moon and to have a Jewish presence there will cause no small measure of consternation.
Posted by DaveH at March 30, 2011 5:49 PM