From Sputnik to the Lunar X Prize

The New York Times re-visits Sputnik and comments on the Google Lunar X Prize.

Others Joining The Race?

Some established companies are already "interested" in joining the race.

Logo Design Request

This is an open request for all graphic artists and designers to
contribute by creating an Open Lunar X logo. This logo will be used as
the teams symbol and will be posted on the team, Open Lunar X website, as well as included in the letter of intent form, which may be viewed here.

Email From Lunar X Prize

Recently the Open Lunar X team has recieved a letter of intent form from the Google Lunar X Prize Team. A copy of the form can be viewed here.

Other Open Lunar X documents can be found here.

Keeping An Eye On The Competition

The tgdaily writes:

"The Lunar X-Prize apparently has found its first official entry with Carnegie Mellon, as Whittaker from the university's Robotics Institute said that he is assembling a team to compete for the grand prize. The Lunar X-Prize challenges engineers and entrepreneurs around the world to develop a low-cost robot that is capable of landing on the moon and accomplishing a few experiments."

Some problems that need to be addressed

A recent article in Popular Mechanics lists some of the difficult problems facing any Lunar X Prize team.

Collaboration Method

Open Lunar X intends to use Google applications, as well as other proffered software, to facilitate collaboration and design of the lunar rover.

Google Documents are quickly improving their functionality.

SketchUp provides basic 3D modeling.

However, please feel free to recommend more software solutions to improve collaboration on the design and implementation.