Legendary roboticist Red Whittaker is a professor who splits his time between teaching future engineer...More
Legendary roboticist Red Whittaker is a professor who splits his time between teaching future engineers at Carnegie Mellon and owning/operating a working cattle farm in rural Pennsylvania. With a crack team of former students, he co-founded Astrobotic because he believes robots are the best solution for exploring remote, harsh environments -- from nuclear disaster zones to the moon.Less
2016-03-17
2. Part-Time Scientists - Germany
Founded by an ad hoc group of part-timers, this Berlin-based GLXP team plans to open source its missio...More
Founded by an ad hoc group of part-timers, this Berlin-based GLXP team plans to open source its mission data. Team leader Robert Böhme, who was raised in the former East Germany, says the free exchange of information is ultimately more important than money.Less
2016-03-17
3. Team Indus - India
Deepana Gandhi dreamed of a career in math/science, but she grew up in rural India where women aren't ...More
Deepana Gandhi dreamed of a career in math/science, but she grew up in rural India where women aren't typically afforded the same opportunities as men. After struggling to find a job, Deepana eventually landed at Indus in Bangalore, where she works on the equations necessary for navigating to the moon.Less
2016-03-17
4. Team Plan B - Canada
Alex Dobrianski emigrated from the Ukraine to Vancouver to build a better life for his wife Luda and t...More
Alex Dobrianski emigrated from the Ukraine to Vancouver to build a better life for his wife Luda and their three children. Twenty years later, after launching a career in IT, he staked his retirement money on the GLXP and recruited his son Sergei to help him pursue his lifelong passion for aerospace, which Alex had been forced to abandon in post-Soviet Ukraine.Less
2016-03-17
5. Hakuto - Japan
When the 2011 tsunami decimated Japan's Pacific coast, robotics Professor Kazuya Yoshida and his famil...More
When the 2011 tsunami decimated Japan's Pacific coast, robotics Professor Kazuya Yoshida and his family were lucky to escape harm's way. Understanding that it's only a matter of time before an even greater natural disaster strikes, the professor wants his rovers to explore the lunar caves, which could provide a suitable location for future human settlements that will help preserve our species.Less
2016-03-17
6. Moon Express - Cape Canaveral, USA
When Naveen Jain moved from India to the U.S., he was a poor university student with an uncertain futu...More
When Naveen Jain moved from India to the U.S., he was a poor university student with an uncertain future and a hunch that anything is possible. Decades later, after becoming a successful Internet entrepreneur, he co-founded Moon Express to help find a solution to the world's energy crisis.Less
2016-03-17
7. SpaceIL - Israel
One of the last teams to enter the GLXP, SpaceIL was co-founded by Yariv Bash, whose grandfather's lif...More
One of the last teams to enter the GLXP, SpaceIL was co-founded by Yariv Bash, whose grandfather's life was tragically altered by the Holocaust. Inspired by his grandfather's work as an engineer, Bash hopes SpaceIL's efforts to build cool new technology will encourage others, including his young son, to improve the world for future generations.Less
2016-03-17
8. Mecaliks - Mexico
9-year-old Jana González turned to playing videogames after her parent's divorce. As her love of playi...More
9-year-old Jana González turned to playing videogames after her parent's divorce. As her love of playing games evolved into programming them, she soon discovered robotics and joined an all-girl team competing in the Moonbots, a worldwide robotics competition for kids.Less
2016-03-17
9. Race for the Prize
For nearly a decade, people around the world have been racing to The Moon as part of the Google Lunar ...More
For nearly a decade, people around the world have been racing to The Moon as part of the Google Lunar X-PRIZE, a $30 million contest. Developing an array of new technologies for landing and exploring the lunar surface, these private teams are making big strides and sacrifices to chase their dream of reaching the moon!Less
