Race is on: Indian and Japanese teams competing in intl lunar probe contest

NewsBharati    20-Dec-2017
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Tokyo, December 20: The interest for the Sun and the Moon never decreases among scientists how much space science may get improved. For the first time ever, international lunar probe contest is being held, namely Google Lunar XPRIZE contest. Among the five contesting teams, India’s Team Indus is one of the unique entities which is partnering with the Japanese team to transport the latter’s rover.

 

TeamIndus is one of the teams which got approval for the lunar mission as well as the only Indian team to take part in the competition. TeamIndus signed a commercial launch contract with the Indian Space Research Organization, and will be using a polar satellite launch vehicle. Japanese Team HAKUTO announced that it has signed a rideshare partnership with the India-based competitor, Team Indus, to carry its 4-wheeled rover to the Moon.” It is the first collaboration between two of the contest’s private enterprise competitors,” a Japanese report says.

“It’s a privilege that we have the Japanese team flying with us to the moon surface,” said Rahul Narayan, founder of TeamIndus. “Right now we are collaborating to get the technology done and get it done on time. Whichever rover is the best could win the prize.”

Previously, the deadline date of the project was set as the end of this year but later it got extended to March 2018. Now, the collaborating teams are putting highest effort to complete their work within the timeline.

The Moon was chosen for the mission as it is not only our nearest neighbor in space, it is our gateway to the rest of the universe. The Moon provides fascinating opportunities for expanding exploration throughout our solar system and offers exciting possibilities for discovery in the fields of science, technology, resource detection and utilization, and human habitation.

TeamIndus Team Hakuto ISRO Google Lunar XPRIZE contest International lunar probe contest