Private Space Company Will Send Its Rover to the Moon in 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBOFHnnD0m0&feature=player_embedded One private space company says it may claim a portion of the coveted Google Lunar X Prize in the near future--all it has to do is land a robot on the moon, travel roughly 1,640 feet, and then send data back to Earth. The company, Astrobotic Technology, announced this week that it's getting serious about the moon mission--it reserved a seat for its robot on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Currently scheduled to launch in December 2013, the rocket will shuttle the company's Red Rover to lunar orbit, where Astrobotic Technology hopes to complete the tasks set for it to claim $24 million of the $30 million prize. So far, this is how the itinerary should play out: