India's Team Indus among 5 teams aiming for Google prize to land spacecraft on moon

Cape Canaveral, Florida: Bengaluru-based aerospace research firm, Team Indus, has been chosen among the top five finalists to compete in the US$ 30 million Google Lunar X Prize contest, an international contest to land and operate robotic spacecraft on the surface of the moon, organised by Google and the XPrize foundation. The finalists are expected to launch the spacecraft to the Moon by December 31, 2017, and then explore the lunar surface. The remaining teams are Florida-based Moon Express, Israel's SpaceIL, Hakuto of Japan and the international outfit Synergy Moon. The contest would offer US$ 20 million to the first private team that lands a spacecraft on the moon, while the second place is worth US$ 5 million, and bonus money is available for accomplishing extra tasks, such as visiting an Apollo landing site or finding water on the moon.  

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