Event Brings Together All 22 Teams Competing For A Share Of The $30 Million Prize

The fourth Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Summit will be hosted on the Isle of Man on October 4-5, 2010 during the United Nations declared World Space Week.  The Isle of Man Government and the X PRIZE Foundation said in a joint release Thursday that the twenty-two teams competing for the Google Lunar X PRIZE will come together to interact directly with representatives from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation, industry experts and Space Isle representatives from the Isle of Man.

Each of these teams is striving to claim a share of the US $30 million prize purse money by becoming the first privately funded team to send a robot to the Moon that can travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth.  Over the course of the two day summit, the teams will present the progress of their missions, discuss the competitions rules and judging procedures and discuss how to best serve the educational mission of the competition while working on their lunar robots. Teams will also meet with key officials and space companies that operate on the Isle of Man, who will provide information and advice to help the teams. Team members and other experts will also take time to visit with local high school students to teach them about the exciting careers that await those who apply themselves in subjects such as science, engineering and mathematics. To celebrate World Space Week, summit attendees will attend a reception and star-gazing in the historic Castle Rushen, Castletown, which dates back to the 13th century.

"The Google Lunar X PRIZE has a great deal of momentum now, with an incredible roster of teams and with major agencies such as NASA stepping up to become customers of our teams," said William Pomerantz, the Senior Director for Space Prizes at the non-profit X PRIZE Foundation.  "We're happy we could hold this summit during World Space Week and in a location like the Isle of Man, which truly represents the new era of innovative space commerce."

"It is a great honor for the Isle of Man to be selected to host the Google Lunar X PRIZE Summit," said Isle of Man's Minister for Economic Development, Allan Bell MHK. "The Government has a very pro-space orientation and we are committed to helping the space industry flourish. For example, our track record of being at the forefront of new industries resulted in the Isle of Man successfully bidding to host the International Institute of Space Commerce, fending off competition from major cities across the world." Bell said the Summit will further underscore how the Government of the Isle of Man works closely with private sector initiatives and technological innovation to foster the international commercial space sector.

FMI: www.spaceisle.com, www.xprize.org