To the moon!

I'm no lover of Google. But they know how to create buzz, and that's why I liked this announcement so much. Turns out they're offering $20 million to the first team to "successfully land a privately funded craft on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a “Mooncast”, back to Earth."

I've not read extensively on private space travel, but I know that it's terribly difficult to even get a privately built spacecraft out of orbit let alone on the moon. And I can't imagine that the $20 million would even begin to recoup the costs of doing this.So why do I love it?

Because I think Google knows this, and therefore knows that they will not have to pay this out. But yet they get the buzz and recognition for dreaming of something so cool as being the first to beam a mooncast. Plus, this will likely tie to some other product they're selling in a really cool way. They're seen as a revolutionary company, willing to do or try anything as long as it pushes the bounds of what's comfortable. They're not willing to be categorized as a search company, or a software company. They're just smart, and ballsy, and cutting-edge.

So good for them.