Poate ca americanii nu au ajuns pana la luna in urma cu 40 de ani, dar se pregatesc sa inoveze si sa le iasa mai bine a-2-a oara.

Revolution Through Competition
In 1919 Raymond Orteig, a wealthy French hotelier, offered $25,000 for the first nonstop flight between New York City and Paris. In 1927, underdog Charles Lindbergh won the prize in a modified single-engine Ryan aircraft called the Spirit of St. Louis.
In total, nine teams spent $400,000 in pursuit of the $25,000 Orteig Prize. It is difficult today to fully appreciate the impact of Lindbergh’s flight but the following facts provide a small indication about how a single prize changed the way people thought about flight, and about the world itself:

• Increase in U.S. airline passengers from 5,782 to 173,405 in three years (1926-1929)
• 300% increase in applications for pilot’s licenses, 400% increase of licensed aircraft in the United States in one year (1927)
• The Spirit of St. Louis was personally viewed by a quarter of all Americans within one year of Lindbergh’s historic flight
• Today, the global aviation industry is estimated at more than $300 billion

Inspired by the Orteig Prize, the X PRIZE was announced in 1996 to stimulate Revolution through Competition by offering a $10 million prize to the first privately financed team that could build and fly a three-passenger vehicle 100 kilometers into space twice within two weeks. As it was later titled, the Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight motivated 26 teams from seven nations to invest more than $100 million in pursuit of the $10 million purse. On October 4, 2004, the Ansari X PRIZE was awarded to Mojave Aerospace Ventures marking the beginning of the personal spaceflight revolution and signifying a radical breakthrough in prize philanthropy.

Extraordinara idee la care Google a aderat in 2007.

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.

• Google Lunar X PRIZE
• Lunar Lander X PRIZE
• http://xprize.wirefly.com/
• X-PRIZE Cups have been held in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and one is planned for 2009
• List of Prizes
• http://space.xprize.org/x-prize-cup
• http://thelaunchpad.xprize.org/

Romania este reprezentata de proiectul ARCA – Hellen . Pentru acelasi X PRIZE concureaza inca 23 echipe (din care 2 s-au retras deja).

Proiectul ar putea sa fie un mare esec, sau o teapa, eu insa ma bucur ca pot striga HAI ROMANIA si la altceva in afara de meciurile de fotbal. HAI ARCA pe orbita.

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