Map of Future Lunar Landing Sites

By Nancy Atkinson - January 6, 2011 at 9:03 AM UTC | Planetary Science
MOon.thumbnail-1.jpg

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="580" caption="Google Lunar X PRIZE proposed landing sites. Copyright 2011 Phillip J. Stooke and Evadot.com. Used by permission."][/caption]

Here's the map of the future: a look where all the contestants in the Google Lunar X PRIZE intend to land on the Moon, in hopes of nabbing the $30 million in prizes available to the first privately funded teams to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon.

Dr. Philip J. Stooke

of The University of Western Ontario has put together a this very nifty proposed landing site map based on published data from the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams. According to

Michael Doornbos

from the

Evadot website,

assisting in the visualization, they will be updating the map regularly as the public information gets updated. Click on the image to see the original (and larger version) on

Evadot.com

If you remember, the participants in the Google Lunar X PRIZE not only have to land their robot, but it also has to travel 500 meters over the lunar surface and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded. The GLXP hopes to ignite a new era of lunar exploration by offering this largest international incentive prize of all time.

Find out more at The Google Lunar X PRIZE Website

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com