Cyprus enters Moon race with Google Lunar X PRIZE

Cyprus has entered a $30 mln competition to land a robot on the Moon by the end of 2015. The newly launched Cyprus Space Office is the newest team member of Synergy Moon, a private space company competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE.
Sotira Trifourki, Director of the Cyprus Space Office, has developed an education programme that will allow the public to directly participate in exploring space through being able to design, build and participate in the launch of satellites and space craft which will lead to Cyprus having the capability to partake in manned space flight.
Education is core to the mission of the Google Lunar X PRIZE to inspire children and adults alike to make science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) an active part of their lives and careers. One programme is the Science Hack Day, which is a fun event for people of all ages to attend to collaborate on designing apps, robotics and all kinds of gadgets which will be held in April.
“To date only 500 astronauts have gone into space, with the rise of Citizen Science projects and private companies developing the capabilities for space travel, the time has come for Cyprus to develop its plans to join the international community in exploring space. The benefits include monitoring our environment, research into improving our health and transport systems, and developing technology which can fuel innovation and create jobs to boost our economy. The possibilities are endless.”
The Synergy Moon team already have an impressive programme, along with aiming to develop a rover which will travel over 500 metres to survey the Lunar surface, take images and send data back to Earth, the team are developing a reusable rocket which will be able to take tourists into space. And to top that Olav Zipser, the world famous sky diver will be attempting to break Felix Baumgartner’s record jump by 12,000 feet, using Synergy Moon team member Interorbital’s SR145 rocket to launch Olav into space for his death defying jump as a freefall astronaut.
There are currently 25 teams world wide participating in the Google Lunar X Prize, but the competition is not about who wins but the development of applications and services for Space, education and future technology spinoffs.
In 2004 the X prize foundation awarded the largest prize in history, $10 mln to Scale Composites for SpaceShipOne who led the first private team to build and launch a spacecraft capable of flying 100 kms above the Earth’s surface. The X Prize Foundation is led by Chairman and CEO Peter Diamandis and Vice Chairman and President Robert K. Weiss whose mission is to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Spaceflight is no longer the exclusive realm of government and a new industry is born.
Visit Cyprus Space Office at http://universechallenge.org/cyprus-space-office/