Nowadays, every major company seems to be involved with space and space exploration in some way or another. The out-of-the-universe field that was once only reserved for the likes of NASA, has now captured the imagination of (mostly tech) companies worldwide.
There is Elon Musk‘s SpaceX programme, Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic and of course, the mighty Google.
As you may of heard, Google has recently launched the Google Lunar XPrize – a sort of post Cold War space race competition that challenges different teams from around the world to land a spacecraft on the moon.
18 private teams from all four corners of the Earth will go head-to-head in a bid to be the first to land a spacecraft on the moon. However, the objective is not to simply land the spacecraft on the moon, but to also let it roam for 500 meters as well as being able to send data and images back to Earth.
The winning team will then receive a grand prize of a whopping $20 million.
In anticipation of this new-age space race, Google produced a short documentary on lunar exploration, all aimed at promoting the competition.
The documentary recently played at various planetariums around the US and uses wonderful animation and 3D imagery to give you a quick run-down on the history of lunar exploration, along with some really interesting information about the moon and what it means for us human in Earth.
And now, this documentary has been adapted for YouTube and made available for us all to see. Obviously, it‘s not as good as watching it in a planetarium, but it is just as good.
The film is narrated by Tim Allen (which I find apt seeing as though he is the voice of Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger) and is called “˜Back To The Moon For Good – The New Space Race.‘
Check it out below:
Source: Mashable
