Google Lunar X Prize Team Launches Crowdfunding Push

摘要

Pennsylvania State University is launching a crowdfunding campaign on RocketHub Jan. 20 to raise $400,000 for its effort to send a robotic spacecraft to the Moon. The Penn State Lunar Lion Team, the only university-led team competing for the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize, was inspired to adopt the crowdfunding approach by the success of recent space-related initiatives on RocketHub, Kickstarter and similar websites. The crowdfunding approach also is designed to encourage public participation. "We want this to be a mission done by the university but one that allows people around the world to participate and to be a part of this project," said Michael Paul, Penn State's director of space system initiatives.