Google called off its race to the moon weeks ago, when it became clear no private explorer would complete the trip by the March 31 deadline. That won't stop at least three teams from Israel, Japan and the U.S., who say their missions are a still a go, with or without the contest's $20 million prize.
"We are full steam ahead," said Yigal Harel, program director at SpaceIL, the Israeli team that plans a soft-landing on the moon later this year.
When the Lunar XPrize was introduced in 2007, interest in moon exploration was at a low. No government had landed there since the 1970s and no businesses had seriously contemplated it. But the contest has had its intended effect, jump-starting a cottage industry of would-be space explorers, even if no one emerged to take Google's money. Last year, overall investment in space startups by venture capitalists climbed to a record $2.8 billion, according research firm CB Insights
