In any long-term competition, the playing field is going to change over time. While we enjoy seeing the field of competitors grow with new teams, there is always the understanding that some teams will not remain in the competition through the end. When those teams leave the competition for new opportunities that, by definition of the rules, would not be available to them as an Official Team, we can be pleased that we offered them a springboard.

And that is why today we say goodbye to Quantum3 with admiration and well-wishing. The team has decided that their business plan is taking them in a different direction than what they would be required to do to win the competition. They are leaving the Google Lunar X PRIZE, but will remain in the private space sector. We wish them well, and look forward to cheering them on with their new direction.

We’ve got rockets. We’ve got rovers. We’ve got a race. But what we don’t have is a creative, original T-Shirt that perfectly captures the spirit of exploration and innovation of the Google Lunar X PRIZE. And is any world-wide competition complete without a cool T-Shirt? No! So we’re reaching out to you, our biggest fans, to help us solve this grand challenge, in true X PRIZE Foundation fashion (no pun intended). The best T-Shirt design will win a $250 gift certificate to CafePress.com (which we know you’ll spend exclusively on our store, nudge nudge). Our second favorite shirt will earn a $150 gift certificate. So get out your zero-gravity pens, strap on that space helmet, and get in a lunar state of mind. The competition starts now!

Click here to Enter!

Explore the Google Lunar X PRIZE in Google Earth

Every day we get closer to the Moon, but why not spend some time exploring the Google Lunar X PRIZE here on Earth? We've just released a Google Earth KML file that allows you to journey around the planet to visit our teams, preferred partners, and other places of interest!

Click to go to the downloads page.