A bunch of bananas are hanging inside a cage full of monkeys with a box beneath it. Pretty soon one of the monkeys jumps on the box to snatch a banana; the zookeeper sprays the other monkeys with ice cold water. After a few repeats of this behavior every time a hungry monkey tries to snatch a banana the other monkeys attack him. A week later the zookeeper replaces a monkey with a new hungry monkey who immediately tries to snatch lunch. To his shock he's attacked by the other monkeys for no apparent reason. One by one the original monkeys are replaced by new monkeys, and each new monkey quickly discovers the terribly high price of bananas in this cage. Hunger aside, no monkey reaches for a banana . . why? Because that's how its done around here. And all it took is a little ice cold water at the very beginning.

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a large and tantalizing banana. Innovation required... no ice water. This is the wild and crazy side of space exploration, the place where dreams can rather quickly become a reality that just as quickly changes how people think; the boundary between what can and can't be done gets pushed way back.

Okay, maybe private ventures to the Moon seem a little strange at first blush. Afterall, private businesses are designed to make money, so why not just build condos at the beach? Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, but why not find a way to make money and do something really outta here at the same time? And imagine involving young people in the doing of it, immersing kids in the world of hands-on science and engineering.

I'm a proud graduate of Aviation High School in NYC. It seems like a century ago looking back, but I was taught very well by an amazing group of teachers. This was a public vocational high school that combined dirty fingernails with a tough curriculum of math and science - there was little separation between classroom physics and the flightline. Quantum 3's approach relies on this close bond between theory and immediate application - we intend to use our journey to educate and inspire, and to bring back the "can do" attitude as we grab those bananas!

-- Posted by Liam Sarsfield, Quantum3 cofounder and senior vice president