Last September, Google, Inc. and the X PRIZE Foundation called on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity.

Google Lunar X PRIZE teams have until the end of 2012 to land a privately funded craft on the moon's surface, get it to roam at least 500 meters and transmit images, video and data back to Earth.

The winning team will receive a $20 million grand prize for their effort. Second prize is $5 million for a team that lands its craft successfully but cannot make it travel over 500 meters. An additional $5 million will be awarded if the rover can go beyond 5,000 meters.

Late last month, the X PRIZE Foundation and Google announced the first 10 teams in the race for the robotic race to the moon for $30 million in prizes.

The following are the first 10 teams announced.

Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA): Based in Romania and led by Dumitru Popescu, ARCA was also a contender in the Ansari X PRIZE. One of ARCA's most innovative projects thus far is Stabilo, a two-stage manned suborbital vehicle. The first stage uses what ARCA says is the world's largest Solar Montgolfier balloon. When the craft is at the appropriate height, a rocket-powered manned spaceship is launched from the balloon. The craft the team plans to enter in the Google Lunar X PRIZE will be called the "European Lunar Explorer."

Astrobotic: Astrobotic formed soon after Google announced its $30 million offering. The company, led by William "Red" Whittaker, was formed to coordinate the efforts of Carnegie Mellon University, security contractor Raytheon Company and The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Last November, Whittaker led a Carnegie Mellon robotics team to win the $2 million first-place prize in the DARPA Urban Challenge autonomous vehicle contest. Astrobotic will compete using the "Artemis Lander" and "Red Rover."

Chandah: Chandah (meaning "Moon" in Sanskrit) was founded by Adil Jafry, an energy industry entrepreneur. He is now chairman and CEO of Tara, the largest independent retail electricity provider in Texas. Jafry's goal is to catalyze commercialization of space, and bring advances in space travel, tourism, sciences and technology to the general public at large. Team Chandah's spacecraft will be named "Shehrezade."

FREDNET: Headed by Fred J. Bourgeois III, this multinational team is comprised of systems, software and hardware developers who serve as the leaders and overall coordinators of an international group of Open Source developers, engineers and scientists. Their goal is to bring the same successful approach used in developing major software systems to bear on the problems associated with space exploration and research.

LunaTrex: LunaTrex was formed only this year, and is composed of individuals, companies and universities from the Midwest. Led by Pete Bitar, LunaTrex's combined stable of knowledge combines rocket science, high-altitude near-space R&D, aviation design, robotics, trajectories and nonconventional propulsion expertise. Some of the team members were also competitors for the Ansari X PRIZE. The name of their competing craft will be "Tumbleweed."

Micro-Space: Helmed by Richard Speck, Colorado-based Micro-Space, Inc. specializes in developing space flight systems. The company claims its accomplishments include flying 17 bipropellant liquid fuel rockets, three near-hover rockets with vectored thrust guidance, radio-tracked flying, and developing several innovative life support systems. Micro-Space has been a competitor in both the Ansari X PRIZE and the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. The team's "Human Lunar Lander" will compete for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

Odyssey Moon: The first official entry for the competition, Odyssey Moon is a privately held lunar venture based in the Isle of Man. Founded by Dr. Robert Richards, Odyssey says its strategy involves "a unique small robotic lander" made to deliver scientific and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon. Richards says the company's goal is to help catalyze a "Moon Rush" to Earth's sister world, which he describes as an eighth continent rich in energy and resources floating just offshore. Odyssey's craft for the Lunar X Prize is called "MoonOne (M-1)."

Quantum3: Quantum3 Ventures believes the first voyage to the Moon in 35 years can and should be led by an American team showcasing American technology. The U.S.-based team is led by Paul Carliner, a senior executive in the aerospace industry. Three former advisers from NASA and the U.S. Senate spearhead the firm, which plans to use a partnership approach to the contest, making alliances in both the private and academic sector to build its lander. The team proposes to field a small spacecraft called "Moondancer" from the East Coast for a soft landing at the Sea of Tranquility.

Southern California Selene Group (SCSG): Led by Harold Rosen, SCSG describes its spacecraft as "an elegantly simple design that is relatively inexpensive to implement." The architecture for the craft, dubbed "Spirit of Southern California," will combine the control and communication systems used in some of the earliest communications satellites with the latest in electronic and sensor technology. Members of the team hold a combined 131 space-related patents and have had active participation in 500+ space missions, SCSG said.

Team Italia: Based in Italy and led by Professor Amalia Ercoli-Finzi, Team Italia brings together several universities and the "young heart of Italy." The team said reliability and costs are the driving factors for its mission design, while scientific objectives are secondary. It prefers a soft landing on the Moon using dedicated thrusters, after the craft orbits around the Moon for a few days to finalize operations. The team is currently deciding whether to use a single big rover or many smaller robots to trundle about the lunar surface.

Although Google said the contest has received more than 567 "expressions of interest" from scientists and businesspeople around the world, the 10 teams above have thus far paid the $10,000 registration fee and have proved that their space vehicles could be functional. Diamandis expects another 10 to 20 teams to register.

Resource: Google Lunar X PRIZE: Meet the Teams

Earlier: Space Race 2.0