Google backs private Moon landing

Search giant Google is offering a $30m prize pot to private firms that land a robot rover on the Moon.The competition to send a robot craft to the Moon is being run with the X-Prize Foundation.To claim the cash, any craft reaching the lunar surface must perform a series of tasks such as shoot video and roam for specific distances.Firms interested in trying for the prize have until the end of 2012 to mount their Moonshot. Click here for more.