Television channels to send robots to the moon

[Karan rocks]

Television channels to send robots to the moon​

The manned moon landing of 1969 was one of the biggest news events in modern history with just a handful of grainy television images to illustrate it.
Moon landing 2.0 - an unmanned landing scheduled for 2015 - will have a documentary channel and a reality TV show in tow.
It will be one small step for man, but one giant leap for television.
Two US networks, Discovery Channel and Science Channel, have signed onto the plan, part of the Google Lunar XPrize initiative, a $US30 million ($32.4 million) project that hopes to achieve a moon landing by December 31, 2015.
In order to win, a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon's surface that explores at least 500 metres and transmits high-definition video and images back to earth.
The two channels will document the efforts of several teams as they test and launch missions, including liftoff and what is being billed as ''live coverage of the winning lunar landing''.
The project ''offers all the ingredients of fantastic television; stakes, competition, big characters, and mind-blowing visuals'', Discovery and Science's group vice-president Eileen O'Neill said.
''When the winning craft touches down on the moon's surface, it's going to trigger buzz and inspiration all over the world. Our intention is to provide a live, front-row seat to history being made.''
For Discovery, in particular, there is enormous commercial value in partnering with live stunts that are packaged into TV events.
The channel was a broadcast partner to the ''Skywire'' event in which acrobat Nik Wallenda walked across Niagara Falls on a highwire, and drew 13 million viewers.
A stratosphere jump by Austrian Felix Baumgartner, drew 4.2 million viewers.
And in May the channel is planning to broadcast ''Everest Jump Live'', in which base jumper Joby Ogwyn will ascend 8848-metre Mount Everest and jump from the summit in a custom-made wing-suit.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/television-channels-to-send-robots-to-the-moon-20140403-361ia.html