These 5 finalists will race to the moon in Google's Lunar XPrize competition

The race to the moon is heating up. Soon the Google Lunar XPrize will hand out $30 million in prizes to privately-funded teams who can send a robot to the moon, move 500 meters across its surface, and send pictures back to Earth. According the contest rules, contestants had until December 31, 2016 to book a seat on a rocket ride to the moon. Five teams out of the original 34 have made it past this crucial checkpoint. These missions must launch before December 31, 2017 in order to get a shot at the $20 million grand prize and $5 million second place prize (and another $5 million total in smaller prizes).