Think of Google and you will usually think of a search engine, or an online giant. You can be excused for not thinking of the moon. However the Lunar X prize offered by the internet giant has inspired more private moon landing plans than ever before in the history of mankind’s space exploration.

The expenses associated with space exploration combined with close to no returns on investment had made it absolutely unprofitable for private enterprises to get involved in moon’s exploration. Google changes that scenario when it offered a$30 million prize for landing a robotic vehicle on the moon.

No sooner than the prize was announced a number of private concerns began the race to reach the moon to win the grand prize. many of them can be found online in various degrees of research. One of the more serious contenders is Moon Express. Their coffee table-sized spacecraft, will be totally solar-powered and will use hydrogen peroxide-based fuel to lower costs.

Introduced on  Thursday at Autodesk University in Las Vegas, by CEO Bob Richards, Moon Express wants to send this robotic spacecraft to the moon in 2015. Let’s see if they win the race. Giving science a boost is what this science project initiated by Google is what its all about.

A number of nations have been launching satellites into the geosynchronous orbit above the Earth. This has increased the possibility of a couple of them colliding in space. To ensure that this catastrophe does not occur the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA has come up with a solution.

They have developed a Space Surveillance Telescope that watches out for the satellites floating 22,000 miles above the surface of the planet in their orbits. The SST  has the job of discovering, identifying, and tracking orbiting objects in space. It is also going to keep an eye open for objects coming in from outer space.

After having being tested on a New Mexican mountain the SST will now be shifted to its permanent location in the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Station in Exmouth, Western Australia,  as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the US and Australia last month. This position will give it an astonishing view of the relatively less viewed southern hemispheric space.

The SST which is owned by the US Navy will be delivered by DARPA to the location in Australia and will then be operated by the Australian government. The operations of this combined science project will begin next year and will be available online in 2016.

Morpheus is the vertical take off and landing test bed vehicle being developed by NASA. The project hopes to design robotic landers which are capable of taking cargo weighing 500 kilo grams to the moon. It incorporates new green propellant propulsion systems along with an autonomous landing and hazard detection technology.

The tests so far have ended in some rather spectacular fiery crashes. Although in December 2013, they finally did manage to complete an explosion free test flight. The 54 second test flight took place at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility. Morpheus was launched from the ground over a flame trench and ascended approximately 50 feet.

The Morpheus lander then hovered for 15 seconds before completing a landing on its pad about 23 feet away from the launching area. the distance and time may not seem very impressive, but they are proof of success for NASA. The project is trying out cost and time saving “lean development” engineering practices.

While the current Morpheus lander is considering taking merely 500 kilograms to the moon, the scientists associated with the project are hoping to scale it up over time to a degree where they can land an entire habitat complete with crew on to the moon. Its early days as yet in this exciting science project and a whole lot of experimentation is yet to come.

One of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in outer space is landing on a comet. In all attempts made so far have not been successful. The space probe has either missed the comet altogether by misjudging the speed of the comet or crashed right into the surface of the comet and disintegrated.

Now a European spacecraft is hoping to land on a comet that it has been tracking for the last ten years. The craft called Rosetta was launched in 2004 and is waiting for the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. It has been in hibernation for the last two years after having positioned itself optimally to make the rendezvous.

On 20 January 2014 it will awaken and begin navigational measures to land on a two-and-a-half-mile-wide ball of ice and dust. All the while the comet will be continuing on its journey towards the sun and Rosetta will continue alongside mapping the surface of the comet.  Eventually by August it will pick the spot where it is to send its probe named Philae.

Philae will eventually, if all goes well, land on the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet in November 2014. The entire European space community is waiting for the day when this extensive science project finally is completed. Here’s wishing them all the success.

Delivery time may be cut down drastically in the future when you shop from online super store Amazon. They company has decided to use drones to make deliveries in a limited range area from their order fulfillment zones. They may end up delivering everything from shoes to small electronic consumer goods if they get the approval of the federal government.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos informed the media on Sunday that “Prime Air”, as the program is being called, will eventually see hundreds of small sized drones buzzing around the homes in America dropping off packages that have been ordered online. The company hopes to deliver the packages within a 60 minute limit.

Now that will be instant service. They will use the small “octocopter” as the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) of choice to make the deliveries. The octocopter is drone that can carry up to five pounds worth of stuff. New drones with stronger capabilities will have to be invented through new science experiments for the program to succeed.

Getting permission to use the drones will be another road block. While the Federal Aviation Administration is working to integrate civilian drones into US airspace , this is not going to happen overnight. The delivering drones will likely begin work around 2025. However it would be fun to imagine just how they would swoop down to deliver the goods to your home.