Legendary roboticist Red Whittaker is a professor who splits his time between teaching future engineers at Carnegie Mellon and owning/operating a working cattle farm in rural Pennsylvania. With a crack team of former students, he co-founded Astrobotic because he believes robots are the best solution for exploring remote, harsh environments -- from nuclear disaster zones to the moon.

When the 2011 tsunami decimated Japan's Pacific coast, robotics Professor Kazuya Yoshida and his family were lucky to escape harm's way. Understanding that it's only a matter of time before an even greater natural disaster strikes, the professor wants his rovers to explore the lunar caves, which could provide a suitable location for future human settlements that will help preserve our species.

For nearly a decade, people around the world have been racing to The Moon as part of the Google Lunar X-PRIZE, a $30 million contest. Developing an array of new technologies for landing and exploring the lunar surface, these private teams are making big strides and sacrifices to chase their dream of reaching the moon!