J.J. Abrams Helps Launch New Doc Series to Land Robot on Moon
J.J. Abrams will executive produce an upcoming online docu-series, Moon Shot, which tracks 16 teams participating in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition to land a robot on the moon.
While the XPRIZE comes with a $30 million reward, the show’s first trailer reveals its participants are far more motivated by the magnificent possibilities that reaching the moon epitomizes. The inspirational clip offers a peek at the various teams from around the world — Silicon Valley tech experts, IT specialists in India, hackers from Germany — as well as their remarkable designs.
In order to win, the team’s robot must not only reach the surface of the moon, but explore at least 500 meters and transmit high-definition video and images back to earth before December 31st, 2017. A complete breakdown of all the teams is available on the Lunar XPRIZE website.
Moon Shot comprises nine short films, the first of which is slated to debut on Google Play on March 15th, and then on YouTube March 17th. The series was directed by documentarian Orlando von Einsiedel, who earned an Oscar nomination for his 2014 film, Virunga.