Sponsorships

The Tranquility Trek mission will rocket a remote-controlled robot to the Moon in May 2011 to win up to $25 million in the Google Lunar X Prize. The expedition will land on the Sea of Tranquility near the Apollo 11 site where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left humanity’s first boot prints on another world. Worldwide television and Web audiences numbering in the billions will discover what has happened to their tracks and their lander after four decades of micrometeorite bombardment and harsh radiation. The high-definition cameras on board the robot will enable viewers to see the Apollo landscape with the same clarity as the astronauts.
A fortunate few corporate marketers will be able to exploit this global media event with high-impact promotions and brand-building. Astrobotic will work with companies to reward their customers with exciting roles in this lunar adventure. Astrobotic plans to have several of the sponsored contests featured in reality-style television series prior to the Trek. And when the rover lands on the Moon in a worldwide broadcast event, sponsors will see their brand and their customers on center stage.
In addition to the sponsorship opportunities listed below, the path-breaking nature of the Moon shot may spur marketers to devise additional branding and involvement initiatives. Astrobotic will work with sponsors to realize such visions.

Logo placement
Google and the X Prize Foundation will have half of all available logo space. Corporate sponsors will earn logo space on the other half based upon their financial commitments.

Venues and schedule
Sponsors (and their best customers) have VIP access to the on-going design and test activities at Robot City in Pittsburgh.
Field trials are planned for lunar-like terrestrial locations, such as old lava flows and extreme desert sites. Sponsors’ promotions can select customers to join the robot-testing “away teams” at these exotic locales.
Launch parties will be held in early May 2011 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral, where sponsors will have VIP access to Launch Control as well as outdoor acreage for mass gatherings of customers.
During the two-week Tranquility Trek, sponsor executives and their clients will have behind-the-scenes access to Mission Control.

Title Sponsor
The company’s name becomes part of the adventure’s title, such as “The XYZ Tranquility Trek” or “The XYZ Expedition.” The company also has the right to name the lunar robot, either for the company or via a public contest.
The company will have the right to title the Launch Day party at Cape Canaveral, and executives of the title sponsor (and its special customers or vendors) will have two hours collectively to take control of the robot and drive across the lunar surface.

Drive on the Moon
The sponsor will attract customers with a “Drive on the Moon” promotion to select the first person to remotely drive the lunar rover after it rolls off the lander. The winner will have 15 minutes of fame, as his or her exploits are seen worldwide on television and the Web. This sponsorship can be expanded with additional “First Driver” contests that select winners from specific countries to drive on the moon – from the “First Japanese Lunar Driver” to the “First Brazilian Lunar Driver.”
In addition, company executives or VIP customers will have 30 minutes (collectively) to drive on the moon.

Education
The sponsoring company will have exclusive rights to conduct educational events and promotions for all age groups from kindergarten through graduate school.
The company will have the right to offer named Lunar Scholarships and/or Lunar Internships with winners hosted by Astrobotic Technology and Carnegie Mellon University. Astrobotic will work with the education sponsor to provide company-branded educational materials to classrooms, via collaborations with teacher associations. Astrobotic will develop the content for the materials (posters, comics, DVDs, Web sites). The sponsor’s executives and special customers will have 30 minutes collectively to drive on the Moon.

Video Host
Tranquility Trek will offer an American Idol-like competition to find a person with the right talents to communicate the mission’s adventure to the public, as a co-host with a professional presenter. On-air presence combined with quick wit and fast learning ability will be required of the winner. The Trek’s global television and Web feeds will be seen by billions of people, making this contest unprecedented in its ability to propel the winner into worldwide fame.

Communications
The communications sponsor – a network carrier or a handset maker – will control a very exotic promotional event: the ability to send text messages and e-mails via the Moon.
During the two weeks of the Trek, the rover will have the ability to relay text messages and e-mails “postmarked” with a snapshot of the lunar surface being crossed at the moment of relay. The communications sponsor also can offer exclusive access to its customers to talk to the rover as it explores – the robot will be able to conduct thousands of simultaneous conversations.

Computing
The computing sponsor will be the exclusive source for software that displays the live data being received at Mission Control as the expedition unfolds.  This experience can be exclusive to one computer manufacturer’s line or to one operating system.  The Mission Control access also provides users with the most HD video from the expedition of any source.

Chief Photographer / Videographer
The photography sponsor can participate in the development of the robot’s cameras and promote this association. As importantly, the sponsor can conduct a promotion to select a customer to become the Chief Photographer and/or Videographer for the expedition. The Chief Photographer will have an “all access pass” to document the terrestrial field trials and Launch Day preparations. During the robot’s lunar expedition, the winner will be in Mission Control to create special shots – taking control of the telephoto camera and directing the robot’s navigators to place it in selected positions.

Music
The Tranquility Trek offers several music promotions.  One songwriter-artist can be selected to premiere a new piece, the first music ever revealed from the surface of another planet.  In addition, the expedition can bring a personal music player to the lunar surface, filled with the playlist of a lucky customer. Landed near Apollo 11, the music player will await its chance to entertain future generations of tourists who come to visit the historic site.

Games
The games sponsor will own the rights to develop entertainment software based on Astrobotic missions. The software can be skill-based (directing the launching, landing and roving of an Astrobotic rover on the Moon) as well as simulation-based (envisioning and building a lunar outpost with simulated Astrobotic robots). High scores can reward customers with a few minutes of remote control driving time on an Astrobotic lunar rover.

Official suppliers
Technology components selected for the Tranquility Trek mission will have global exposure to avid followers of advanced initiatives. Select companies will be allowed to use the Tranquility Trek mission logo in their marketing materials.