A readers points me to the debut of the RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod, a micro-rover contest involving stages of competition that ultimately will result in a race on the Moon as the final stage:

Micro Rover Race

The RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod is a micro rover race. Participants will build very small rovers to race, both for time and against one another. The Lundar Iditarod will take the top three participants to the moon for a final challenge.

Gated Challenge

The RevUp Render Lunar Iditarod is a gated challenge.  Participants must partake in the lower level before being allowed to participate in the next.  The different levels will be called “Stages.” Having different stages will provide funding for competition and also prevent individuals from jumping in at the last second and stealing the “prize” of racing on the moon.

There will be five stages:

Each stage has its own entry requirements.  Each stage will have a separate entry fee.  Each stage will have separate rewards.  Teams may participate in as many stages as they pay for and qualify for in a single event.  However, no fees are refundable.

The first and second stage competitions will be held quarterly starting on September 6th, 2014.  The third stage will be held on to-be-determined dates concurrent with the first and second stage competitions once there are 16 qualified entrants.

The fourth stage race will take place seven months prior to the launch of the payloads to the moon.

Each stage of competition among the micro rovers (called DogeSleds) is laid out. Here is, for example, stage one:

Teams must connect their DogeSled to the competition wifi network.   All teams must successfully start from a fixed position and travel nine meters in lunar regolith simulant across a finish line in under ten minutes.

The entry fee is 2,250,000 dogecoin.

A prize for the fastest time in an event will be awarded.  That prize will be 3,000,000 dogecoins.

As you can see, the fees and prizes are expressed in Dogecoin, “an open source peer-to-peer digital currency”. Find the latest value in US dollars at DogePay – DogeCoin Price.

The schedule is still being worked out:

The first two stages will be held quarterly up to seven months before the launch.  The third stage will be announced and held when 16 participants have advanced through the first two stages.  The fourth stage will feature a bracketed race-off that will take place seven months before the launch from which the top three DogeSleds will advance to the moon. DogeSleds will be placed into the stowage for the launch to the moon six months prior to the launch.

The primary sponsor is RevUp Render a cloud computing service.

Requirements and Registration are now available.