Chris Pavlovski Jumps Aboard Next Giant Leap

DENVER, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Giant Leap, a space exploration company competing for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, has officially announced the appointment of Chris Pavlovski as their Director of Marketing. Mr. Pavlovski is currently the CEO of JMG - Jolt Media Group Ltd., a privately held digital media company based in Toronto, Canada.

Chris is a veteran in online marketing and advertising. At JMG, Chris works with various advertising agencies and companies including Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Virgin Mobile, Coors, Verizon, Publicis, Omnicom, Yahoo and MTV. He was instrumental in the development of various patent pending advertising formats used by over 50 different fortune 500 companies. His studies included Economics and Computer Science at the University of Toronto.

"For most people, space exploration is an old thought. I'm here to change that and bring a new age marketing strategy that will help take NGL to the moon," says Chris Pavlovski. He also adds, "Our team is cutting edge and it's a privilege to work with institutions, companies and individuals like MIT, Sierra Nevada Corp. and former NASA astronaut, Jeffrey Hoffman."

"Reaching for the moon is a bold endeavor that requires a broad spectrum of expertise and talent," said CEO of Next Giant Leap, Michael Joyce. "I am very pleased to have Chris join our team! 2010 will certainly be an exciting year for Next Giant Leap."

ABOUT NEXT GIANT LEAP

Next Giant Leap is a consortium of industry and academia organized to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE. The team's lead systems integrator is Sierra Nevada Corporation, known for its innovation in small spacecraft. In 2008, the Sierra Nevada Corp. Space Systems division was awarded a contract to build 18 Orbcomm satellites with an option for 30 more. Leading the difficult task of final descent and safe landing on the lunar surface is Draper Laboratory. Draper has been involved in space guidance navigation and control since the earliest days of the space program, supporting Apollo, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading engineering institution in the United States, is Next Giant Leap's key academic partner. The MIT team includes five time Shuttle astronaut Jeff Hoffman and Professor David Miller, head of MIT's Space Systems Laboratory and developer of the innovative SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) payload on the International Space Station. The MIT team has constructed "Talaris", a flying earth based "hopper" that allows development and testing of the critical lunar landing and mobility system. Another innovative small company that has partnered with the team is Aurora Flight Sciences, a company that operates on the frontiers of flight with specialties in unmanned aerial vehicles. For more information, please visit www.nextgiantleap.com.

ABOUT THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE

The $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. For more information about the Google Lunar X PRIZE, please visit www.googlelunarxprize.org.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its revolution partner, BT Global Services, are creating prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.

SOURCE Next Giant Leap