Lasermotive Takes Home Prize Money in 2009 Space Elevator Games! November 6, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in 2009 Space Elevator Games, Lasermotive, Space Elevator.add a comment
Seattle-based competitor Lasermotive has scored prize money in the 2009 Space Elevator Games—a rare feat!
Designed to spur ideas for the development of space elevators, a conceptual carbon-tethered lift from Earth to orbit that would cut the cost of transporting goods to space (including the Moon) dramatically, the competition requires teams to maintain certain average speeds and heights with their test climbers.
For a great intro to the games, see the video below, and keep up on the day-to-day details of the ongoing event via the official site and the Space Elevator Blog!:
Augustine Committee’s Final Report Delivered to President Obama October 24, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Augustine Panel, Norm Augustine, Obama, U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee.add a comment
The Review of Human Space Flight Plans committee (led by Norm Augustine) delivered its final report to President Obama on Thursday (The same day I suddenly didn’t have electricity…couple days of chaos there, but I’m back ;) ), and while there weren’t a lot of surprises per se (a draft version was available before, etc.), it’s still sparked plenty of fresh debate.
“‘The premier finding is that the human spaceflight program that the United States is currently pursuing is on an unsustainable trajectory.” -Norm Augustine, as reported by the Houston Chronicle
The panel found that NASA would need at least $3 billion more a year to complete it’s current slate of missions—an increase that seems unlikely in this economic climate. As a result, this landmark panel should result in big changes in NASA’s plans, especially regarding launch methods (namely scrapping the Ares rockets) and the scope/destinations of missions.
A notable suggestion from the panel is regarding having private companies assist NASA by launching astronauts for them—”space taxis“. This is right in step with Obama’s campaign space plan (which suggested “amplifying NASA’s reach” with the private sector and “unleashing the genius” of private enterprise—see my full analysis), and something I believe Obama may have had in mind all along (and just needed the panel to confirm).
I’ll have a more detailed look at the plan and the reaction up here at Luna C/I soon :)
“Moon Bombing” Plume Spotted; LCROSS Team “Blown Away” by Data October 17, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Cabeus, LCROSS, NASA, Polar ice, water.2 comments
NASA has announced that an alternate camera from the LCROSS caught an image of the plume from NASA’s recent “moon bombing”—and that good data was returned from the mission:
“We are blown away by the data returned…the team is working hard on the analysis and the data appear to be of very high quality.”- Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator and project scientist, “NASA’S LCROSS Captures All Phases of Centaur Impact”
In fact, all three phases of the impact–the impact flash, the plume, and the creation of the Centaur’s crater—wer captured, though the expcted 12-mile-high plume ended up only being one mile high. Still, besides a lack of on-the-moment drama, it appears everything with the mission was a ’smashing success’, and it should be exciting to see the data that unfolds in the next few weeks…
For more impact images, check out the press release and NASA’s gallery! :)
2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge Digs In This Weekend! October 15, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Astrobotic, Google Lunar X Prize, Regolith Excavation Challenge, robotics.2 comments
This weekend (October 17th-18th), 23 teams (including major Google Lunar X PRIZE competitor Astrobotic’s Moon Diggers team) will be getting down and dirty in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge at NASA Ames in Mountain View, CA (a stone’s throw from my old stomping ground, Santa Clara)!
Lunar regolith (soil) is a key resource in all kinds of ways—-it can be harvested for the all-important helium-3 and, now, water, and could be a valuable construction asset for moon bases. This competition spurs design concepts to maximize the speed and efficiency for these future lunar workhorses.
Check out the video below of an Astrobotic test run, and keep an eye here (and at the official site) for coverage of the results :) :
NASA’s “Moon Bombing” For Water Ice Tonight—A Quick Explanation October 8, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in LCROSS, Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA, Obama, private sector, water.1 comment so far
NASA’s surprisingly controversial “moon bombing” with the LCROSS craft is set for tonight, at 4:30am!
A lot of people (and I mean a lot–Twitter has been on fire , 38 Tweets on it in past ~30 seconds) are wondering why NASA’s doing this, and some are expressing levels of outrage.
A quick explanation: Water ice is important to moon colonies (and beyond—the oxygen and hydrogen can be used to make rocket propellant, which is incredibly expensive to launch off of Earth; and thus, the Moon could be a cost-effective ‘gas station’ for Mars and beyond), and this event tonight is a key study to whether it exists in shadowed craters sensors can’t see into. (See this great article from Universe Today for more on why water on the Moon is valuable.)
The LCROSS will drop it’s spent Centaur rocket (non-explosive, basically a large piece of metal) into the Cabeus A crater, and the LCROSS itself will follow into the crater, taking readings as it goes (and eventually impacts the same location).
The $79 million spent on the mission could pay itself back for the U.S.—private space development is a rapidly growing industry, one that Obama has suggested could be valuable to an economic turnaround. Companies are already set for a variety of commercial applications (including an extremely promising alternative energy, as explained there by Apollo 17 astronaut/geologist Jack Schmitt) , but the presence of valuable water ice gives them another lucrative motivation.
This will be a historic event—the mainstream-public attention alone has guaranteed that, and the successful discovery of water ice will be yet another spur to an already charging “base race” back to the Moon (for resources, this time) :)
You can watch the impact live on NASA TV at 4:30am PST (and there’s even a free watching event at OMSI here in Portland, OR.)
Masten Space Systems Wins $150k Lunar Lander Challenge Prize! October 8, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Google Lunar X Prize, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009, Masten Space Systems.add a comment
The 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has another winning team—Masten Space Systems!
The first year the competition has had two winners (and only the second year it’s had a winner at all), Mastens’ “Xombie” craft captured a Level One $150,000 purse yesterday (with their “Xoie” craft going for a Level 2 purse on October 28th-29th).
One of the best things about this is the slew of videos Masten produced of the effort—awesome coverage; gets me excited for the kind of coverage we could see from the Google Lunar X PRIZE teams :) Check out the video below, and a bunch of fun on-craft angles at their Youtube:
New 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge Team Announced—BonNovA! October 5, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in BonNovA, Google Lunar X Prize, Lunar Lander Challenge 2009, Masten Space Systems, lander.add a comment
The 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has announced an additional team entering competition—BonNovA!
A veteran of previous years, BonNovA’s Lauryad I+II landers will be attempting prizes on October 26th and 27th in Cantil, CA.
Check out a (very brief) video below of their first test lift-off earlier this year:
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Coming up this week on Wednesday and Thursday is Masten Space Systems‘ next attempts at the prize—stay tuned! :)
New Google Lunar X PRIZE Team–c-base Open Moon! October 2, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Germany, Google Lunar X Prize, c-base open moon, private sector.add a comment
Hot on the heels of Team Selenokhod, a new German team has entered the Google Lunar X PRIZE— c-base Open Moon!
With that badass render of the “c-rove” at the ready, the team has settled on a standard approach after initially having a “rockoon” (rocket-balloon) concept.
Their entry comes not long after news regarding the German government possibly joining the space fray.
Check out c-base Open Moon’s site for more details (and their nifty array of social media).
LCROSS Has New Crater in Crosshairs for Impact September 30, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Cabeus, LCROSS, Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA, water.1 comment so far
NASA announced on Monday that the LCROSS‘ hairs have picked a new target for its Oct. 9th impact: the larger Cabeus crater instead of Cabeus A.
As you can see in the Google Moon image above, Cabeus is both near the south pole and deeply shadowed—increasing the chance for hidden water ice that the LCROSS’ moon-bombing (using one of its spent rockets) hopes to stir up.
The impact is occurring at 4:30am PST Friday, Oct. 9th—with viewing events you can join, including one here in Portland, OR at OMSI. (I’d go, but I’ll actually be at work…full-time graveyard shift :) ).
Keep your crosshairs targeted here for coverage of the impact and its results :)
Team Selenokhod Joins Google Lunar X PRIZE! September 27, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Google Lunar X Prize, Kosmotras, Russia, Selenokhod, Thomas Gangale, private sector, property rights.add a comment
This past week, a new Google Lunar X PRIZE team was announced—Team Selenokhod, the first Russian team to compete!
Their website has an interesting level of detail from the get-go. They sound seriously committed to post-GLXP commercial enterprises, and they mention their launch company— ISC Kosmotras, using Dnepr rockets.
It’s exciting to have such an advanced team joining the fray (and another nationality). I’ve been reading a book by Thomas Gangale on int’l space law and property rights, and so far I’ve gathered that while nations can’t claim sovereignty, if a private enterprise from their state does, then the parent state is considered somewhat responsible for the private entity and its actions/claims. So, having a serious Russian lunar effort confirmed could mean a lot for Russia’s lunar affairs as a state (and that goes for each team, and its parent nation[s]).
Keep an eye here for updates as Team Selenokhod develops and more teams enter the 20-strong field for the prize…
