Google Lunar X Prize Roundup #2 November 30, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup, Odyssey Moon.add a comment
It’s time for the second installment of my weekly Google Lunar X PRIZE roundups!
- NASA is taking suggestions for their own new space prize until December 7th!
- Odyssey Moon’s site has undergone a dramatic (and spiffy) makeover—and they’re looking for potential payloads! They also now have six current customers (companies) listed…including an effort to place a Swedish cottage on the Moon (seriously! :) ).
- Team ARCA posted a cool Q+A about their recent test flight of the Helen rocket and their interesting methods, including a nugget about elbow room problems with Romanian launches…
- Team White Label Space announced a new partner—Spanish electronics systems firm Emxys!
- Team FREDNET now has a live streaming video show every week (with chat, etc.), Tuesdays at 11am EST
- You can now help name team SYNERGY MOON’s lander! (If you donate, and the donations add up to their goal…)
- White Label Space also solved their Steve Allen double-agent mystery! ;)
- The official blog, The Launch Pad, posted an interesting breakdown of the NASA contracts awarded last week, alongside other goodies.
- Will Pomerantz, Senior Director of Space Prizes for the GLXP and active community emissary, will be speaking at the Imagine 09 Conference in Houston, TX this week.
And that’s it for this week’s wrapup—come back next Monday for more, and click here for all roundups :)
China Announces Chang’e-2 Launch Date and Chang’e-3 Lander Details! November 30, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Chang'e, China, lander.add a comment
The China Daily has reported that China’s lunar program has set the launch date for it’s second lunar orbiter—the Chang’e-2—as well as announced more details of it’s Chang’e-3 lunar lander mission:
“[The Chang'e-2] will orbit 100 km closer to the moon and be equipped with better facilities. We expect to acquire more scientific data about the moon with increased accuracy.” -Ye Peijian, chief designer of the Chang’e-1(“China to take next leap with moon probe“, The China Daily)
The upgraded Change-2 (originally designed as simply a backup for the Chang’e-1) will launch in October 2010.
Meanwhile, they also announced the Chang’e-3 lander’s destination: it will touch down “before 2013″ in the Sinus Iridum—the ’Bay of Rainbows’.
The article also notes the Chinese desire to explore resources on the lunar surface—which of course means helium-3.
The selection of the Sinus Iridum is interesting, then—a potential harvesting hotspot? I’ll have more on the location later this week as I get my new weekly selenography series kicked into gear, so check back for that :)
NASA Administrator Bolden—Announcements at Public Lunch Event? November 28, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Charles Bolden, NASA.add a comment
NASA Watch reports that NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is not only going to be speaking at a public luncheon for Women in Aerospace, but that there could be major announcements at the event.
It’s $70 a ticket for the two-hour lunch event on Wednesday, December 9th from 11:30am to 1:30pm, and will be at the Ritz-Carlton by the Pentagon in Arlington, VA (map). So if you’re a space enthusiast along the Beltway who’d like to be there (and perhaps even shoot him a question or two during the Q+A), check out the WIA event page :)
Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #1! November 24, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup.add a comment
It’s time for the first entry in a new weekly feature I’m going to have here at Luna C/I—the Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup!
Every week, there’s a lot of little tidbits from across the spectrum of Lunar X PRIZE teams (23 teams as of this writing), and going forward I’m going to be collecting them for you as a handy reference for the highlights :)
So without further ado, here’s your first grand-central-station lunar link-a-thon!:
- The official site posted a feature article by Peter Diamandis, Chairman/CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, on the value of water on the moon!
- The official GLXP blog, The Launch Pad, posted a great roundup on a variety of space prizes.
- Team Omega Envoy announced the winning entry for their ‘name-our-rover’ contest: “SAGAN” :) Close race, too–the SAGAN name won their poll by a mere 6 votes!
- Team White Label Space revealed an intriguing noir/spy game mystery with a member of their team and Team Synergy Moon… ;)
- Competing company Astrobotic was selected by NASA for a study on excavation robots and lunar gravity.
- Team Frednet posted some images of their lunar lander mock-up in progress.
- Amanda Stiles of the X PRIZE foundation (the lady behind the @GLXP Twitter feed) did a podcast with Evadot on building the X PRIZE community.
- And last but not least, Keith Cowing over at NASA Watch reported a rumor that NASA may match the $30 million prize, and that Google may up their ante as well.
Swing by next week for the next batch of Lunar X PRIZE goodness (Monday’s a grim day for a roundup, so I may scoot the post over to every Friday) , and if you have a link you’d like me to consider, you can share it in the comments below or drop me a line at nickazer@yahoo.com (Fancy, I know) :)
LCROSS Impact Results–Water Was Found! November 14, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in Cabeus, LCROSS, NASA, Polar ice, private sector, water.add a comment
NASA has released the preliminary results from the LCROSS “moon bombing” impact, and the news is that water has indeed been found!
“‘Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water.’” -Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist
With mission accomplished, and a big new financial motivator for companies (water) having been confirmed several times over, things are really beginning to heat up for NASA and the private sector (the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, matched by NASA for a $60 million total? Drool…)
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.1 comment so far
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.)
