Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #28 September 3, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup, Luna C/I , add a commentAfter some technical downtime here, as well as personal travel and other technical difficulties (I finally set aside time in a crazy week to do a post…and that’s when Twitter’s lists went down temporarily. Doh!), I’m finally able to bunker down and get a mondo-sized Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup out :)
This roundup’s going to cover the month-long period of July 20th-August 20th, with Roundup #29 (coming shortly) covering the 20th-27th.
So, without further ado, here’s a whole month of GLXP highlights. A lot of technical advancement can be seen…it feels like the competition is rounding a new corner. Exciting! :) Check out the whole lowdown:
- Next Giant Leap and Astrobotic are both seeking awards from NASA’s big new $30.1 million for lunar data! GLXP Gal Amanda Stiles posted a neat feature article on NASA’s move, and GLXP guy Will Pomerantz also blogged about it :)
- Team ARCA‘s Mission 4 was postponed to October after a balloon problem on their attempt. Here’s the mission overview and the initial computer animation.
- Team FREDNET tested components of their rover on a balloon flight (more on the components)! They also blogged video updates on their rover’s progress, a look at lunar squirrel cages and a presentation in Spanish :)
- Team Omega Envoy began construction on their lunar lander prototype, and also announced they’ll have a Honeybee Robotics payload on the lander!
- Team Part Time Scientists‘ rover came to life with its first steps, and they also blogged about it’s brain. (“It’s alive!”) They were also interviewed by Evadot!
- Team White Label Space established themselves as a Foundation, and partnered with Advanced Composites! They were also interviewed by the Asia Times regarding the impact of the upcoming Russian/Indian Chandrayaan-2 and blogged about the mission structure of the NASA Surveyor program, the leader of partner Lunar Numbat’s upcoming TEDx talk,
- Team SELENE blogged all about their weather balloon project: technical progress, fun parachute tests, preparation,the Wilson cloud chamber design and related atom physics! They also featured an article from the Asia Times about GLXP goings-on and blogged more about thelunar mail-by-cannon concept :)
- Team Astrobotic blogged about lunar excavators they are developing, attitude control testing, ramp deployment without motors,. Also, their leader (David Gump) was interviewed for a Carnegie Mellon podcast on the team, the Pittsburgh Tribune featured the team’s multiple award goals, and they were also featured by MSNBC.
- Team Synergy Moon partnered with Aerogels Australia B&C! They also posted photos of a model of their rover.
- Team Barcelona Moon added the Technical University of Catalonia to their team! They (and team FREDNET) were also featured on Spanish TV.
- The New York Times featured Google’s GLXP point gal, Tiffany Montague!
- New Scientist featured 11 total teams in a slideshow article!
I’ll have Roundup #29 posted this weekend as well, and next week the Roundups will be back on their weekly rotation :)
NASA Announces $30.1 Million for Data from Innovative Lunar Demonstrations August 12, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : NASA, private space , 3commentsThis past week, NASA announced a big boost for private space companies with their eye on the Moon: $30.1 million made available for ‘how-to’ data on lunar missions!
The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is a way for NASA to announce that it’s ready and looking to purchase certain data:
“The BAA asks for information about the design and demonstration of an end-to-end lunar landing mission. This includes data associated with hardware design, development and testing; ground operations and integration; launch; trajectory correction maneuvers; lunar braking, burn and landing; and enhanced capabilities.” -“NASA Seeks Data from Innovative Lunar Demonstrations”, NASA
This essentially gives smaller companies making lunar efforts (like those in the Google Lunar X PRIZE) one big new customer. There will be multiple awards, so a number of different companies could submit proposals and receive contracts, resulting in a lot of potential new federal business opportunities.
Contracts have a $10,000 minimum, and NASA’s deadline for proposals is September 8th.
This is a significant concrete step in NASA’s move towards focusing on private space; by handing the money out externally, they could in theory help support the economy while acquiring that same data.
Stay tuned as that deadline approaches; September 8th will come up pretty fast, so before long we should be seeing a lot of interesting updates on the various contracts that come out of this :)
Back and Rolling :) August 10, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Luna C/I , add a commentSite move’s all settled, so after that week off I’m back and rolling :)
I’ll have a $30 million update and a mondo-sized Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup over the next few days, so stay tuned, and keep an eye out for little revamps here and there with the shiny new digs :D
Technical Downtime :) July 27, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Luna C/I , add a commentI’m going to be moving the site over to a different hosting source this week, so I’ll be back next week (or sooner, if it turns out to be quick and easy) with regular updates, a 2-week edition of the Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup, and some early revamps/expansions of the site :)
In the meantime, keep an eye on my Twitter page :)
Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #27 July 20, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment- Team SELENE posted about mail by cannon. Yes, cannon. There’s even test video. (All you need to do is launch bacon out of it and the awesomeness will be complete! :D )
- Team FREDNET signed a memorandum of understanding with Broward College, bringing CubeSat experience :) They also blogged about satellite views of a solar eclipse.
- Team Astrobotic posted video of a test of their rover’s motors! They also continue to cook up Black Magic.
- Team White Label Space‘s rover is receiving a master’s thesis thermal analysis :)
- Team Synergy Moon posted about NASA’s announcement of new Centennial Prizes!
- Team Part Time Scientists uploaded a bunch more pictures of their ILA ’10 presence :)
- Mike Doornbos (of neat podcasting spot Evadot) is taking over the GLXP social media reins for a week (with the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE racing down to its finish)! :)
- NASA Propulsion Academy students visited the GLXP! (Future lunar pioneers? :) )
- The GLXP LEGO MoonBots teams received Mindstorms kits from LEGO HQ! :)
NASA Announces New Centennial Challenges; Two Moon-Related :) July 15, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Centennial Challenges, NASA, lunar night, private space, rover , add a comment
This week, NASA announced three new Centennial Challenge prizes—the first in five years :) Much like the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, these prizes set tasks to be completed for $1.5-2 million each.
Two of the new challenges are directly lunar-related:
- Night Rover Challenge: Demonstrate a solar-powered rover that can store its energy to operate during the lunar night. With the theorized Peak of Eternal Light shown to not quite exist (89% illumination being the max), and most of the Moon receiving less than that regardless, sustainable (and cost-effective) night operation will prove to be a critical leg-up for any lunar effort.
- Sample Return Robot Challenge: A prize for the aspiring Jack Schmitts and Lee Silvers of the world (…or, worlds), this challenge sets forth the task of demonstrating a robot that can retrieve geologic samples from a wide, varied terrain without human interference.
Both prizes have a purse of $1.5 million, with the third Nano-Satellite prize having a purse of $2 million.
Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #26 July 13, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a commentHere’s all your Google Lunar X PRIZE goodness for the week ending July 12th…
- A potential new GLXP team, Phoenicia, is looking for ‘kickstarts’ to get them into the running!
- Team ARCA posted a slideshow of their Helen 2 rocket being loaded onto a ship in preparation for their upcoming test launch!
- Team SELENE posted about their antennas for an upcoming weather balloon experiment!
- Team Astrobotic conjured up a post on their “Black Magic”… :)
- Team C-Base Open Moon posted a 3-D rendering of their rover!
- Team Part Time Scientists held a contest on their Twitter page :) They also blogged about their one-year anniversary!
To keep up on all of the teams’ Twitterverse activities, check out my handy GLXP Twitter List :)
Potentially Icy Northern Crater Mapped By LRO July 7, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA, Rozhdestvenskiy, lunar North Pole, lunar mining, lunar polar regions, lunar water, water , add a commentNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has mapped for the first time in high resolution a crater of interest for potential ice deposits.
A permanently-shadowed crater within the larger, northern Rozhdestvenskiy, the LRO’s advanced Mini-RF imaging technology was able to bring out the Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) of the crater and its surroundings. A stark contrast between the two suggests thick deposits of ice, as were shown generally to exist around the north pole earlier this year.
You better get used to ‘Rozhdestvenskiy’, as deposits will surely make this an icy hotspot for future lunar missions and subsequent (lucrative) mining efforts.
Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #25 July 5, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment- Team ARCA is sending childrens’ artwork to space! And still taking submissions :)
- Team Synergy Moon welcomed a new development group for their Tesla prospector rover!
- Team Astrobotic took a look at potential sun shield materials :)
- Team White Label Space highlighted new work by their Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) engineer, Dhanushka Chamara Liyanage!
- A member of team Omega Envoy, Jason Dunn, reported on the interesting project tracks at Singularity University!
- Team Part Time Scientists celebrated their 1-year anniversary as a team! Meanwhile, Will Pomerantz of the GLXP celebrated his 5-year anniversary with the X PRIZE Foundation—lots of milestones :)
Fact Sheet: Obama's New White House National Space Policy June 28, 2010
Posted by Nick Azer in : National Space Policy, Obama, cooperation, private sector , 1 comment so farPresident Obama’s new Space Policy document for the White House has just been released!
“In a world where the benefits of space permeate almost every facet of our lives, irresponsible acts in space can have damaging consequences for all of us. As such, all nations have a responsibility to act to preserve the right of all future generations to use and explore space. The United States is committed to addressing the challenges of responsible behavior in space, and commits further to a pledge of cooperation…” – National Space Policy Fact Sheet
Here’s the PDF of the full 18-page policy, and a rundown below of the fact sheet‘s bullet points with my brief commentary:
“Key Elements of the Administration’s National Space Policy
- The United States remains committed to many long-standing tenets in space activities. The United States recognizes the rights of all nations to access, use, and explore space for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity.
“Benefit of all humanity” is similar to language in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
- The United States calls on all nations to share its commitment to act responsibly in space to help prevent mishaps, misperceptions, and mistrust. The United States will take steps to improve public awareness of government space activities and enable others to share in the benefits of space through conduct that emphasizes openness and transparency.
Key there is probably ‘mishaps’: disasters in space are obviously expensive, and so the risk getting out of control would be a roadblock to increased access to space (as the risk could become too great for anyone to want to undertake) and in turn, to future private industry (economic) growth.
- The United States will engage in expanded international cooperation in space activities. The United States will pursue cooperative activities to the greatest extent practicable in areas including: space science and exploration; Earth observations, climate change research, and the sharing of environmental data; disaster mitigation and relief; and space surveillance for debris monitoring and awareness.
- The United States is committed to a robust and competitive industrial base. In support of its critical domestic aerospace industry, the U.S. government will use commercial space products and services in fulfilling governmental needs, invest in new and advanced technologies and concepts, and use a broad array of partnerships with industry to promote innovation. The U.S. government will actively promote the purchase and use of U.S. commercial space goods and services within international cooperative agreements.
“Actively promote” the purchase of U.S. commercial services internationally. A logical, if significant step.
- The United States recognizes the need for stability in the space environment. The United States will pursue bilateral and multilateral transparency and confidence building measures to encourage responsible actions in space, and will consider proposals and concepts for arms control measures if they are equitable, effectively verifiable, and enhance the national security of the United States and its allies. In addition, the United States will enhance its space situational awareness capabilities and will cooperate with foreign nations and industry to augment our shared awareness in space.
Arms control “if” it is ”equitable, effectively verifiable” and enhances U.S. national security. That’s a big “If” :)
- The United States will advance a bold new approach to space exploration. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will engage in a program of human and robotic exploration of the solar system, develop new and transformative technologies for more affordable human exploration beyond the Earth, seek partnerships with the private sector to enable commercial spaceflight capabilities for the transport of crew and cargo to and from the International Space Station, and begin human missions to new destinations by 2025.
The 2025 date Obama mentioned in his April speech pops up again, presumably for an asteroid mission. “New destinations”.
- The United States remains committed to the use of space systems in support of its national and homeland security. The United States will invest in space situational awareness capabilities and launch vehicle technologies; develop the means to assure mission essential functions enabled by space; enhance our ability to identify and characterize threats; and deter, defend, and if necessary, defeat efforts to interfere with or attack U.S. or allied space systems.
Identifying threats/debris comes up repeatedly in this fact sheet; appears to be a tenet of Obama’s planned international cooperation.
- The United States will fully utilize space systems, and the information and applications derived from those systems, to study, monitor, and support responses to global climate change and natural disasters. The United States will accelerate the development of satellites to observe and study the Earth’s environment, and conduct research programs to study the Earth’s lands, oceans, and atmosphere.
This fact sheet from the White House covers the important points from the full policy document [PDF]—I’m going to have a look at that and see what I can wean from there :)