Google Lunar X PRIZE–Two New Teams Announced, Plus Mystery Team Revealed! December 27, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize , add a commentLast week (during my fancy little holidays transition over from the old Luna C/I site), two new teams were announced for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, bringing the overall announced total up to 16:
Euroluna: Centered in Denmark, the European Lunar Exploration Association’s team has compared their rover offering to a “mobile phone on wheels“. Euroluna has started with quite a media bang– tons of Youtube videos already on their channel and a Twitter feed up and going.
The minimalist “mobile phone on wheels”. Can you hear me now?
SELENE: A German-Chinese team (the founder, Markus Bindhammer, being a German from Bavaria residing in Shanghai), the SELENE team plans to attempt the Prize with a rocket engine-propelled car, LuRoCa 1:
Rocket cars can cover a lot of ground, fast, giving LuRoCa 1 a potential advantage for the “travel 500 meters” requirement of the prize.
In addition, the ‘Mystery Team’ (5th to register for the prize overall) was finally revealed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley as being Next Giant Leap: based from a variety of substantial companies and organizations, little is known about their lander beyond their rendering:
For another interesting and as-yet not officially announced Google Lunar X PRIZE team, check out White Label Space at their interesting Blogger site :)
Bow?…Wow: NASA Lunar Pressurized Rover To Be Part of Obama Inaugural Parade (News) December 19, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, NASA, rover , add a commentAn awesome (and rather adorable) news bit about the upcoming Jan 20th Obama Inaugural parade:
NASA’s small pressurized rover concept is, according to a report from Keith Cowing at OnOrbit, going to participate in the parade, and will even crabwalk (pictured above doing so, via NASA’s EDGE blog) and bow before the podium. A number of NASA folks will be there alongside the rover, and a suited astronaut will exit the vehicle and plant or carry a U.S. flag.
I cannot wait for video of this :D
For more information on the now-officially-awesome inaugural parade, check out the official site :)
Picture of the Week: Sweet Seventeen December 16, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, Google Moon, NASA, rover, selenography , add a comment
That is a NASA file image of astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt (now an active supporter of helium-3 mining on the Moon) in Mare Serenitatis alongside he and Eugene Cernan‘s rover during the Apollo 17 mission, in which astronauts spent by far the most amount of time exploring the surface, roving for 21 miles instead of the hundreds of yards previous astronauts had been limited to.
– Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17 Commander. Last man to walk on the moon, December 14, 1972.
Griffin 'Strife' Report Update December 14, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, NASA, Obama , add a commentAn update on my last post about the OrlandoSentinel.com blog reporting strife between NASA’s administrator Mike Griffin and the Obama space transition team, via Space.com:
“Today, Griffin replied, calling the charges “simply wrong.”
“I am appalled by any accusations of intimidation, and encourage a free and open exchange of information with the contractor community,” Griffin said. “I would like to reiterate what I have stated in a previous email to all NASA Officials: we must make every effort to ‘lean forward,’ to answer questions promptly, openly and accurately.”"
-”NASA Chief ‘Appalled’ By Accusations He’s Not Cooperating with Obama’s Team “, Space.com Staff
For more info on Obama’s space transition team, check out the official transition site, Change.gov.
Strife Between NASA's Griffin and Obama Transition Over Constellation? (News) December 12, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, Current News, NASA, Obama , add a commentA report from the Orlando Sentinel describes problems that are arising between the Obama space transition team (headed by a former associate administrator of NASA, Lori Garver) and the current NASA administrator, Mike Griffin:
“In a heated 40-minute conversation last week with Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator who heads the space transition team, a red-faced Griffin demanded to speak directly to Obama, according to witnesses.
In addition, Griffin is scripting NASA employees and civilian contractors on what they can tell the transition team and has warned aerospace executives not to criticize the agency’s moon program, sources said.”
- “NASA has become a transition problem for Obama”, by Robert Block, Orlando Sentinel
It’s probably naive to assume that all government relations, especially in a transition where one’s legacy could be at stake (Griffin’s), are going to be peachy-keen and happy. High-level leaders are always going to have a certain amount of ego, and they’re always going to clash (the films “Thirteen Days” and “W.” demonstrate the White House Cabinet brand of this pretty well).
The article goes on to illustrate examples that suggest this strife is simply an example of that, and not indicative of actual problems with Constellation that the Obama team would have.
Obama has shown consistent support for Constellation, even getting involved with allowing the NASA purchase of Soyuz craft in the middle of the campaign (with help from Joe Biden), and the article from today mentions an idea from NASA that I think hits the nail on the head (and that I’ve talked about here before on my own): that the Obama administration “could take ownership of the [Constellation] program and ‘re-brand’ it as their own with minor tweaks.””
With all the bad news about, the Obama administraion’s going to need some good, inspirational PR, and the Constellation program could prove an excellent source for that.
And regardless, even if the Constellation program was (by some strange series of occurances) seriously delayed or cancelled, the probably more-relevant-anyways private sector will still be rolling along, and other countries are going to the Moon (and in my opinion, will win the ‘Base Race’ anyways; more motivation, with Apollo being ‘old hat’ here), so mankind’s integration and colonization of the Moon will go on, with or without NASA.
Google Lunar X PRIZE Video: Meet the Team–Omega Envoy December 9, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Omega Envoy, Youtube , add a commentLast week, the Google Lunar X PRIZE Youtube channel posted the first in a series of video features meeting the teams of the competition, with the same questions to be asked of each group in an entertaining format. The first team up is the newest, Omega Envoy:
The X PRIZE Foundation has done an excellent job with their media on the prize so far, and they’re getting better all the time; keep an eye on that channel and their blog.
Personally, between a teleport and a jetpack, if that teleporter’s safe, it’s teleporter all the way for me :)
Chandrayaan-1 Payload Feature #4: Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM) December 8, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Bulgaria, Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-1 Payload Features, Indian Space Research Organization, Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA, radiation , add a commentToday is the fourth in a series of features on each of the Indian lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1′s scientific payloads. The Chandrayaan-1 has 11 scientific instruments onboard to complete an array of measurements: five Indian instruments, and six from other nations and organizations (including the ESA and NASA).
For this edition, we look at the Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment, or RADOM, which is from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM)
The RADOM is essentially looking to get results (like those pictured above) on just how much radiation there is in lunar orbit and around the surface, so future moon missions have a clearer image if just how much radiation protection is needed.
Radiation is a serious problem for potential colonists, and as that article notes, NASA is including radiation experiments in its own lunar orbiter mission, the LRO (coming next year).
“”We really need to know more about the radiation environment on the Moon, especially if people will be staying there for more than just a few days,” says Harlan Spence, a professor of astronomy at Boston University.”
-“Radioactive Moon”, by Patrick L. Barry, NASA
The Apollo astronauts were never out in the radiation for long, so creative solutions are needed to shield long-term settlement. But, first, it needs to be known just how much radiation there is to shield from; and the RADOM is a big step towards that.
For all the full scientific details on the payload straight from the Bulgarians, check out this document. :)
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Keep checking back here for more payload features, Chandrayaan-1 news, and a complete wealth of updates and information about the base race, private space boom, and everything else with the true introduction of Man to Luna :)
One-Year Anniversary of the first Google Lunar X Prize Team Announcement (Odyssey Moon) December 6, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Odyssey Moon, Youtube , add a commentToday is the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the first Google Lunar X PRIZE team, Odyssey Moon (with the Google Lunar X PRIZE itself having been announced in August of last year).
It’s also the 25th anniversary of my birth (haha), possibly a large part of why I remember the date ;)
Check out the Google Lunar X PRIZE’s excellent and increasingly active Youtube channel here, as well as their excellent Launch Pad blog.
President-Elect Obama names Bill Richardson (Space Commerce Supporter) U.S. Secretary of Commerce (News) December 4, 2008
Posted by Nick Azer in : Bill Richardson, Current News, Obama, private sector, Spaceport, Virgin Galactic , 1 comment so far
One small step by Barack Obama; one giant leap for the private space boom?
Today, President-Elect Barack Obama officially announced Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as his choice for Secretary of Commerce; Richardson is an outspoken supporter of the idea of private space commerce.
Here’s a few telling quotes from Richardson on space, this first one being from a 2006 USA Today article about the spaceport he initiated construction of in New Mexico during his terms as governor (Spaceport America):
“”Richardson says he told his aides: “Go after the big one. Go after 5,000 jobs and something to be remembered for. Go after [Sir Richard] Branson and the spaceport. Politicians are known for talking about 9/11 and gloom and doom, and I like to infuse people with visions of the future and space. It’s bold and risky, but people turn on to that.”‘”
-”New Mexico goes a little pie in the sky with spaceport idea“, by Kevin Maney, USA Today
‘Infusing people with hopeful visions’ is definitely in the Obama style, and in his case, Richardson was using the private space industry’s possibilties to do that. A preview of future Obama policy, perhaps?
Next is a quote from a Space.com article by Leonard David from late November 2008 about Richardson’s space enthusiasm, as it relates to his then-rumored candidacy for the Commerce post:
“Richardson was asked about any possible post he might play in an Obama White House. The New Mexico governor played it a little coy, but said:
“Here’s what I want to be sure of … that the Obama administration is pro-commercial space … that the administration is pro-space, pro-government space, pro-commercial space,” Richardson observed.
Richardson said that “it’s in the interest of our national space industry that commercial space could properly develop … so I will be an advocate wherever I am … hopefully here, still as governor of New Mexico … you never know.”"
-”Obama Vetting Bill Richardson, Space Enthusiast” by Leonard David, Space.com
So the man who stated he will be a commercial space advocate ‘wherever he is’ and that believes in ‘infusing people with visions of future and space’ is now the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, being essentially in charge of guiding the administration’s economic policy.
For anyone interested in the development of a private space boom, this is a dream scenario, and a strong indicator that Obama is very serious about some of the things that he stated in his detailed campaign space plan:
“In achieving this vision, Obama will reach out to include international partners and to engage the private sector to amplify NASA’s reach. Obama believes that a revitalized NASA can help America maintain its innovation edge and contribute to American economic growth.”
-Barack Obama’s space plan
Just how much could the private space boom “contribute to the American economic growth”? Here’s another quote from the USA Today spaceport article which gives you an idea:
“[New Mexico] should understand this is a long-haul investment,” says space business analyst Charles Lurio. “Spaceflight is poised for explosive market growth — analogous to PCs (in the 1970s). But exactly how that growth occurs, and in what form, is as uncertain as it was for PCs in the ’70s.”
“Explosive market growth”, analogous to the now-ubiquitous PCs? That sounds like something America could use right now, and with Obama’s appointment of dedicated industry supporter Richardson, it sounds like it’s something we could be starting to see in the very near future. :)