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 commentIt’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 , 2comments
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 commentIt’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 , 2comments
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!: