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 , trackbackAfter 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 :)
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