Topic: Google Lunar X PRIZE $30 million robotic race
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted September 13, 2007 01:28 PM
Google and X PRIZE release
Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE to Create a Space Race for a New Generation - $30 Million Purse to be Awarded to Winners
The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. today announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an unprecedented international competition that will challenge and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. The X PRIZE Foundation, best known for the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private suborbital spaceflight, is an educational nonprofit prize organization whose goal is to bring about radical breakthroughs to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.
"The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration."
"Having Google fund the purse and title the competition punctuates our desire for breakthrough approaches and global participation," continued Diamandis. "By working with the Google team, we look forward to bringing this historic private space race into every home and classroom. We hope to ignite the imagination of children around the world."
About Lunar Exploration: In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a historic superpower Moon race, which culminated in 12 men exploring the surface of the Moon. The first era of lunar exploration reached a dramatic conclusion in December of 1972 as Apollo 17 Astronauts Captain Gene Cernan and Dr. Harrison Schmitt became the last men on the Moon.
Moon 2.0, the second era of lunar exploration, will not be a quest for "flags and footprints." This time we will go to the Moon to stay. The Moon is a stepping stone to the rest of the solar system and a source of solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems that we face on Earth -- energy independence and climate change. Already, governments from around the world recognize the importance of lunar exploration, and national space agencies from the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, and the nations of Europe plan to send probes to the Moon in the coming decade.
Today, the frontier of private enterprise is the halo of communications satellites in geostationary orbit 24,000 miles above our planet. The Google Lunar X PRIZE now challenges private enterprise to reach 10 times beyond its present limits to participate in this great exploration adventure.
About the Prize Purse:
The $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. To win the Second Prize, a team must land their spacecraft on the Moon, rove and transmit data back to Earth. Second place will be available until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation.
Bonus prizes will be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft will be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and will send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website.
Why the Moon? In a recent Gallup poll, more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) support a return to the Moon, and further missions to points beyond. Some practical benefits to lunar exploration include:
Enabling exploration of the solar system and beyond. Space exploration is expensive because every ounce of propellant and spacecraft must be launched out of the Earth's strong gravity field. A natural storehouse of materials, lunar soil is more than 40% oxygen by weight and oxygen makes up most of the mass of rocket propellant. Because of its shallower gravity well, the Moon is the stepping stone to the universe.
The Moon can help save the Earth. For more than 30 years, NASA and the US Department of Energy have experimented with ways to capture abundant clean solar energy in space for use on Earth. Although the technology for doing this is well understood, the high cost of launching materials out of the Earth's deep gravity well has prevented the implementation of these systems. However, if lunar material is used for space construction, clean energy could be supplied on a 24-hour basis without carbon dioxide or other hazards to the biosphere.
We can learn about the Earth's geologic past. Thanks to the Moon rocks and other information returned by Apollo astronauts, scientists now believe that the Moon was created by a collision between a planet-sized object and the early Earth. By exploring our nearest neighbor we are also exploring a remnant of ancient Earth.
We can see more deeply into space. The Moon provides a large stable platform for astronomical observation unhindered by atmosphere. The far side of the Moon is the one "quiet" place in the Solar System that is shielded from the Earth's cacophony of radio, television and data broadcasts. The body of the Moon itself provides this shielding, and a radio telescope on the lunar far side can detect energy from the beginning of the universe.
Driving new technologies and devices. The Moon may be the most hostile environment we face in the near future. Surviving and exploring will require major advances in technology. Many of those technologies will also have practical use back home.
Educational materials are now available online. Educators can sign up for regular updates, classroom plans and news about the teams.
Strategic Alliances: Strategic alliances that support this new competition include:
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), run by entrepreneur and X PRIZE Foundation Trustee Elon Musk, which is offering competing teams an in-kind contribution, lowering the cost of its Falcon Launch Vehicle. SpaceX is the first preferred launch provider for this competition;
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), operated by the SETI Institute, will serve as a preferred downlink provider for communications from the Moon to the Earth; operated by SETI, which will provide downlink services at no cost to competing teams;
The Saint Louis Science Center serves as the Foundation's official education partner and the coordinator of an international network of museums and science centers; and
The International Space University (ISU), based in Strasbourg, France, will conduct international team outreach and facilitate an unbiased judging committee.
About The X Prize Foundation
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. The Google Lunar X PRIZE is the third prize the Foundation has announced since its inception in 1995. In 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since expanded its mission beyond space exploration. In 2006, the X PRIZE Foundation launched the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, a $10 million competition in which the winning team will demonstrate the ability to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days. This will reduce the cost of genome sequencing and herald a new era of personalized medicine. The X PRIZE Foundation will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, equity of opportunity and sustainability and is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition.
About Google, Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted December 06, 2007 12:36 PM
Odyssey Moon release
History Making Mission For Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition Unveiled by Odyssey Moon
The first team to complete registration for the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE unveiled its plans today at the Space Investment Summit in San Jose, California. Representatives of Odyssey Moon announced their plans to make history with the first private robotic mission to the surface of the Moon and their intent to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. Odyssey Moon's inaugural mission will involve a unique small robotic lander designed to deliver scientific, exploration and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon.
Odyssey Moon, a private commercial lunar enterprise headquartered in the Isle of Man, is the brainchild of Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards, a founder of the International Space University. "We applaud the X PRIZE Foundation and Google for creating the first privately funded race to the Moon," he said. "For Odyssey Moon, the Google Lunar X PRIZE was the right thing at the right time to compel us to unveil our plans. We have a long term vision and now with the Google Lunar X PRIZE we have a short term goal: Odyssey Moon is setting its eyes on the prize." Richards said that the company's goal is to lower the price of getting to the Moon by an order of magnitude and in doing so help catalyze a "MOONRUSH" to Earth's sister world, which he describes as an eighth continent rich in energy and resources floating just offshore.
"Our business plans have been in development for a series of missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, exploration and commerce," said Richards. "We believe in competition and we believe in this prize. Future generations will view the Google Lunar X PRIZE as the turning point of the 21st century, when humanity realized the Moon's critical role for prosperity and survival in space and on Earth."
The chairman of Odyssey Moon is Dr. Ramin Khadem a well known figure in the international satellite industry and former Chief Financial Officer of INMARSAT, a highly successful mobile satellite communications company that he helped pioneer and ultimately privatize. "We have put together an incredibly talented international team with substantial technical know how and financial depth who believe in the long term responsible development of the Moon for the benefit of all humanity," Dr. Khadem said. He explained that Odyssey Moon is open to international collaboration at several levels and welcomes discussion with others who may wish to join them in their quest for the Google Lunar X PRIZE and the pursuit of the company's long term business plans for the peaceful development of the Moon.
Odyssey Moon announced that its prime contractor is MDA of Canada, an experienced company with substantial space heritage in providing robotics on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, and more recently for satellite servicing and planetary exploration. Dr. Christian Sallaberger, a Vice President with MDA's Information Systems Group, explained his company's role. "MDA has a long track record of delivering high-value cost-effective solutions to our customers and this has been a key part of our successes in space over the past 40 years," he said. "We understand the commercial space world, and we have the technical heritage and expertise to support Odyssey Moon's plan and make it happen."
The Planetary Society, the world's largest space interest group, has joined the Odyssey Moon team to assist in education and public involvement as well as international and science liaison. Society Executive Director, Dr. Louis Friedman said, "The Moon is a stepping stone into the solar system, for governments and for the private sector. Odyssey Moon's leap forward to this stepping stone could presage a new day of commercial ventures beyond Earth." Founded in 1980 by the late astronomer Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman, the Society encourages government, non-government and private and public participation in the exploration of other worlds.
X PRIZE Chairman and CEO Dr. Peter Diamandis said he congratulates Odyssey Moon for being the first team to complete the registration process and that he is thrilled at the response to the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE. "We applaud all the teams who have been motivated to declare their intentions to compete," Diamandis said. "We are proud to participate in the announcement of our first fully registered team. We hope the announcement will motivate and inspire even more teams to enter this race; a race that is now truly international."
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted December 06, 2007 12:39 PM
Astrobotic Technology release
Dr. William 'Red' Whittaker and Raytheon Company Collaborate to Pursue Google Lunar X Prize
Next-generation precision lunar lander technology to be developed for first soft landing on the moon in more than 30 years
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. has selected Raytheon Company as its supplier for development of a next-generation of high-precision, propellant-efficient lunar landing technologies.
On Sept. 13, 2007, Dr. William L. "Red" Whittaker, Astrobotic's Chief Technology Officer and Lunar Mission Commander declared his intention to pursue the recently announced Google Lunar X Prize. Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is the commercial organization through which Dr. Whittaker plans to carry out the lunar mission as well as engage in potential commercial orbital transfer services and potential cis-lunar services that may be best enabled by leading-edge robotics.
"We have great confidence in Raytheon's ability to co-develop a spacecraft that can land on a dime," said Whittaker.
Raytheon has undertaken initial design and planning activities on the project. Possible roles for Raytheon include engineering management, lander design, and high bandwidth telecommunications. A common goal is for Raytheon to develop key technologies for advanced thrust controlled descent, ascent and movement, including automated topographic scene matching.
"We are delighted to work with Dr. Whittaker on this extraordinary lunar project," said Mike Booen, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missile Defense & Directed Energy. "Development of a lunar lander is a natural extension for the company's space-proven technologies."
Astrobotic is planning for Raytheon to begin work on a contract basis with the scope of Raytheon's work to be expanded upon completion of certain financing goals by Astrobotic. It is anticipated that 15 or more professional engineers from Raytheon will be devoted to the Astrobotic lunar program.
Dr. Whittaker is the Fredkin Professor of Robotics, Director of the Field Robotics Center, and founder of the National Robotics Engineering Consortium, all at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a world-famous scientist and engineer, renowned for managing the research, development, operation, and scientific discoveries associated with several dozen exploratory robots. Most recently, Dr. Whittaker led CMU's "Tartan Racing Team" to victory in the November 2007 Urban Challenge sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Raytheon has a legacy of experience in space missions that dates back to the Apollo era, when Raytheon provided solutions for the Saturn launch vehicle, lunar modules, and space suits. Raytheon has deployed more than 100 unique control systems for military and commercial satellites as well as 75 GPS systems for the Department of Defense, civil, commercial and national markets ranging in scope from navigation, transportation, surveying and rescue operations.
Raytheon Company, with 2006 sales of $20.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 85 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is a privately held seed-stage company formed by Carnegie Mellon University professor William "Red" Whittaker and his colleagues in November 2007.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted February 22, 2008 10:56 AM
X Prize release
The X PRIZE Foundation Announces Official Contenders in Private Moon Race
Ten Teams Registered to Compete for $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE
The X PRIZE Foundation and Google, Inc. today announced the first ten teams to register for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million in prizes. This international group of teams will compete to land a privately funded robotic craft on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, announced the teams at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. "I'm very pleased to welcome our first 10 fully registered teams to the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Only 6 months after the announcement of this competition, the response has been incredible -- we've received over 567 expressions of interest from 53 nations. By comparison, at the 6 month point of the Ansari X PRIZE we had only 2 teams registered. I think we're going to see an exciting and very competitive race to the Moon, highlighted by some very creative designs unlike anything we've seen come out of the government space programs. Many of these teams represent some of the most creative and entrepreneurial minds in space exploration today. I wish them all the very best of luck. I can't wait to join with Google in paying the winner," said Diamandis.
"We are excited that ten teams from around the world have taken up the challenge of the Google Lunar X PRIZE," said Megan Smith, Google's Vice President for New Business Development. "We look forward to the exciting achievements and scientific advancements that will result from the efforts of these teams as they participate in the next great space race."
The ten teams are:
Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA): Based in Valcea, Romania and led by Dumitru Popescu, ARCA was also a contender in the Ansari X PRIZE. Two of ARCA's most innovative projects to date have been the Demonstrator 2B rocket and Stabilo, a two-stage manned suborbital air-launched vehicle. The craft they plan to enter in the Google Lunar X PRIZE will be called the "European Lunar Explorer."
Astrobotic: Team Astrobotic, led by Dr. William "Red" Whittaker, was formed to coordinate the efforts of Carnegie Mellon University, Raytheon Company and additional institutions. One of Carnegie Mellon's specialties is autonomous navigation through stereo vision and other technologies. This enables Carnegie Mellon's robots to automatically avoid obstacles and select their own route across unmapped terrain. Astrobotic will compete for the prize using their "Artemis Lander" and "Red Rover."
Chandah: Chandah, meaning "Moon" in Sanskrit, was founded by Adil Jafry, an energy industry entrepreneur. He is now chairman and CEO of Tara, the largest independent retail electricity provider in Texas. Jafry's goal is to catalyze commercialization of space, and bring advances in space travel, tourism, sciences, and technology to the general public at large. Team Chandah's spacecraft will be named "Shehrezade."
FREDNET: Headed by Fred J. Bourgeois III, this multi-national team is comprised of systems, software, and hardware developers who serve as the leaders and overall coordinators of an international group of Open Source developers, engineers, and scientists. Their goal is to bring the same successful approach used in developing major software systems (such as the Internet, and Linux) to bear on the problems associated with Space Exploration and Research.
LunaTrex: Led by Pete Bitar, LunaTrex is comprised of several individuals, companies, and universities from all over the United States, some of whom were also competitors for the Ansari X PRIZE. Each team member brings their own history to the mix: rocket science, high-altitude near-space R&D, defense directed-energy technology, aviation design and development, robotics, trajectories, and non-conventional propulsion expertise. The name of their competing craft will be "Tumbleweed."
Micro-Space: Helmed by Richard Speck and based in Colorado, Micro-Space, Inc. has a 31-year history of producing world class, high tech products. Since focusing on the development of spaceflight systems, they have flown 17 innovative, bipropellant liquid fuel rockets, three near-hover rockets with vectored thrust guidance, scores of flights with telemetry and radio tracking, and several innovative life support systems. Micro-Space has been a competitor in the Ansari X PRIZE as well as the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Their "Human Lunar Lander" will compete for Google Lunar X PRIZE.
Odyssey Moon: The first team to register for the competition, Odyssey Moon is a private commercial lunar enterprise headquartered in the Isle of Man and founded by Dr. Robert Richards. Odyssey Moon's business plans are actively in development for a series of missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, exploration and commerce. Their Google Lunar X PRIZE craft is titled "MoonOne (M-1)."
Quantum3: A U.S.-based team, Quantum3 is led by Paul Carliner, a senior executive in the aerospace industry. They propose to field a small spacecraft launched from an East Coast range using launch-coast-burn trajectory for a propulsive soft landing on the surface of the Moon at the Sea of Tranquility. Quantum3 is taking a partnership approach to the mission, utilizing the unique capabilities of the private sector and academic communities. Their craft will be called "Moondancer."
Southern California Selene Group: According to team leader Harold Rosen, the approach taken by the Santa Monica Selene Group can be succinctly summarized as "an elegantly simple design that is relatively inexpensive to implement." The architecture for their "Spirit of Southern California" spacecraft will combine the control and communication systems used in some of the earliest communications satellites with the latest in electronic and sensor technology.
Team Italia: Based in Italy and led by Prof. Amalia Ercoli-Finzi, Team Italia is a collaboration between several universities. The team is currently running a prototype of its system at Politecnico di Milano. The architecture of the robotic system is under study: a single big rover or a colony of many robots, light and mobile, with many legs and wheels, able to be compacted in the lander and distributed quickly on the Moon's surface with cameras and sensory support.
The X PRIZE Foundation has also announced that Space Florida will be a new preferred partner and the first preferred launch site for the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. Each preferred partner offers additional prizes or strategic services at a discounted rate to all competition teams. As the first preferred launch site, Space Florida will award an additional prize of $2 million to the Grand Prize winner of the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, provided the winner launched the winning flight from the State of Florida and upon confirmation that the winner has complied with all competition rules. Space Florida was created by the Florida Legislature to sustain Florida's position as the global leader in space exploration and commerce, and is the principal organization charged with promoting and developing Florida's aerospace industry.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted October 08, 2008 09:26 AM
X PRIZE Foundation release
X PRIZE Foundation Announces Two New Teams and Preferred Partner in Private Moon Race
The X PRIZE Foundation today announced two new teams and a new Preferred Partner in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million in prizes. These two teams join the international group of teams that will compete to land a privately funded robotic craft on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
The announcement was made at the AGI Users' Conference, held in Chicago on October 7-9, 2008. Google Lunar X PRIZE teams were invited to attend the conference to learn about the services that Analytical Graphics, Inc. will be offering as a Google Lunar X PRIZE preferred partner. Will Pomerantz, Senior Director for Space Projects at the X PRIZE Foundation, spoke at the conference about the Google Lunar X PRIZE and introduced the new teams and partner. "We are thrilled to add our first team from Florida and our second team from Malaysia to the roster of competitors. Both these teams will add an exciting element to the competition," said Pomerantz.
As a preferred partner, AGI will provide each Google Lunar X PRIZE team with nearly $200,000 worth of complimentary software and engineering services. "AGI's software is unsurpassed and will bring critical new capabilities to the competing teams," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "This modeling and visualization software will be a great asset for the teams. We are delighted to welcome AGI as a preferred partner for the Google Lunar X PRIZE."
The two new teams are:
Independence-X Aerospace: Independence-X Aerospace is based in Malaysia and is lead by Mohd Izmir Yamin, who has extensive experience in rocket propulsion and robotic control systems. Independence-X Aerospace is composed of team members who have served in various engineering and business fields as professional engineers, technologists and academics. They believe one of their primary advantages is their strategic geographical location, which they hope will help to reduce launch costs and utilize abundant direct solar reception. The team has also formed an academic and technical partnership with a Malaysian university, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). In addition, the Malaysian Entrepreneurs Development Center (MEDEC) will support the team with business advice.
Omega Envoy: Omega Envoy is led by Ruben Nunez, Jason Dunn, and Justin Karl, all students at the University of Central Florida. Their company, Earthrise Space, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by a group of students and professionals in Central Florida with the common goal of advancing private and commercial space exploration. The Omega Envoy project, their entry into the Google Lunar X PRIZE, will help realize these goals and expand the horizons of human space exploration. Through outreach to all academic and professional levels, coupled with synergistic business relationships, they hope to maintain Florida's position as the global leader in the space industry.
They join the twelve currently registered teams:
Odyssey Moon: Based in the Isle of Man, Odyssey Moon is a private commercial lunar enterprise and is developing the "MoonOne (M-1)" spacecraft.
Astrobotic: Based in the United States, Astrobotic is led by Dr. William "Red" Whittaker, winner of the DARPA 2007 Urban Challenge.
Team Italia: Based in Italy, Team Italia involves several Italian universities and companies.
Micro-Space: Based in the United States, Micro-Space is a former Ansari X PRIZE competitor and is a current competitor in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.
Mystery Team: Google Lunar X PRIZE teams have the option of officially registering but remaining anonymous until July 20, 2009; this team has chosen to keep their identity a secret for the moment.
FREDNET: A multi-national team, FREDNET is a 100% open source team.
Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA): Based in Valcea, Romania, ARCA is a former Ansari X PRIZE competitor.
LunaTrex: Based in the United States, LunaTrex is developing a craft named "Tumbleweed."
Chandah: Based in the United States, Chandah means "Moon" in Sanskrit.
Advaeros: Based in Malaysia, Team Advaeros is led by Hanidy Yusof, who founded the Malaysian company Advanced Aerospace Industries.
STELLAR: Based in North Carolina and led by Dick Dell, Team STELLAR includes team members from Insight Technologies, the Advanced Vehicle Research Center, and North Carolina State University.
JURBAN: Started in 2000, the Juxtopia Group, Inc. is led by Dr. Jayfus T. Doswell; the JURBAN team will be made up of professional and student engineers.
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted December 16, 2008 03:39 PM
Google Lunar X PRIZE release
Google Lunar X PRIZE Announces Two New International Competitors at Google Headquarters
Part One of a Two-Part, Two-Day Announcement Introduces Two Teams on Tuesday, Dec. 16th
Two new international teams in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a $30 million competition by the X PRIZE Foundation to land a vehicle on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit a "Mooncast" back to Earth, were announced today in a tele-press conference from Google Headquarters. The announcement was held as part of a Team Summit at Google Headquarters and NASA Ames. These recent additions bring the total number of teams to 16, from seven different countries.
Part two of this two-day announcement will reveal the identity of the "Mystery Team" which is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17 at 8:30 am, PST at NASA Ames. Also announced during the tele-conference was the groundbreaking of a new mission control center for Team Lunatrex, in the City of Anderson, South Carolina.
The two new teams are:
EUROLUNA: Based in Europe and led by Palle Haastrup, who is a founding member and current president of the European Lunar Exploration Association, Team Euroluna is comprised of six people who range from 16 - 60 years old and whose backgrounds span from chemical and mechanical engineering to software and business administration. Team Euroluna plans to utilize commercial, off-the-shelf technologies that will be downsized and implemented in the design of their craft, ROMIT. Designed to be lightweight and small, ROMIT will be powered by solar cells (with a total power of less than 20W) and will have six solar panels. Additionally, all control and command operations will be remotely controlled, with only limited computing power on the Moon.
SELENE: Headed by Markus Bindhammer, Team Selene (whose name represents the Greek goddess of the Moon) is based in China and consists of a Chinese and German group of mathematicians, physicists and designers along with aerospace and robotic engineers. Team Selene's concept of a rocket car as the lunar rover will be driven by a rocket engine and powered by solid fuel, liquid fuel or compressed gas. The ignition system of LuRoCA 1, the working title of the vehicle, will be activated by remote control or by a timer circuit. The cost-efficient craft will also be equipped with four HD cameras and will be characterized by the simplicity of its operation and insusceptibility to malfunctions.
"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is truly an international competition, and with the addition of Euroluna and Selene, our first teams headquartered in Denmark and China, respectively, the competition continues to grow throughout the world," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "I'm confident that their participation will inspire others to reach for the stars, and wish both teams the best of luck!"
The announcement was made during a two-day Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Summit, where teams were able to give "mock" sponsorship presentations to a group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists who provided guidance on their business plan pitches and gave advice on how to raise money more effectively. One of the objectives of the Team Summit was to help leverage the financial playing field for the Google Lunar X PRIZE and allow teams to raise the money they need for a successful trip to the Moon.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted December 17, 2008 11:23 AM
Google Lunar X PRIZE release
Mystery Team for the Google Lunar X Prize Reveals Team at NASA Ames Research Center
Next Giant Leap, a small company that was the fourth team to register for the Google Lunar X-Prize, publically announced its name and team members at a press conference held today at the NASA Ames Research Center. Based in the United States, the Next Giant Leap (NGL) team boasts highly qualified members from the academic, aerospace and small business communities. NGL was founded on the concept that a small but focused team is the ideal vehicle to efficiently engineer the winning Google Lunar X PRIZE entry. Founded by entrepreneur Michael Joyce in November of 2007, the team was known only as the "Mystery Team" for the first year.
"Our first year was well spent, recruiting the best possible team members and building the strong working relationships required to reach our goals," said Next Giant Leap Founder Michael Joyce. "With the world class team we have assembled we are ready to take the next giant leap forward required to win the Google X PRIZE and establish NGL as commercial lunar services company."
The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million prize purse, on September 13, 2007. Teams from around the world are competing to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including travelling at least 500 meters across the lunar surface and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
"We've reveled in the additional excitement that has centered around our 'Mystery Team' and are thrilled to have them finally reveal their true identities," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "We are delighted to have them go public as we believe they will be a strong contender with experienced participants, a strong academic partner and several innovative, small space companies."
The lead systems integrator is MicroSat Systems, Inc., known for its innovation in small spacecraft. On May 7, 2008, MicroSat Systems was awarded a contract to build 18 Orbcomm Inc. satellites with an option for 30 more. In charge of the difficult task of landing safely on the Moon is the Draper Laboratory. Draper has been involved in space guidance navigation and control since the earliest days of the space program supporting Apollo, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading engineering institution in the United States, is a key academic partner. The MIT team includes five time Shuttle astronaut Jeff Hoffman and Professor David Miller, head of MIT's Space Systems Laboratory and developer of the innovative SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites) payload on the International Space Station.
"When approached to join the Next Giant Leap team, we thought it was an outstanding opportunity for our students to be exposed to several agile, cutting-edge companies in the space business while working on a very challenging project," said MIT professor Jeff Hoffman. "We feel that this team has the right stuff to have a shot at capturing this very challenging prize."
Other innovative small companies that are partners on the team include Aurora Flight Sciences, a company that operates on the frontiers of flight with specialties in unmanned aerial vehicles and manned space hardware, and Busek Co. Inc., a company that specializes in advanced space propulsion, especially electrical propulsion systems.
"It's an exciting time to see companies in the private sector working to develop a vehicle that will land on the lunar surface," said NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden. "These competitions bring new and innovative ideas that everyone in the space community can benefit from and that's a win-win for everybody."
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 16778 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted July 23, 2009 04:08 PM
Google Lunar X PRIZE announcement
Taking A Piece of Apollo Back to the Moon
Lending themselves to lunar exploration once more, eleven of the surviving Apollo astronauts have bestowed their names to a plaque that will be carried to the surface of the Moon by each Google Lunar X PRIZE spacecraft. The plaque, whose exact format is [to be decided] at this time, will read:
"We Apollo Astronauts congratulate the winner of the Google Lunar X PRIZE. May this plaque, placed on the surface of the Moon by this intrepid craft and its team, serve as a welcoming beacon to future generations of lunar explorers. This spacecraft returns in the spirit of our journeys of the 20th Century - in peace and with hope for all humankind."
Col R. Walter Cunningham, USMCR, (Ret.), Apollo 7
CAPT James A. Lovell, Jr., USN (Ret.), Apollo 8, Apollo 13
BrigGen James A. McDivitt, USAF, Ret., Apollo 9
Russell L. Schweickart, Apollo 9
CAPT Eugene A. Cernan, USN (Ret.), Apollo 10, Apollo 17
Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11
CAPT Alan L. Bean, USN (Ret.), Apollo 12
CAPT Edgar D. Mitchell, USN (Ret.), Apollo 14
LtCol Alfred M. Worden, USAF, Ret., Apollo 15
BrigGen Charles M. Duke, Jr., USAF, Ret., Apollo 16
posted September 13, 2007 01:28 PM
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