Lunar X PRIZE Roundup - October 13, 2008

New Team in Florida - Panda On A Scooter - A member of Omega Envoy (the software lead) tells how they got there and issues a "Call for Advisors".

N-Prize team ‘Nebula’ - Google Lunar X Prize Letter of Intent - Space Fellowship

Team Prometheus - Google Lunar X PRIZE Forums - We are actively seeking new members for our team. We are moving into a new phase of development. We are currently entered in the N-Prize competition and will be filing our letter of intent for the X-Prize before the 10,000 dollar deadline. ... There's more in the post and later conversations; Prometheus seems to be pretty ambitious. Their web site isn't up yet but it should be here eventually. Yes, they are listed as an N-Prize team.

Briefs: Dayton Rocket Team update; NM spaceport tax update - RLV News

The Dayton Rocket Team news article is related to GLXP team LunaTrex. Here's a GLXP Teams entry by LunaTrex, too: LunaTrex AGI Conference update - Joseph Gangestad. As usual, there are plenty of other good posts at the GLXP Teams page.

TeamSTELLAR Announcement: Two new Science Teams chartered. - STELLAR - I have no idea how long this has been up; I just ran across it. The first is for spaceflight trajectory planning, which isn't a big surprise. I didn't expect the second one, though: Science Component Team. Description: Inorganic analytical chemists and instrumentation specialists responsible for the Helium-3 analytical experiments onboard the rover(s).

The STELLAR page links to the LEAG (Lunar Exploration Analysis Group) Joint Annual Meeting, so I wouldn't be surprised if they (and other GLXP teams, for that matter) send representatives there.

The International Lunar Observatory, which is partnering with GLXP Team Odyssey Moon, has the following news release: ILO featured in "Moon Base Mons Malapert — Making the Case", AIAA Aerospace America, October 2008 - PDF 1.00MB. The article makes the case for Mons Malapert being a better lunar robotics and human base location than Shackleton Crater. Some of the reasons cited are solar power, Earth line of site for communications, ease of navigation, ease of access to regolith resources, and easier landing. The ILO mention is in an artist rendition: International Lunar Observatory mission, at the summit of Mons Malapert circa 2012, would involve astronomical observations at multiple wavelengths and communication services between the Earth and the Moon. Courtesy: ILO Association

As a reminder, here's the ILO/Odyssey Moon plan after the GLXP from the original ILO/Odyssey Moon press release (PDF):

The ultimate goal of the ILOA is to finance and deliver a fully operational International Lunar Observatory to the Moon's mountainous South Pole region where energy and resources may be abundant. The International Lunar Observatory will be delivered to the Moon's southern polar region aboard Odyssey Moon's "MoonTwo" lunar lander early in the next decade, establishing permanent astrophysical observations and lunar commercial communications systems, while also helping to catalyze international lunar build-out.

Here's the general ILO News Release page: http://www.iloa.org/news.html.

Update (afteroon): Video: AGI and New Teams Announcement - The Launch Pad