Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Apophis Competition on Planetary Radio
The feature segment on the Planetary Society's Planetary Radio broadcast for March 3 covers the Apophis Mission Design Competition.
Monday, March 03, 2008
TRUMPF Gets 2 More Laser Teams
According to the Space Elevator Blog, two more Beam Power teams are going with TRUMPF lasers: the National Space Society Space Elevator Team and TXL Group.
Update (Mar 4): The SE Blog also has an update from E-T-C.
Update (Mar 5): On top of that, the SE Blog also has an update from the McGill Space Elevator Team, including a new logo and an SE Blog email interview. Here's the blog's summary of the 2008 team status so far:
So this makes at least seven teams (USST, Lasermotive, the TXL Group, the Kansas City Space Pirates, the Queens Space Engineering team, the National Space Society and the McGill team) that are planning on using lasers to power their climber this year.
Update (again!) (Mar 7): MClimber from the University of Michigan is also going to be using TRUMPF. They're going to try to win in 2009, with 2008 as a test run.
Update (Mar 4): The SE Blog also has an update from E-T-C.
Update (Mar 5): On top of that, the SE Blog also has an update from the McGill Space Elevator Team, including a new logo and an SE Blog email interview. Here's the blog's summary of the 2008 team status so far:
So this makes at least seven teams (USST, Lasermotive, the TXL Group, the Kansas City Space Pirates, the Queens Space Engineering team, the National Space Society and the McGill team) that are planning on using lasers to power their climber this year.
Update (again!) (Mar 7): MClimber from the University of Michigan is also going to be using TRUMPF. They're going to try to win in 2009, with 2008 as a test run.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Tom Vander Ark Podcast on X PRIZE Foundation
The Technology Alliance has a podcast speech of the X PRIZE Foundation's Tom Vander Ark from Oct 12, 2007. Here's more about it. It's a comprehensive and detailed talk that covers the range of X PRIZE Foundation history and prizes, including space prizes like the Ansari X PRIZE, the Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the X PRIZE Cup. He also discusses where prizes fit in the philanthropy landscape.
In part of the talk, he discussed some prizes that they hope to kick off in the future. Some sound like they're in advanced stages of formulation with sponsors, and others sound like they're in the process of deciding how they want to implement the prize before getting a sponsor. Some possibilities, which may have changed one way or the other in the time since the talk:
- a deep sea prize with possible sponsorship by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Now that's a type of prize that appeals to the same brain cells that like space prizes. It would be interesting to see a "NewDeepsea" movement like NewSpace ... and the 2 could someday combine in the oceans under some of our solar system's moons. In the short term, maybe some of the technology and business organization from such a prize would be applicable to the space community, or vice versa.
- 4 to 6 energy generation, storage, distribution, and efficiency prizes with a Bay Area energy-related organization potentially sponsoring $100M+ in prizes
- 2 concepts for education prizes were discussed. One was a software education tool, like a tool that could help students with math trouble learn the equivalent of 2 or more years of algebra over the summer. Another concept was a city-wide education competition, where the prize winner would be an outside educational improvement provider.
- The prize model may need to be modified to address international development prizes. Such a prize might need to contain an access to capital component and a market development component. One idea is for a village utility module to handle various needs like water and electricity, with a prize for a technology demonstration and another for deployment.
- In the medicine field, a possible cancer prize with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center was mentioned.
- I've mentioned this suggestion in other posts based on articles I read a while ago, so discussions must have been ongoing. A possible healthcare prize sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was brought up. This (and some of the other ideas) is also mentioned here.
In part of the talk, he discussed some prizes that they hope to kick off in the future. Some sound like they're in advanced stages of formulation with sponsors, and others sound like they're in the process of deciding how they want to implement the prize before getting a sponsor. Some possibilities, which may have changed one way or the other in the time since the talk:
- a deep sea prize with possible sponsorship by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Now that's a type of prize that appeals to the same brain cells that like space prizes. It would be interesting to see a "NewDeepsea" movement like NewSpace ... and the 2 could someday combine in the oceans under some of our solar system's moons. In the short term, maybe some of the technology and business organization from such a prize would be applicable to the space community, or vice versa.
- 4 to 6 energy generation, storage, distribution, and efficiency prizes with a Bay Area energy-related organization potentially sponsoring $100M+ in prizes
- 2 concepts for education prizes were discussed. One was a software education tool, like a tool that could help students with math trouble learn the equivalent of 2 or more years of algebra over the summer. Another concept was a city-wide education competition, where the prize winner would be an outside educational improvement provider.
- The prize model may need to be modified to address international development prizes. Such a prize might need to contain an access to capital component and a market development component. One idea is for a village utility module to handle various needs like water and electricity, with a prize for a technology demonstration and another for deployment.
- In the medicine field, a possible cancer prize with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center was mentioned.
- I've mentioned this suggestion in other posts based on articles I read a while ago, so discussions must have been ongoing. A possible healthcare prize sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was brought up. This (and some of the other ideas) is also mentioned here.
Space Communicator Award; Space Technology Hall of Fame
Spaceref has a couple press release posts on space awards: one for Neil deGrasse Tyson winning the 2008 Space Communicator Award from the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement, and another for 3 space technologies joining the Space Foundation's Space Technology Hall of Fame. Check out the link to see how these 3 space technologies are also finding important uses on Earth.
TRUMPF Makes Another Laser Beam Team Deal
The Space Elevator Blog tells us which laser the Queen's Space Engineering Team is going to use. Also check the QSET link for new positions that are open on the team.
Google Lunar X PRIZE Articles Keep Coming In
Yes, the Google Lunar X PRIZE media storm seems to be working, and the GLXP articles and interviews keeping arriving. Here's a sample, and that's after filtering out lots of articles that I didn't think added enough new information, or at least a new or interesting spin on old information, on top of all the other articles I've linked to:
NPR talks to the leader and namesake of open source Team FREDNET in a radio interview. It sounds like they have members from lots and lots of countries.
The Sunday Herald discusses an as-yet unregistered team from Scotland's Glasgow University, led by Dr. Gianmarco Radice.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a local take on Red Whittaker's career and life, including a great deal about the Lunar X PRIZE team work.
On the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page, SCSG posts about funding. Their estimate to meet the prize requirements is $20M. They'd like to find a sponsor for the whole amount rather than raise the money piecemeal (possibly leaving an early sponsor paying without having enough money to finish), but for now they're working on it as is. Probably one of the more well-known team members, Rex Ridenoure, CEO of Ecliptic Enterprises, is mentioned in the post. I didn't know this, but according to this Space Show bio, Rex was
Chief Mission Architect and VP for Commercial Payloads at BlastOff! Corporation, which made the most progress to date toward sending the first commercial spacecraft to the surface of the Moon.
Also at the X PRIZE Foundation site is a link to a Science Magazine article about the GLXP teams, especially SCSG, Odyssey Moon, and Astrobotic.
NPR talks to the leader and namesake of open source Team FREDNET in a radio interview. It sounds like they have members from lots and lots of countries.
The Sunday Herald discusses an as-yet unregistered team from Scotland's Glasgow University, led by Dr. Gianmarco Radice.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a local take on Red Whittaker's career and life, including a great deal about the Lunar X PRIZE team work.
On the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page, SCSG posts about funding. Their estimate to meet the prize requirements is $20M. They'd like to find a sponsor for the whole amount rather than raise the money piecemeal (possibly leaving an early sponsor paying without having enough money to finish), but for now they're working on it as is. Probably one of the more well-known team members, Rex Ridenoure, CEO of Ecliptic Enterprises, is mentioned in the post. I didn't know this, but according to this Space Show bio, Rex was
Chief Mission Architect and VP for Commercial Payloads at BlastOff! Corporation, which made the most progress to date toward sending the first commercial spacecraft to the surface of the Moon.
Also at the X PRIZE Foundation site is a link to a Science Magazine article about the GLXP teams, especially SCSG, Odyssey Moon, and Astrobotic.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
More About New Lunar X PRIZE Teams
Here's a YouTube video from Google on the Google Lunar X PRIZE team announcement. Apparently it's been watched (or started) over 20,000 times in 6 days. It's an hour long, and I've only had a chance to watch the first few minutes so far, but it looks like you'll see statements by the various teams as well as Google and X PRIZE Foundation representatives. I originally got the link from an article about Google at Teaching 2.0: A Professional Development Resource.
Astrobotic also has a YouTube Video on their Lunar X PRIZE team. This one is much shorter - 4.5 minutes.
The Inquisitive Mind ponders criticism of Google for getting involved with lunar missions and alternative energy. A factor that the critics might not be considering: brand loyalty.
The University of Arizona paper The Wildcat Online discusses the university's role in the GLXP.
The GLXP teams keep up the rapid pace of posts at the Teams site:
- Micro-Space discusses the Lunar Lander portion of the challenge, and the increasing cost of space access
- Team Italia introduces their concept and points out publicity the team has been getting. They also offer the following website: http://www.xprize.it/.
- Odyssey Moon notes that their partner MDA will have robotic helper Dextre on the next Space Shuttle mission.
- LunaTrex mentions work with Purdue, breaking down the necessary work items, space access, and educational outreach.
Astrobotic also has a YouTube Video on their Lunar X PRIZE team. This one is much shorter - 4.5 minutes.
The Inquisitive Mind ponders criticism of Google for getting involved with lunar missions and alternative energy. A factor that the critics might not be considering: brand loyalty.
The University of Arizona paper The Wildcat Online discusses the university's role in the GLXP.
The GLXP teams keep up the rapid pace of posts at the Teams site:
- Micro-Space discusses the Lunar Lander portion of the challenge, and the increasing cost of space access
- Team Italia introduces their concept and points out publicity the team has been getting. They also offer the following website: http://www.xprize.it/.
- Odyssey Moon notes that their partner MDA will have robotic helper Dextre on the next Space Shuttle mission.
- LunaTrex mentions work with Purdue, breaking down the necessary work items, space access, and educational outreach.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Keeping Unreasonable Rockets Simple
Unreasonable Rocket shows some pictures of rocket hardware that arrived, and tells us about an experiment planned for this weekend.
USST Status; Possible Tether Team
In 2 separate posts, the Space Elevator Blog notes that a Cambridge University team that has recently announced carbon nanotube progress is considering entering the Tether Challenge, and sends along some responses by experienced laser team USST to some SE Blog questions.
Lunar X PRIZE Team Chandah
The Earth Times has a press release about Google Lunar X PRIZE competitor Team Chandah. The team is in the Houston area, which may help them as they recruit space professionals.
Lunar Ventures with Earth Applications
CNBC has a press release about this year's Lunar Ventures student competition for space business concepts. Businesses with immediate application on Earth are encouraged. A lot of the press release covers last year's winner, Lumedyne Technologies, called Omega Sensors at the time they won $25,000 in the 2007 competition. Lumedyne's product is a small accelerometer with a number of Earth, and potentially space, applications. CEO Brad Chisum states:
Not only was Lunar Ventures instrumental in helping refine our business model, 8C made it possible for us to get an audience with the new Space Angels funding network and Space Investment Summit 3, resulting in $1 million in funding just one year after winning Lunar Ventures.
Not only was Lunar Ventures instrumental in helping refine our business model, 8C made it possible for us to get an audience with the new Space Angels funding network and Space Investment Summit 3, resulting in $1 million in funding just one year after winning Lunar Ventures.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Apophis Winners Announced by Planetary Society
Recently I mentioned that the Apophis Mission Design winners were expected to be announced soon (I don't know why I didn't just give the date since the Bruce Betts interview said it was today). Now, RLV News has a number of links to key information about the winners. The proposal offered by SpaceWorks Engineering, which I discussed here when the nice, focused proposal was publicized, was the winner with a $25,000 prize. There were several other winners in professional and university categories. You can see discussion of some of the teams that eventually turned out to be winners in this post about some Apophis information that I found at the Planetary Defense blog.
Speaking of Planetary Defense (linked on the right), that blog has had a recent interface overhaul. Most importantly today, though, it has a detailed collection of links about the announcement. I think they were particularly pleased at which team won the competition!
As Planetary Defense said, congratulations to the winning teams. Not only that, but congratulations to all the other teams that contributed to this effort that might turn out to be extremely important, and congratulations to the Planetary Society for this competition that raised awareness of the issue, gave numerous professional and university teams something to focus on, and produced engineering proposals that may form the basis of future space missions.
Speaking of Planetary Defense (linked on the right), that blog has had a recent interface overhaul. Most importantly today, though, it has a detailed collection of links about the announcement. I think they were particularly pleased at which team won the competition!
As Planetary Defense said, congratulations to the winning teams. Not only that, but congratulations to all the other teams that contributed to this effort that might turn out to be extremely important, and congratulations to the Planetary Society for this competition that raised awareness of the issue, gave numerous professional and university teams something to focus on, and produced engineering proposals that may form the basis of future space missions.
Behind the Scenes at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams Announcement
William Pomerantz goes behind the scenes at the Google Lunar X PRIZE annoucement of 9 more officially registered teams and a new bonus prize from Space Florida. There was a lot of networking, good food like "Dark Side of the Moon Cake", and presentation work that went into the annoucement.
I should also mention that the teams are actively posting to the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page. When there was just one officially registered team, I could keep up, but with 10 teams each posting every week or so, I probably won't be able to keep up posting about them, even if I read them. I recommend that anyone interested in the competition check the page periodically. Here's a sample of recent posts:
- Deborah Castleman on why team leader Harold Rosen formed SCSG (Southern California Selene Group) decades after observing fellow engineers working on the Surveyor lunar landers
- Red Whittaker introduces his ~40 person team Astrobotic and mentions the rover and lunar lander prototypes they've already worked on
- Lunar Lander Challenge veteran Richard Speck, leader of Micro-Space, discusses entrepreneurial space, rocket regulations, high-powered rocket societies, and the history and business model of Micro-Space
- Pete Bitar of LunaTrex, which includes contributions from such companies as Orion Propulsion, High Altitude Research Corporation, and several others, discusses their plan to make each subsystem a business profit center on its own and make space access and lunar transportation sustainable businesses. In another post, he mentions, among other plans, that they plan to start their own lunar rover competition that sounds designed for students.
- Quantum3 offers a press release blog entry that describes some of the well-known team members like Courtney Stadd, Paul Carliner, and Liam Sarsfield, as well as their spacecraft Moondancer.
- Finally, Michael Potter of Odyssey Moon, the team that's been posting all along, compliments Google and welcomes the other teams. Michael also mentions his film Orphans of Apollo.
I should also mention that the teams are actively posting to the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page. When there was just one officially registered team, I could keep up, but with 10 teams each posting every week or so, I probably won't be able to keep up posting about them, even if I read them. I recommend that anyone interested in the competition check the page periodically. Here's a sample of recent posts:
- Deborah Castleman on why team leader Harold Rosen formed SCSG (Southern California Selene Group) decades after observing fellow engineers working on the Surveyor lunar landers
- Red Whittaker introduces his ~40 person team Astrobotic and mentions the rover and lunar lander prototypes they've already worked on
- Lunar Lander Challenge veteran Richard Speck, leader of Micro-Space, discusses entrepreneurial space, rocket regulations, high-powered rocket societies, and the history and business model of Micro-Space
- Pete Bitar of LunaTrex, which includes contributions from such companies as Orion Propulsion, High Altitude Research Corporation, and several others, discusses their plan to make each subsystem a business profit center on its own and make space access and lunar transportation sustainable businesses. In another post, he mentions, among other plans, that they plan to start their own lunar rover competition that sounds designed for students.
- Quantum3 offers a press release blog entry that describes some of the well-known team members like Courtney Stadd, Paul Carliner, and Liam Sarsfield, as well as their spacecraft Moondancer.
- Finally, Michael Potter of Odyssey Moon, the team that's been posting all along, compliments Google and welcomes the other teams. Michael also mentions his film Orphans of Apollo.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Responsive Space and Smallsat Conference Scholarship Competitions
Last year I posted on a Smallsat Conference Student Scholarship competition and a Responsive Space Conference Student Scholarship competition. Well, the annual competitions are still in play this year:
Smallsat Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition
Responsive Space Conference Student Scholarship
Smallsat Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition
Responsive Space Conference Student Scholarship
SpeedUp Father and Son Team and Armadillo RocketCrane
RLV News links to 2 new updates: 1 for Armadillo (don't miss the 3 videos because they're all cool in their own unique ways) and SpeedUp.
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