Wednesday, December 31, 2008
More Space Year in Review
2008 In Review: The Year In Aerospace - Aero-News Network - The highlights for 2008 include Google Lunar X PRIZE, Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, X PRIZE aviation fuel investigation, and Rocket Racing League events.
Ocean Race on Google Earth
Links: Santa Tracker Popular, Volvo Ocean Race, Lost World Discovered, Cold War KML - Google Earth Blog - I'm including the GEB post for this prize-related portion:
Volvo Ocean Race - The official site of the Volvo Ocean Race (a round-the-world sailboat race with multi-person crews in 70 mono-hulls capable of 30 knot speeds), has released a Google Earth file that lets you track the boats as they complete their journey. The GE Volvo Race tracker includes placemarks with links to pictures, stories, and videos.
The Google Earth Blog has a lot of other recent posts worth checking out: World Sunlight Map, New 3D Cities, Alps Ski Information Layer, The Year 2008, and New Improved Ancient Rome 3D. I'll just provide the links to those Google Earth innovations without further comment since I don't see any prize connections there. They're just cool is all.
Volvo Ocean Race - The official site of the Volvo Ocean Race (a round-the-world sailboat race with multi-person crews in 70 mono-hulls capable of 30 knot speeds), has released a Google Earth file that lets you track the boats as they complete their journey. The GE Volvo Race tracker includes placemarks with links to pictures, stories, and videos.
The Google Earth Blog has a lot of other recent posts worth checking out: World Sunlight Map, New 3D Cities, Alps Ski Information Layer, The Year 2008, and New Improved Ancient Rome 3D. I'll just provide the links to those Google Earth innovations without further comment since I don't see any prize connections there. They're just cool is all.
$20,000 Countdown Tonight: 10, 9, 8, 7 ...
Hey, Potential Teams! - The Launch Pad - From Will from the X PRIZE Foundation:
The registration fee for the Google Lunar X PRIZE goes up from $10,000 (USD) to $30,000 (USD) on January 1st, 2009. ...
My mailbox has been very busy over the past few weeks with new registrations and new letters of intent. ...
The registration fee for the Google Lunar X PRIZE goes up from $10,000 (USD) to $30,000 (USD) on January 1st, 2009. ...
My mailbox has been very busy over the past few weeks with new registrations and new letters of intent. ...
Buckeye Regional FIRST 2009 Kick Off
High School Robotics Competition Kicks Off on Jan. 3 - SpaceRef
The event will feature a live satellite broadcast by NASA Television from the FIRST Headquarters in Manchester, N.H. Dean Kamen, inventor and founder of FIRST, will reveal the game, playing field and rules for the 2009 competition. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
The event will feature a live satellite broadcast by NASA Television from the FIRST Headquarters in Manchester, N.H. Dean Kamen, inventor and founder of FIRST, will reveal the game, playing field and rules for the 2009 competition. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
Soyuz Patch Contest Winner
Russian girl wins Soyuz crew patch artwork contest - Space for All
Under the rules of the contest, which was organized by Roscosmos, Russia's Federal Space Agency, with the cooperation of other nations' space programs including NASA, children ages 6 to 15 from around the world had from Oct. 25 to Christmas day 2008 to create and submit their idea for a patch in the form of a drawing, painting or computer-assisted design.
Under the rules of the contest, which was organized by Roscosmos, Russia's Federal Space Agency, with the cooperation of other nations' space programs including NASA, children ages 6 to 15 from around the world had from Oct. 25 to Christmas day 2008 to create and submit their idea for a patch in the form of a drawing, painting or computer-assisted design.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Mystery Scientist
Greetings from Mare Ingenii - Bad Astronomy/Universe Today Forum - We now know who the Google Lunar X PRIZE Mystery Team is, but who is this?
Let's just be minimalist for the moment, and on a strictly "need to know" basis, allow me to introduce myself to this celebrated forum as a humble planetary scientist of some reputation. I am degreed in astronomy and geology and am overpaid for working for a small start-up company presently headquartered at Research Triangle Park between Durham and Raleigh in North Carolina. I'm also spending too much time, of late, at something called the Global TransPark, to the east. My present project is work in support of two teams qualified to compete for the Google Lunar X-Prize, which lately seems, at least in their cases, more attainable than I would have dreamed possible at this stage. (WAY ahead of schedule.)
Let's just be minimalist for the moment, and on a strictly "need to know" basis, allow me to introduce myself to this celebrated forum as a humble planetary scientist of some reputation. I am degreed in astronomy and geology and am overpaid for working for a small start-up company presently headquartered at Research Triangle Park between Durham and Raleigh in North Carolina. I'm also spending too much time, of late, at something called the Global TransPark, to the east. My present project is work in support of two teams qualified to compete for the Google Lunar X-Prize, which lately seems, at least in their cases, more attainable than I would have dreamed possible at this stage. (WAY ahead of schedule.)
Flickring Beam Power
Kicking and screaming into the 21st Century… - The Space Elevator Blog - Part of the 21st century includes internet photo albums, and the Space Elevator Blog is making some for past Space Elevator Games.
Joe Space Tourist
Joe Space Tourist - The link I'm giving is for the X PRIZE tag from the "Joe Space Tourist" blog. This excerpt from an early post gives a summary of Joe Space Tourist's mission:
The $200,000 price tag gave me three choices. I could give up on my dream, but for me, that's not an option. I could wait for more companies to enter the arena and prices to drop; this could very well happen, but I don't want to rely on it. So my third option is to spend my life working toward this. That is what I have decided to do.
In other words, I'm not here to say that anyone can do this. Not everyone can. It's going to take a hell of a lot of drive, determination, careful planning, and above all, the ability to turn nay-sayers into fuel for the fire. Anyone who tells me I can't do this only makes me more determined to prove them wrong. In other words, what I am saying is that anyone with these qualities can do this. You, too, can go to space.
And I'm going to prove it.
The $200,000 price tag gave me three choices. I could give up on my dream, but for me, that's not an option. I could wait for more companies to enter the arena and prices to drop; this could very well happen, but I don't want to rely on it. So my third option is to spend my life working toward this. That is what I have decided to do.
In other words, I'm not here to say that anyone can do this. Not everyone can. It's going to take a hell of a lot of drive, determination, careful planning, and above all, the ability to turn nay-sayers into fuel for the fire. Anyone who tells me I can't do this only makes me more determined to prove them wrong. In other words, what I am saying is that anyone with these qualities can do this. You, too, can go to space.
And I'm going to prove it.
Investing in Future Prizes
Gulf investors in talks over 'world changing' contest - ArabianBusiness.com:
Gulf investors are in talks over a series of $100 million contests that will aim to foster “world-changing” breakthroughs in fields such as space exploration and life sciences.
...
Diamandis said future contests may focus on mapping the ocean floor, boosting food production, and a concept he called ‘Human 2.0’ — where, for example, “a person who is severely handicapped from spinal cord injuries could be given the ability to regain their functionality”.
Gulf investors are in talks over a series of $100 million contests that will aim to foster “world-changing” breakthroughs in fields such as space exploration and life sciences.
...
Diamandis said future contests may focus on mapping the ocean floor, boosting food production, and a concept he called ‘Human 2.0’ — where, for example, “a person who is severely handicapped from spinal cord injuries could be given the ability to regain their functionality”.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Lunar Prizes Roundup - December 27, 2008
China's role in commercial space on hold - World Security Network (link from the X PRIZE Foundation)
Why I like this project.... - Unreasonable Rocket
Merry Christmas - Unreasonable Rocket
Rover computer prototype - Googlokhod
The Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams continue to post a lot, including a number of introductions from EuroLuna, a Christmas poem that's fair to all of the teams by STELLAR, a review of open source hardware by Frednet, and more.
Why I like this project.... - Unreasonable Rocket
Merry Christmas - Unreasonable Rocket
Rover computer prototype - Googlokhod
The Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams continue to post a lot, including a number of introductions from EuroLuna, a Christmas poem that's fair to all of the teams by STELLAR, a review of open source hardware by Frednet, and more.
X PRIZE Cars Blog Change
End of Automotive X Prize News: Dec 21st, 2008 - X PRIZE Cars blog - It may be the last of the weekly news roundups, but the site will continue (and maybe do more of) its other features.
End of Year Link Cleanup
I did a little link cleanup, adding the new Google Lunar X PRIZE teams, removing the V-Prize and unofficial Regolith Excavation Challenge links (which were obsolete), and adding Space Show interviews on Unreasonable Rocket, Odyssey Moon, and the Conrad Awards.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams, Many Showing Hardware
Space Disco Vidcast Covers New Teams - The Launch Pad
ARCA Unveils Haas Launch Vehicle - The Launch Pad
Haas, ARCA's orbital rocket launcher unveiled today - ARCA on Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Jaluro's First Test Drive - Frednet on Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Solid rocket engine mockup for lunar rover - Selene 0n Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Layered chassis mold - Astrobotic on the Teams site
Renowned CMU roboticist sets his sights on the moon - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link from X PRIZE Foundation)
InterPlanetary Ventures - Joining the Human Synergy Moon Project - The Space Fellowship
ARCA Unveils Haas Launch Vehicle - The Launch Pad
Haas, ARCA's orbital rocket launcher unveiled today - ARCA on Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Jaluro's First Test Drive - Frednet on Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Solid rocket engine mockup for lunar rover - Selene 0n Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site
Layered chassis mold - Astrobotic on the Teams site
Renowned CMU roboticist sets his sights on the moon - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link from X PRIZE Foundation)
InterPlanetary Ventures - Joining the Human Synergy Moon Project - The Space Fellowship
Holiday Tweeting
Tweet A Last-Minute Gift To Charity - Washington Post - This quick article points out that you can use tweets to give to causes like the Google Lunar X PRIZE.
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