Friday, March 07, 2008
Meet the New Centennial Challenges Leader
The Space Elevator Blog has a post that I'm presenting not so much because it has to do with the Space Elevator Games, but rather because it introduces the new person in charge of Centennial Challenges (among other responsibilities), Andy Petro.
Consolidated Lunar and Glove Prizes Post
For the Google Lunar X PRIZE:
The Space Fellowship has had a series of interviews and articles on the Google Lunar X PRIZE teams. Here's one on Team Italia.
The Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site has an update from Micro-Space that also has some Space Fellowship content.
For the Lunar Lander Challenge:
RLV News has the latest updates from Masten Space Systems on a new employee's job and igniter tests, and Unreasonable Rocket showing data from a test. Actually, RLV News already has an even newer post on available summer interships. I'm not sure if Masten is still going for the LLC prize this year.
For the Astronaut Glove Challenge:
RLV News links to another cool article from NASA ASK by 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge winner Peter Homer where the "incremental failure" approach, applicable in many other design situations, leads to a win:
I decided to focus all my effort on just the finger element. If I couldn't come up with a more flexible finger, there was no point in spending time on the rest of the glove, I reasoned. So I devised a simple test fixture that allowed me to build and pressurize finger elements in about twenty minutes, and I spent the next few weeks designing and making glove fingers. A lot of fingers. Probably three dozen in all. Every one of those fingers (except the last) was a little failure, but every one taught me something about what did and didn't flex easily, or about how to streamline the fabrication process, or what materials and design elements were or were not important.
Here's another lesson that's might come in handy:
By remaining aware of the big picture, continuously asking myself, “Am I converging on a solution?” and “Am I converging fast enough?” I was able to see that my original design was not going to succeed, leading to the decision to start over.
The Space Fellowship has had a series of interviews and articles on the Google Lunar X PRIZE teams. Here's one on Team Italia.
The Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site has an update from Micro-Space that also has some Space Fellowship content.
For the Lunar Lander Challenge:
RLV News has the latest updates from Masten Space Systems on a new employee's job and igniter tests, and Unreasonable Rocket showing data from a test. Actually, RLV News already has an even newer post on available summer interships. I'm not sure if Masten is still going for the LLC prize this year.
For the Astronaut Glove Challenge:
RLV News links to another cool article from NASA ASK by 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge winner Peter Homer where the "incremental failure" approach, applicable in many other design situations, leads to a win:
I decided to focus all my effort on just the finger element. If I couldn't come up with a more flexible finger, there was no point in spending time on the rest of the glove, I reasoned. So I devised a simple test fixture that allowed me to build and pressurize finger elements in about twenty minutes, and I spent the next few weeks designing and making glove fingers. A lot of fingers. Probably three dozen in all. Every one of those fingers (except the last) was a little failure, but every one taught me something about what did and didn't flex easily, or about how to streamline the fabrication process, or what materials and design elements were or were not important.
Here's another lesson that's might come in handy:
By remaining aware of the big picture, continuously asking myself, “Am I converging on a solution?” and “Am I converging fast enough?” I was able to see that my original design was not going to succeed, leading to the decision to start over.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Ken Davidian on Commercial Space Development and Centennial Challenges
Former NASA Centennial Challenges manager Ken Davidian recently appeared on the Space Show. Most of the interview was on his new assignment, which deals with a new NASA ESMD policy favoring commercial space development. Towards the end of the interview he also discussed each of the existing Centennial Challenges prizes, including questions of where the next Lunar Lander Challenge would be held, when would this year's Astronaut Glove Challenge rules be revealed, and more.
Reasonable Blogging Tools for the Lunar Lander Engineer
Unreasonable Rocket is testing new blogging software tools and showing how windy it was during tests from the previous post.
Lunar X PRIZE, Universities, and Cringely
RLV News posts on 2 Google Lunar X PRIZE articles. The first, from the Tucson Citizen, is on the University or Arizona's contribution to team Astrobotic. Here's one snippet from the article showing how it's going:
The project has $1.5 million in hand donated by UA, Carnegie Mellon and Raytheon to fund design work and develop a business plan needed to raise funds to cover the project's $100 million price tag, Lauretta said.
What does UA have to gain from the competition?
"The X Prize is not the only revenue stream. We will have a system for pinpoint accuracy delivery to the surface of the moon or other planets. Others will come and pay for that. We really believe in the vision of the Google Lunar X Prize to make lunar surface activities routine."
... and ...
"Instead of being the group that provides the science instruments, we will be able to provide an entire spacecraft and run an entire mission," Lauretta said. "UA will be capable of building and operating entire space missions for NASA. We'll have a bigger share of the workload.
The other article is from the Space Fellowship, which has been interviewing GLXP teams. This time the interview is of Team Cringely.
Finally, here's a GLXP article from Design News on universities and the GLXP.
The project has $1.5 million in hand donated by UA, Carnegie Mellon and Raytheon to fund design work and develop a business plan needed to raise funds to cover the project's $100 million price tag, Lauretta said.
What does UA have to gain from the competition?
"The X Prize is not the only revenue stream. We will have a system for pinpoint accuracy delivery to the surface of the moon or other planets. Others will come and pay for that. We really believe in the vision of the Google Lunar X Prize to make lunar surface activities routine."
... and ...
"Instead of being the group that provides the science instruments, we will be able to provide an entire spacecraft and run an entire mission," Lauretta said. "UA will be capable of building and operating entire space missions for NASA. We'll have a bigger share of the workload.
The other article is from the Space Fellowship, which has been interviewing GLXP teams. This time the interview is of Team Cringely.
Finally, here's a GLXP article from Design News on universities and the GLXP.
X PRIZE Foundation Newsletter, Feb 29, 2008
The X PRIZE Foundation sent out its latest newsletter, the February 29 edition. The link-rich email includes a summary of the first 10 GLXP team and Space Florida announcements, and a featured GLXP Lunar Legacy photo. There's also a bit about the Automotive X PRIZE at the New York International Auto Show where
The exhibit space will include videos about the Automotive X PRIZE, showcasing of potential teams and their vehicles and new, exciting announcements about the prize.
Finally, there's a section on a dinner honoring new X PRIZE Foundation Vision Circle members:
The X PRIZE Foundation welcomed the latest members of the Vision Circle, Sergey Brin and Ann Wojcicki; Ray Sidney; and Barry and Trudy Silverstein whose son, Jake, will represent the family. The dinner was hosted by Bita Daryabari at her home in Atherton on February 16.
The exhibit space will include videos about the Automotive X PRIZE, showcasing of potential teams and their vehicles and new, exciting announcements about the prize.
Finally, there's a section on a dinner honoring new X PRIZE Foundation Vision Circle members:
The X PRIZE Foundation welcomed the latest members of the Vision Circle, Sergey Brin and Ann Wojcicki; Ray Sidney; and Barry and Trudy Silverstein whose son, Jake, will represent the family. The dinner was hosted by Bita Daryabari at her home in Atherton on February 16.
Pomerantz on Lessons Learned and a New SEDS Contest
William Pomerantz at the X PRIZE Foundation posts on an article he wrote for NASA's ASK Magazine on lessons learned from the entrepreneurs going for the Foundations' prizes. I'm not sure if NASA will be able to take advantage of these lessons learned, since it's if anything tending to go for even fewer, bigger missions, like the Ares rockets and associated NASA lunar transportation systems, very large Mars robotic missions, etc. Lessons like "Build, Test, Fly, Destroy, Repeat", "(Small) Size Matters", and the others are tough to fit into these kinds of programs. Good luck to NASA on finding and fostering some niches where these lessons can be applied while at the same time tackling the big programs.
Will also posts about a new SEDS Lunar Rover Design Competition. The first round will be held at the UK Space Conference 2008, which, if you check my earlier post at that link you'll see has a lot of other interesting prizes, competitions, and awards.
Will also posts about a new SEDS Lunar Rover Design Competition. The first round will be held at the UK Space Conference 2008, which, if you check my earlier post at that link you'll see has a lot of other interesting prizes, competitions, and awards.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
National Space Society Short Story Contest(s?)
The National Space Society's Downlink #85 broadcast email has some prize-related news I've covered before (Google Lunar X PRIZE team announcement, NSS Space Elevator Team), but it also has a new prize article. This one is on the 'Return to Luna' Short Story Contest. Among other prizes, the winners will be in a Science Fiction print anthology called 'Return to Luna'. They're looking for a certain flavor of story you might expect the National Space Society to prefer; see the link for more details. Judges include some well-known space-oriented Science Fiction authors. Here's more on the publisher.
Spaceref and Space for All also are helping get the word out on the contest.
Also, although I can't find any confirmation of it on the NSS site (so make some phone calls before writing that story!), the site linked ahead states that the NSS is also still part of the 2nd Annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest.
Spaceref and Space for All also are helping get the word out on the contest.
Also, although I can't find any confirmation of it on the NSS site (so make some phone calls before writing that story!), the site linked ahead states that the NSS is also still part of the 2nd Annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest.
60's: Purple Haze; 80's: Purple Rain; '00's: Unreasonable Purple Rocket Cloud
RLV News points out the latest update - with a YouTube video - from Unreasonable Rocket. Armadillo Aerospace's John Carmack makes a suggestion in the comments.
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.
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