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  GLXP: Astrobotic offers rideshares to the moon

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Author Topic:   GLXP: Astrobotic offers rideshares to the moon
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-23-2015 09:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Astrobotic and HAKUTO release
Two Google Lunar XPRIZE Teams Announce Rideshare Partnership for Mission to the Moon

Team HAKUTO (Japan) and Team Astrobotic (U.S.) Plan Cooperative Launch in Pursuit of $30 Million Prize to Land a Private Spacecraft on the Lunar Surface

HAKUTO, the only Japanese team competing for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, has announced a contract with fellow competitor, Astrobotic, based in Pittsburgh, Pa., to carry a pair of rovers to the moon. Astrobotic plans to launch its Google Lunar XPRIZE mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., during the second half of 2016.

HAKUTO's twin rovers, Moonraker and Tetris, will piggyback on Astrobotic's Griffin lander to reach the lunar surface. Upon touchdown, the rovers will be released simultaneously with Astrobotic's Andy rover, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, travel 500 meters on the moon's surface and send high-definition images and video back to Earth, all in pursuit of the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE Grand Prize.

Last month, both teams were awarded Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prizes: HAKUTO won $500,000 for technological advancements in the Mobility category, while Astrobotic, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, won a total of $1.75M for innovations in all three focus areas—Landing, Mobility and Imaging. Throughout the judging process, all three rovers, Moonraker, Tetris and Andy, demonstrated the ability to move 500 meters across the lunar surface and withstand the high radiation environment and extreme temperatures on the moon.

This partnership between the teams demonstrates a new phase of collaboration within the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition. Both sides will benefit with HAKUTO obtaining a ride to the moon and Astrobotic securing an important customer for its long-term lunar delivery service venture. This joint contribution would be reflected in a share of the prize purse.

The target area for this landing will be the Lacus Mortis region, located in the northeastern part of the moon. Images from spacecraft orbiting the moon suggest that Lacus Mortis holds a pit or a skylight, and could potentially be an entrance to a lunar cave. These caves are thought to be lava tubes and could prove scientifically important in explaining the moon's volcanic past. Longer-term, they have potential to house habitats that would protect humans from the hostile lunar environment.

Google Lunar XPRIZE and Astrobotic representatives joined HAKUTO yesterday at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo to announce the partnership and report on the recent Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prize awards.

"I am very excited to announce this rideshare contract with Astrobotic", said Takeshi Hakamada, HAKUTO team leader and CEO of ispace. "This is the next major step for HAKUTO toward our lunar mission after we won the Mobility Milestone Prize. This contract enables HAKUTO to actually send our rover to the moon, which is important because HAKUTO is only concentrating on rover development. Astrobotic Technology is developing a lander which has capability to open up a new era of lunar transportation services, and I have no doubt that they will be the first team to land on the moon."

"Astrobotic is thrilled to welcome HAKUTO aboard our first mission," said John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology Inc. "We envision a 'NASCAR on the Moon' scenario, where competing teams land together, and countries can cheer on their team to the finish line. HAKUTO is the first team signed to fulfill our dream of the first race beyond Earth's orbit."

"We are delighted that two of our teams have engaged in this partnership for their Google Lunar XPRIZE missions," said Andrew Barton, director of technical operations, Google Lunar XPRIZE. "Stimulating new business ecosystems is one of the core goals of any XPRIZE competition, and this joint venture is an excellent example of how humanity's commercial and economic interests will expand into space in the coming years. This announcement builds on the progress seen during the recent Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone Prize awards, and we look forward to the teams furthering this momentum with the news of a confirmed launch contract."

This past December, the deadline for the Google Lunar XPRIZE was officially extended until December 31, 2016. This partnership between HAKUTO and Astrobotic is a positive step towards fulfilling the criteria required for all teams to move forward in the competition, which includes at least one team providing documentation of a scheduled launch by December 31, 2015.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 08-31-2016 02:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Astrobotic Technology release
Team Puli Space is the Third Google Lunar XPRIZE Team to Reserve a Ride to the Moon with Astrobotic

Hungarian Company, Seventh Nation on Astrobotic's Maiden Voyage to the Moon, is to Send a "Memory of Mankind" Time Capsule

Astrobotic Technology and Puli Space Technologies Ltd. announced today at the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP) Summit in Tel Aviv, Israel that they have signed an agreement to fly the first Hungarian payload to the Moon on Astrobotic's upcoming first mission.

The Hungarian team, Puli Space, joins fellow GLXP Teams HAKUTO from Japan, and AngelicvM from Chile, in reserving a ride to the surface of the Moon on Astrobotic's Peregrine lander with a "Memory of Mankind (MoM) on the Moon" time capsule and an option to add their rover. This new partnership with Team Puli further extends Astrobotic's mission of making the Moon accessible to the world by adding a seventh nation to be represented on their inaugural flight.

With this payload reservation, Puli Space will send a unique time capsule for the MoM on the Moon project. The capsule will hold ceramic tablets containing archival imagery and texts of up to 5 million characters per tablet, readable with a 10x magnifier.

"To fly with Astrobotic to the Moon is a unique opportunity for our team to set another exceptional mark in the long success story of Hungarian scientific and technical achievements," explained Dr. Tibor Pacher, Puli Space's founder and CEO. "We are extremely proud to participate in this historical mission, and with this Moonshot I believe we shall offer another great example that Hungarian engineers and scientists can compete with anyone anywhere in the world."

"We are very excited to welcome Team Puli to join us on our mission," said Astrobotic CEO, John Thornton. "With this agreement, our upcoming mission will triple the number of nations that will have landed on the Moon, making this truly an international endeavor of historic proportions."

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