Kentucky Space

Space prize roundup

Space Prizes has a series of posts this month on a variety of space-related competitions and awards. Check it out.

Wayne

Space

Video of MIT testbed for lunar lander technology

Via Space Prizes, here is some video of some of a testbed for guidance, navigation and control systems that may find their way into the Next Giant Leap entrant into the Google Lunar X PRIZE. The prize is a worldwide competition awarding $20 million to the first privately-funded team to land and move a robotic vehicle 500 meters across the lunar surface. Source: MIT TechTV

Wayne

Heinlein prize winner to test medical applications in microgravity courtesy of SpaceX

The University of Texas has won a ride in SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft for its winning submission, “Decoupling Diffusive Transport Phenomena in Microgravity," in the Heinlein Trust Microgravity Research Competition.

The prize illustrates the growing importance of space as a laboratory for biological research.

From the announcement:

The results of the proposed experiment will have a direct impact on the development of drug delivery systems for medical applications. Dr. Ferrari's group is focused on development of the science and technology for implantable devices for controlled, long-term drug release—research which could yield important treatment means for a variety of illnesses, including cancer.

The accomplishment comes with a $25,000 prize an an extended stay for the research payload. The proposal is here.

Wayne

Moon flower

Complete with picture, Odyssey Moon has unveiled a miniature greenhouse prototype that could fly on its "Google Lunar X PRIZE lander and grow a flower". Key question: how will Arabidopsis grow in 1/6 gravity?

Wayne

New lunar competitor announced: Synergy Moon

A new team has joined the Google Lunar X-Prize. From the team's homepage:

InterPlanetary Ventures, the Human Synergy Project, and Interorbital Systems have joined forces to become SYNERGY MOON, the newest team to enter the Google Lunar X PRIZE race to the Moon. With working groups in 15 countries, the SYNERGY MOON team actively promotes international cooperation in space exploration and development. SYNERGY MOON will use a lunar-direct launch of an Interorbital Systems’ modular NEPTUNE rocket to carry a lunar lander and at least one rover to the surface of the Moon before the end of 2012.

Phoenix Mars Lander mission wins Swigert Space Exploration Award

The Phoenix Mars Lander team has won the Swigert Award for space exploration "in recognition of the technical developments that led to one of the most startling and meaningful discoveries of the new millennium," according to The Space Foundation. In its five month mission, the Phoenix team confirmed the presence of water ice on the Red Planet.

The award is named in honor of Jack Swigert, the command module pilot for the the Apollo 13 mission, which successfully returned to Earth despite a crippled spacecraft, and will be presented at the foundation's 25th National Space Symposium to be held in Colorado Springs, Colo., on March 30.

This YouTube describes the descent of the craft to the surface of the planet. In a first, the craft was also spotted by the orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, marking the first time a human craft has been photographed on descent to another planet.

Wayne

Moon competition a proving ground for microtechnologies

Kentucky Space students, Richard Speck at Micro-Space has been posting regularly to the Google Lunar X-Prize forum on his efforts, many of which feature plenty of engineering details about getting a very, very small craft on the moon. His latest post is on cubesat (or similarly-sized craft) attitude control. Others have described Laser Interferometer capabilities developed by Micro-Space. Check them all out.

Wayne

Monday morning Space links

Just some space links for your Monday:

• The latest Carnival of Space has been posted to The Moon Society blog.
• Exoplanetology introduces a hobby, Exogazing
• Drawing on an historic analogy, The Space Review argues for a public act to jump start a reusable launch vehicle industry.
• Related, Florida is sponsoring a $40 million prize for a reusable space vehicle. A meeting summary is here and program links may be found on Gov. Crist's web site.
• The open source Google Lunar X Prize team, FREDNET, has displayed its two-wheeled rover concept. JPL is also testing an axel rover.
• Some notes on the recent flight test of WhiteKnightTwo.
• Visual evidence from Titan suggests an active hydrology that leads to the ebb and flow of hydrocarbon lakes.

Wayne

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Cubesats to test Google Lunar X-Prize Technologies?

In an update yesterday about its progress toward the Google Lunar X-Prize, Micro-Space mentions that the laser altimeter and docking technologies that it has developed to meet the challenge may well have further industrial applications. But just as interesting, the organization says that the "cluster of technologies" it has developed may be proven in space using Cubesats - and that more information is forthcoming.

Wayne

Space elevator pix on Flickr

The Space Elevator blog has set up a photostream at Flickr for all the photos accumulated the past couple of years. Pictures from the 2007 competition, like the one above of UBC-Snowstar team members setting up a solar array, have been the first to be uploaded.

Wayne