The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a great profile of William “Red” Whittaker, the Carnegie Mellon University professor who is leading one of 10 teams competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize.
Whittaker’s team, Atrobiotic, hopes to land its “Tranquility Trek” rover on the lunar surface in July 2009, the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing by Apollo 11. Whittaker is planning to set the rover down near the original landing site and beam back pictures.
“When I was really little, I thought about adventuring, discovering new worlds, unclimbed mountains,” he told the paper. “A lot of people just get iced over; it’s as if there isn’t anything new under the sun. But the reality is that history is written every day.”
The Arizona Daily Wildcat has published an editorial praising the university’s participation in the Google Lunar X Prize. The paper believes the combination of UA’s imaging experience, Raytheon’s missile technology, and Carnegie Mellon robotics expertise makes this a very strong entry in the competition to land a rover on the lunar surface.
“Private exploration is lighter, leaner and smarter than lumbering government projects, and we’re glad the UA is playing an important role in the future of space exploration. Google may be paying for the prize, and the UA may be a formidable competitor, but it’s humans everywhere who will reap its rewards,” the editors write.
UA News has a story about the University of Arizona’s partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and Raytheon Missile Systems to form Team Astrobotic - one of 10 competitors in the Google Lunar X Prize competition.
The UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and its Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering are the major elements of the university’s participation. “This is the dream team,” Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Director Michael J. Drake said.
LPL will provide its expertise in designing, building and operating imaging camera systems. It will add a clean room and a high bay to its Phoenix Science Operations Center, where the lunar lander will be assembled.
The Arizona Daily Star also has a story.