Press Release
20 July 2008
Mountain View, CA – The world’s first astronomical observatory bound for the Moon was announced today as a joint venture between the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) and Google Lunar X PRIZE contender Odyssey Moon Limited.
A dual function ILO precursor instrument demonstrating observation and communication techniques will be part of the scientific and commercial payloads aboard Odyssey Moon’s inaugural “MoonOne” lander mission, planned for 2011, and destined for the lunar equator in pursuit of the Google Lunar X PRIZE.
The ILO precursor instrument will be used to conduct astrophysical and in-situ observations and communications, providing scientific research, technical demonstrations and proof of concept for the ILO venture. The announcement was made during a NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.
Continue reading ‘First Lunar Astronomical Observatory to Fly Aboard Odyssey Moon Craft’
ODYSSEY MOON PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC – Odyssey Moon, a commercial lunar enterprise, announced today that former NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Alan Stern has accepted a role with the Isle of Man-based company. Dr. Stern was a recognized engine of change and innovation as chief of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, championing new science programs while being a stalwart advocate of cost and value control when he served at NASA.
Dr. Stern has joined the Odyssey Moon executive team on an exclusive part time consulting basis as the company’s Science Mission Director, part of a new diversified career focus spanning many of his lifelong interests and activities. He expects that his blended understanding of science and business will help Odyssey Moon establish a commercial lunar business while pursuing the $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE. “I am a fan of public-private partnerships and building bridges to new markets,” he said. “I believe we are on the verge of a whole new era of space exploration and that the private sector can provide reliable cost effective services that can increase the value and leverage government space budgets.”
A veteran of space exploration with over 25 year experience, Stern’s alliance with the private space sector comes at a critical time when NASA and other space agencies are looking carefully at the value proposition in partnering with the commercial sector for space activities.
Continue reading ‘Former NASA AA Alan Stern Joins Google Lunar X Prize Team Odyssey Moon’
Popular Science has an interesting DIY guide to how you - YES, YOU - can win the Google Lunar X Prize. It seems that all you need is a little bit of moxie, a rover that can survive extreme temperatures, a launcher, and…oh yes…somewhere between $20 to $100 million.
Simple, really. All too easy.
All kidding aside, it’s a really cool story that breaks down the major components that one needs succeed in winning the $20 million prize. There are quotes from Odyssey Moon CEO Bob Richards, Astrobiotic’s Red Whittaker, and other competitors.
Meanwhile, Space.com has a story on four additional teams that have joined the great race. The teams include Advaeros, out of Malaysia; JURBAN, which is focused teaching disadvantaged students to build robots; and STELLAR, a North Carolina group headed by Dick Dell. There is also a mystery team, which apparently has no connection to Scooby-Doo’s outfit, Mystery, Inc.
GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE PRESS RELEASE
The first ever Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Summit is a unique opportunity for official teams, potential teams and team members, government and industry experts, and potential suppliers and customers to meet and discuss the competition with each other and with key X PRIZE Foundation leaders. Over two days - May 20-21, 2008 - a series of workshops and panels will serve both to collect input from teams about the guidelines for the prize and to provide information that will help each team successfully bring their dreams to fruition.
Summit events and panel topics will include:
- Rules and Guidelines Workshop
- Lessons Learned from Historical Lunar Missions
- Launch and Communications
- Future Customers
- Team Announcement Media Event
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an international competition—so what host venue could be better than the campus of the International Space University? Located just outside of Strasbourg, France, ISU provides an excellent working environment—as well as beautiful tourist sites for attendees to enjoy after the sessions are over.
Continue reading ‘ISU to Host Google Lunar X Prize Team Summit in May’
Grieving family members and relatives will be able to send their loved ones’ ashes into lunar orbit or even to the surface under an agreement between Celestis and Odyssey Moon.
The agreement provides Houston-based Celestis with payload space aboard Odyssey Moon’s planned lunar landers and orbiters. Ashes will be contained in small individual canisters in a payload module.
Odyssey Moon, based in the Isle of Man, was founded last year. The company is competing in the Google Lunar X Prize to land a rover on the moon, but it also plans to launch of series of lunar landers and orbiters.
“The thrill and joy Celestis provides touched me personally when my dear friend and International Space University co-founder Todd Hawley reached his dream of spaceflight in 1997,” said Dr. Robert Richards, CEO of Odyssey Moon. “We welcome the opportunity to support Celestis and continue their uniquely compelling service to the Moon.”
Hawley’s ashes were aboard Celestis’ first flight. The company also assisted NASA in placing the ashes of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft. Controllers intentionally crashed the orbiter at the lunar south pole when its mission ended on July 31, 1999.
William Pomerantz site has a blog entry about the winners of the 2008 Botball Design Challenge. High school and middle school students studied the Google Lunar X Prize, designed lunar landers, and developed web materials to promote their ideas.
The Google Lunar X Prize website also has updates from some of the the teams this week. To get an overview, visit the main site here or you can click on individual articles below.
Lunatrex: Lunar landing is key
March 13, 2008
Micro Space: The Google Lander: a stepping stone to Mars
March 13, 2008
Quantum3: Innovation in the Private Sector Created the Foundation for Space Exploration
March 11, 2008
Lunatrex: LunaTrex Outreach Program begun by sponsoring University Rocket Team
March 11, 2008
Micro Space: Human and Robotic Lunar Lander Status
March 07, 2008
SCSG: The Big Elephant in the Room: FUNDING
February 29, 2008
Odyssey Moon, one of the competitors in the Google Lunar X Prize, is looking for payloads to fly to the lunar surface. It has issued a request for information “to identify potential payloads and Principal Investigators (PIs) who wish to explore rapid, low-cost lunar flight opportunities.” The payloads must be 15 to 25 kilograms (33 to 55 lbs.)
The company hopes to land its MoonOne spacecraft on the lunar surface in July 2011 in order to claim the $30 million prize. The lander is set to be first of a series of spacecraft the company will send to the Moon.
You can read the full RFI on its website. Odyssey Moon Limited is a private company based in the Isle of Man.
There have been a series of stories about and interviews with the leaders of teams competing for the Google Lunar X Prize. The groups are competing to land a rover on the lunar surface. The interviews include:
INTERNATIONAL SPACE FELLOWSHIP
Team Italia
Team Cringely
InterPlanetary Ventures
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (AUDIO FILES)
Team FredNet
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.”