Google Lunar X PRIZE Complete Teams RSS Feed

Omega Envoy Is Now Entering Its Communications Test Phase

Jdunn — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:19:08 -0700

Omega Envoy is now entering its communications test phase. On Saturday June 27th Omega Envoy sent its Rover 2.0, a test platform for communication and control equipment, to Devon Island to test it under one of the most realistic lunar environments the Earth can offer.

Devon Island is only 700 miles from the arctic and is the largest uninhabited island on the earth., and for good reason, the average temperature is a frigid -4 degrees Fahrenheit! With such a harsh environment it is safe to say that if Rover 2.0 can run here we are one step closer to being able to run on the moon.

The main purpose of this test is to demonstrate how we will communicate with the rover on Devon Island from mission control in Orlando, Fl, which is more than 3000 miles away. Also a series of missions will be executed to test the capabilities of the rover, such as climbing rocks, climbing steep inclines, and taking video of the surrounding area. All while satisfying the Google Lunar X PRIZE requirements.

Perhaps one of the most novel missions for the expedition is that the rover will be used as a sort of surveillance for the Mars habitat team. It will continuously be surveying the area and in the case of polar bears in proximity can warn the HAB team not to go outside. Polar bears have been known to attack, and even eat humans, so this will serve as a welcome safety precaution to all the HAB inhabitants.This demonstration will prove a useful role for robotic explorers during manned missions to the Moon or Mars. While we certainly don't expect to find polar bears on the moon, we can easily vision a need for the assistance of a rover to aid in normal crew activities. The rover will also give mission control a more controllable view of the crews activities.

You can follow the progress of the Rover 2.0 on the Omega Envoy website where a live feed will be broadcast from mission control as we control the rover across the arctic landscape as well as up to date blogs from the Rover 2.0.

Continuous updates on the expedition can also be tracked via twitter @oe_rover and @OmegaEnvoy.

And, in case you are sick of seeing us call our rover "Rover 2.0 (like we are!) make sure to submit a name to the Omega Envoy Rover Naming Contest on Youtube for a chance to have your name engraved on the rover when it goes to the moon.

Blue Thunder

SELENE — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:09:26 -0700

Maybe you remember the movie, Blue Thunder that features a high-tech helicopter with infrared scanners, cameras, etc. To test this concept, the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics developed a miniature camera and communications system for possible installation on rockets, satellites or even our spacecraft in the future. We are pursuing the same idea, although our tiny, remote- controlled test helicopter can only get airborne with a maximum payload of about 800 g.

Stay tuned for the first test flight of Blue Thunder.

Evadot Podcast #4 – An interview with Team FREDNET

acsete — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:49:08 -0700

Fred Bourgeois and Sean Casey of Team FREDNET were interviewed last week by Michael Doornbos. In the interview they discuss the team background, vision, and mission, and Fred even reveals the origin of the team name. You can listen to the interview in the Evadot Podcast #4 – An interview with Team FREDNET.

Enjoy!

TED Bucharest

Bogdan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:32:56 -0700

Dumitru Popescu, ARCA Team Leader will speak at Technology, Entertainment, Design conference on October 16, 2009.

Soeren and Palle discuss cubesat option

Euroluna — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:47:25 -0700

Today Palle and Soeren are together in Switzerland discussing the various optiona ater Soerens return from US and Canada to visit the partners.

Here is a short video about that:

All the best

Palle and Soeren

Video Clip from Radio Free Europe's "TV Liberty" about GLXP and Team Synergy Moon

Kevin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:45:36 -0700

We have also added this to our video playlist in the Video Blog section.

Google Lunar X Prize goes China

SELENE — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:25:51 -0700

You will probably not be able to read the text, but nevertheless I am happy to announce, the first Chinese newspaper Youth Weekend launched a big article about the Google Lunar X Prize, Team Selene as well as other teams yesterday:

http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a06/090625A0601.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a07/090625A0701.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a07/090625A0702.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a07/090625A0703.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a08/090625A0801.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a08/090625A0802.shtml
http://www.yweekend.com/webnews/090625/a08/090625A0803.shtml

Great feedback

acsete — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:38:49 -0700

We have received some great feedback on the Community Manager job advert we posted a few days ago. Thank you everybody for spreading the word!

We are going to have the first round of interviews with candidates over the next week; however, there is still time to submit your application. The opening will stay open for a while.

This important task requires a significant effort and we believe that it is best solved by a small but dedicated group of people from around the world, who can share the workload and reflect the diversity in our team.

Tesla lansira burek u svemir:

Kevin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:35:40 -0700

Bosansko-međunarodni robot po imenu Tesla do kraja 2011. godine hodat će po Mjesecu i u svemir lansirati burek, siguran je Nebojša Stanojević.

http://superportal.ba/index.php/zanimljivosti/4209-ekskluzivno-bih-e-201...

http://www.nezavisne.com/dogadjaji/ufokusu/42377/Robot-Tesla-ce-se-spust...

http://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/svijet/25554/Tesla-lansira-burek-u-svemir....

http://fotozine.org/?knjiga=forum&poglavlje=909&list=7118

http://www.sarajevo-x.com/clanak/090618058

http://www.cro-rss.com/article_robot_tesla_s_burekom_u_svemir__4004264.h...

From the Earth to the Moon

Next Giant Leap — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:40:50 -0700

The most critical factor for the NGL business case is cost. Thus cost has been the key driver in the development of our current technical concept.

During the MIT Giant Leaps symposium NGL unveiled details concerning the Launch Vehicle (LV), Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) stage, Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) stage and Final Descent (D2) stage. Developing a solution for the SpaceX Falcon 1e is key to constraining the cost within the limits imposed by our business case.