lunarlander
Latest
China's Chang'e-4 touches down on the far side of the moon (update: first pics)
Chinese media announced that the nation's Chang'e-4 lunar lander has successfully reached the far side of the moon, making it the first spacecraft to do so. This is China's recent lunar mission, following Jade Rabbit in 2013, but by touching the side of the moon that's always facing away from the Earth, it has notched a first in the space race.
A Tour of Astrobotic Technology's lunar rover lab at Carnegie Mellon (video)
Things are buzzing late Monday afternoon at Carnegie Mellon's Planetary Robotics Lab Highbay. Outside, in front of the garage door-like entrance, a trio of men fills up a kiddie pool with a garden hose. Just to their left, an Enterprise rent-a-truck backs up and a handful of students raise two metal ramps up to its rear in order to drive a flashy rover up inside. I ask our guide, Jason Calaiaro, what the vehicle's final destination is. "NASA," he answers, simply. "We have a great relationship with NASA, and they help us test things." Calaiaro is the CIO of Astrobotic Technology, an offshoot of the school that was founded a few years back, thanks to Google's Lunar X Prize announcement. And while none of the handful of vehicles the former student showcases were made specifically with the government space agency in mind, given the company's history of contractual work, we could well see them receive the NASA stamp of approval in the future. Asked to take us through the project, Calaiaro tells us, quite confidently, that the trio of vehicles behind us are set to "land on the moon in 2015," an ambitious goal set to occur exactly three weeks from last Friday.%Gallery-168976%
NASA successfully tests autonomous lunar lander navigation system, codename GENIE (video)
Robonaut2 may have fantastic biceps, but raw muscle won't put a man humanoid on the moon -- that takes rockets. Rockets like the one in this RR-1 prototype lander, recently outfitted with a Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment (GENIE) system to let the craft safely descend to the lunar surface. On June 23rd, NASA and partner Armadillo Aerospace put the system to the test, hoping it could figure out the complex algorithms necessary to process volumes of data from the laser altimeter, GPS and inertial sensors, and quickly enough to steer the rocket engine accordingly... but the machine performed like a charm. See its first solo flight in an inspiring, flame-filled video after the break, and skip to 4:12 for the good stuff.
Odyssey Moon hopes to bring lunar payloads to the masses with MoonOne
Looks like our civilian space agency is serious about getting their little robot outpost on the moon, and now they've teamed up with a company called Odyssey Moon to develop small robotic lunar landers based on NASA's Common Spacecraft Bus. The firm hopes to provide regular commercial services (the craft supports a roughly 110 lb payload) in the event of an oncoming "moon rush," a magical future time where everyone and their mother are looking to get a piece of the lunar surface. Who knows what sorts of new discoveries (and new practical jokes) await those of us who are brave enough to exit the gravity well and live amongst the stars? To peep that far out Engineering TV episode where they break it all down for us, hit the read link.
Lunar lander lifts off, then promptly crashes
As the sole contestant in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, Armadillo Aerospace's predictably named Armadillo managed to complete two parts of a NASA challenge to win $350,000 in prize money. However, on attempting the top task -- fly 50 meters up, fly 50 meters sideways, and land -- the Armadillo tripped up, plummeting to the ground and losing the chance to win $1 million. It'll get another chance today, although at least the team won't be rushed by the non-existent competitors. Packing 1,800 pounds of thrust to the vessel's 1,500 pound weight, the Armadillo is guided by GPS and other sensors: one day we could be taking trips to the moon in the distant, distant successor to this little beast.[Via Crave]
Buy your way into the X-Prize Lunar Lander Challenge
If you're looking to get in on a piece of that X-Prize pie but find yourself lacking in that little requirement of aerospace engineering expertise, you now have a chance to make up for your chosen career path, with one team competing in the X-Prize's Lunar Lander Challenge offering up a piece of the action on eBay. While it's certainly a gamble, should the team actually win, the one lucky bidder could be taking home up to $650,000 in prize money, not to mention one of the two actual lunar lander vehicles set to take part in the competition. For your trouble, they'll also let you plaster your name or company logo on the sides of the craft. Of course, given that the only glimpse of the vehicle is the mockup seen after the break, the chances of it being ready for the X-Prize competition this October would seem to be a little slim, especially if the bidding stays at the current four digit level. If you've got deep enough pockets, however, you can swoop in a snag it outright for the Buy it Now price of $199,000, giving the team a seemingly much-needed shot in the arm.[Via Uber-Review]
