@NextGiantLeap Good luck to @pkhomer this Thursday, re: the $400K Astronaut Glove Challenge! http://bit.ly/2blddB
From the linked NASA IPP press release:
At least two competitors are expected, including Peter Homer, the winner of the competition held in 2007.
@selenokhod I uploaded a YouTube video -- Selenokhod at TvRoscosmos http://bit.ly/4xRqWW
@MoonBots: We're having a MoonBots planning call right now! Moonbots will be back!
Tentative Dates - 2nd International CanSat Competition in Madrid
Its Time To Push NASA Prizes Even Further - NASA Watch on a post from the JSC Advanced Planning Office Blog
Here are some Google Lunar X PRIZE team members presenting at the Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG 2009) (PDF) being held November 16-19:
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 1:15 p.m. Panel: Robotic Lunar Rover Prospectors
Whitaker W. (Carnegie Mellon Institute)
Poster Session: Cohanim B. Joyce M. Mosher T. Tuohy S. Cunio P.
TAKING THE NEXT GIANT LEAP. (PDF)
Poster Session: Richards R. D.
ODYSSEY MOON “M-1” MISSION OF OPPORTUNITY– ENABLING SCIENCE, EXPLORATION AND COMMERCE. (PDF)
These are just the ones I noticed; I wouldn't be surprised if there are more there.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Lunar Water
Yesterday, in celebration of the LCROSS water discovery, Google put up a Google Doodle with a LCROSS theme. If you click on it you get search results on the water news. The Doodle still up this morning. I'm not sure if the Doodles are based on UTC time or not always up exactly 1 day. In case this one is gone by the time you read this, you can see what it looks like here:
Google doodle: water found on the moon by Nasa - Telegraph.co.uk
Doodle 4 Google - Google - This is the 2009 student contest with the theme "What I Wish for the World". You can see the winner and finalist art there.
Water Found on Moon, Researchers Say - New York Times
A Wet Moon Is Hot Once Again - NASA Watch:
... Meanwhile, word has it that NASA is now looking to match Google's $30 million pledge to the Google Lunar X Prize - and that Google may up their ante as well.
These would be interesting developments if they happen. I've thought for a long time that NASA and the world's other space agencies should make the most of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, but my concept for how they should do that is some or all of the following:
It will be interesting to see how the LCROSS results feed into the decision-making process related to the Augustine Committee "Moon First" and "Flexible Path" options. My take is that the Augustine options really aren't "pure" - they have "off-ramps". Flexible Path has an "off-ramp" using commercial participation to help get astronauts to the Moon's surface. It also starts with trips to lunar orbit and Earth-Moon Lagrange points. Those initial destinations strike me as being all about lunar observations, lunar telerobotics, and space infrastructure for lunar and deep space access. The space infrastructure could even include refueling nodes that could use propellant derived from Earth or lunar resources.
It seems to me that both "Moon First" and "Flexible Path" need ambitious lunar robotics efforts.
Briefs: SpaceX protests USAF launch contract; CCDev update - RLV News - The first part of this concerns the launcher for LADEE, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer orbiter.
Google doodle: water found on the moon by Nasa - Telegraph.co.uk
Doodle 4 Google - Google - This is the 2009 student contest with the theme "What I Wish for the World". You can see the winner and finalist art there.
Water Found on Moon, Researchers Say - New York Times
A Wet Moon Is Hot Once Again - NASA Watch:
... Meanwhile, word has it that NASA is now looking to match Google's $30 million pledge to the Google Lunar X Prize - and that Google may up their ante as well.
These would be interesting developments if they happen. I've thought for a long time that NASA and the world's other space agencies should make the most of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, but my concept for how they should do that is some or all of the following:
- make serious moves to buy services from teams that demonstrate lunar capabilities the space agency can use
- offer prizes that "fit" with the Google Lunar X PRIZE in the sense that similar components might be used to get to the Moon or operate once there, like non-mobile landers, regolith excavators, or ISRU demonstrators
- offer additional bonus prizes or augment existing bonus prizes
- offer a 3rd place prize and/or larger 2nd place prize
- see the first bullet again, and again
It will be interesting to see how the LCROSS results feed into the decision-making process related to the Augustine Committee "Moon First" and "Flexible Path" options. My take is that the Augustine options really aren't "pure" - they have "off-ramps". Flexible Path has an "off-ramp" using commercial participation to help get astronauts to the Moon's surface. It also starts with trips to lunar orbit and Earth-Moon Lagrange points. Those initial destinations strike me as being all about lunar observations, lunar telerobotics, and space infrastructure for lunar and deep space access. The space infrastructure could even include refueling nodes that could use propellant derived from Earth or lunar resources.
It seems to me that both "Moon First" and "Flexible Path" need ambitious lunar robotics efforts.
Briefs: SpaceX protests USAF launch contract; CCDev update - RLV News - The first part of this concerns the launcher for LADEE, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer orbiter.
Friday, November 13, 2009
LCROSS Results, Patch Contests, 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge, SEDS Conference, Recent Elevator Games
Space Fellowship hosts alternative Google Lunar X PRIZE Forum - Space Fellowship
Most Valuable Real Estate in the Solar System: Water on Lunar South Pole - Peter Diamandis at The Launch Pad:
I’m particularly excited for all of the teams building vehicles for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. ... Think of these vehicles as a low-cost ‘prospectors’ looking for information and valuable data, as well as the companies constructing the shovels and picks on the bleeding edge of this potential boom.
LCROSS Changes the Game, Discovers Significant Amounts of Water on the Moon - The Launch Pad
NASA offers $400,000 for super space glove - Network World - I haven't heard any news about competitors this year, but this may be a hint:
NASA said the competition will test gloves from at least two contestants that will measure the gloves' dexterity and strength during operation in a glove box that simulates the vacuum of space.
NASTAR Suborbital Scientist Training Program Patch Contest - NASA Watch
Last patch for the last Shuttle flight - Space for All
SEDS SpaceVision 2009 at Univ. of Arizona - RLV News - The conference includes a number of speakers with prize connections, such as Ben Brockert (Masten Space Systems), Bob Richards (Odyssey Moon), Ken Davidian (former NASA Centennial Challenges manager), Peter Diamandis, and Richard Garriott (who used a competition as part of his space flight).
Going from lunar landing to suborbital flight - RLV News - Unreasonable Rocket considers what's needed for the next big step.
The three caballeros… - The Space Elevator Blog
LaserMotive’s first prize-winning run - The Space Elevator Blog - It includes the key video.
Press Release and Tech Discussion of Competition Results - LaserMotive:
“Now that we have dramatically demonstrated the capabilities of laser power beaming, we will be going on to new projects,” said Dr. Jordin Kare, chief engineer for the project. “We look forward to working with NASA and DOD, as well as with our industrial partners, to develop laser power beaming systems for aerospace and military applications. We also hope to develop commercial products based on our technologies. We will be evaluating several possible markets over the next few months.”
Most Valuable Real Estate in the Solar System: Water on Lunar South Pole - Peter Diamandis at The Launch Pad:
I’m particularly excited for all of the teams building vehicles for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. ... Think of these vehicles as a low-cost ‘prospectors’ looking for information and valuable data, as well as the companies constructing the shovels and picks on the bleeding edge of this potential boom.
LCROSS Changes the Game, Discovers Significant Amounts of Water on the Moon - The Launch Pad
NASA offers $400,000 for super space glove - Network World - I haven't heard any news about competitors this year, but this may be a hint:
NASA said the competition will test gloves from at least two contestants that will measure the gloves' dexterity and strength during operation in a glove box that simulates the vacuum of space.
NASTAR Suborbital Scientist Training Program Patch Contest - NASA Watch
Last patch for the last Shuttle flight - Space for All
SEDS SpaceVision 2009 at Univ. of Arizona - RLV News - The conference includes a number of speakers with prize connections, such as Ben Brockert (Masten Space Systems), Bob Richards (Odyssey Moon), Ken Davidian (former NASA Centennial Challenges manager), Peter Diamandis, and Richard Garriott (who used a competition as part of his space flight).
Going from lunar landing to suborbital flight - RLV News - Unreasonable Rocket considers what's needed for the next big step.
The three caballeros… - The Space Elevator Blog
LaserMotive’s first prize-winning run - The Space Elevator Blog - It includes the key video.
Press Release and Tech Discussion of Competition Results - LaserMotive:
“Now that we have dramatically demonstrated the capabilities of laser power beaming, we will be going on to new projects,” said Dr. Jordin Kare, chief engineer for the project. “We look forward to working with NASA and DOD, as well as with our industrial partners, to develop laser power beaming systems for aerospace and military applications. We also hope to develop commercial products based on our technologies. We will be evaluating several possible markets over the next few months.”
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, November 09, 2009
Space Prize Roundup: After the Lunar Lander and Power Beaming Challenges, Student Prize Resources, More
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
@NGLLC09: Masten Space Systems post-prize plans, in Aviation Week: http://bit.ly/12zbvB
From that article: ... the company will use the $1.15 million it won by taking first place in the Level 2 lander competition and second place in Level 1 to upgrade its Xoie (pronounced "Zoey") vehicle for higher and faster flight ... The next steps, Masten said, will be to devise an aeroshell to permit faster flight and - eventually - re-entry, and to build a new engine that can deliver 2,500 pounds of thrust, versus the 750-pound rating on the Xoie engine.
A wild finish for the Lunar Lander Challenge - The Space Review
@glxp: The quick #NGLLC highlight reel showed at last week's award ceremony is now on YouTube! http://bit.ly/10WayS
@ikluft: my photos of Washington DC trip w/ MSS team for NASA awards for Lunar Lander Challenge http://is.gd/4RkZC
@ikluft: my photos of Masten Space Systems L2 flights in Lunar Lander Challenge on Oct 28-30 http://is.gd/4RkXS
Google Lunar X PRIZE
@Pomerantz: RT @glxp: Here's some great news: #GLXP Team Astrobotic picks up ANSYS as a sponsor! http://bit.ly/3C40us
Bad weather postpones launch of first Romanian rocket - Romanian Times
Prototype fab update #1 - Team FREDNET Lander
@Team_Selenokhod: Laboratory of innovative radiosystems from Research center of Novgorod State University - our new partner http://www.novsu.ru/english/about/
Space Elevator Games - Power Beaming
Highlights from 2009 Competition - LaserMotive
@LaserMotive: Media interview requests are coming in fast from around the world!
And it's over... - USST
Winner in Contest Involving Space Elevator - New York Times
Awards Ceremony - Space Elevator Blog
Contemplating 5 m/s - The Space Elevator Games - In addition to some thoughts about the 3 final teams should they choose to compete next year, this post has some information about the competition next year:
... the next round of the power beaming challenge, which will only have the 5 m/s benchmark level. ... Our job next time, however, is much easier – we have the racetrack stored in a box, we have the right crew, the right venue – we know how much it costs, and how long it takes to do. We’ll be making small changes in the rulebook and setup to facilitate smoother operations, but otherwise – see you all in the next round, date TBA.
Other Prizes
@Pomerantz: RT @ikluft: White House office of Science & Tech Policy blog mentions MSS, #ngllc "A Phenomenal Week for Prizes!" http://is.gd/4Rc0m
In addition to mentioning some X PRIZE and Centennial Challenge news, the OSTP post points out the DARPA Network Challenge, described as
a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems. The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States. The balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads.
AUVSI Student Competitions - Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International - The site look has been updated, and dates and times are given for next year's competitions.
Singularity University, Day Two: Peter Diamandis Thinks Big - Wired
MiniSpaceWorld update - Space for All - It's interesting that one of the worlds includes an "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard", which might be considered a fairly obscure reference in today's movie and TV driven SF market. It looks pretty much like what I'd imagined, too.
@paulsrobotics: Moonraker is now on display in the #WPI Campus Center for the next couple weeks! Go check it out! http://fb.me/34WAux8
Scholarships for Space Studies - Out of the Cradle covers numerous scholarships, competitions, and awards for students.
The Teaching with Contests.com site has lots of information about student prizes. Here are some example posts from the last few days:
2010 Thacher Environmental Research Contest - ... awards cash prizes to secondary school students (grades 9-12) whose projects demonstrate the best use of satellites and other geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. Remote sensing, aerial photography, GIS and GPS are included in the eligible geospatial technologies.
Alan Shepard Technology in Education Awards
Team America Rocketry Challenge
KIDS’ SCIENCE CHALLENGE! 2010 - One of the categories is Sports on Mars.
@NGLLC09: Masten Space Systems post-prize plans, in Aviation Week: http://bit.ly/12zbvB
From that article: ... the company will use the $1.15 million it won by taking first place in the Level 2 lander competition and second place in Level 1 to upgrade its Xoie (pronounced "Zoey") vehicle for higher and faster flight ... The next steps, Masten said, will be to devise an aeroshell to permit faster flight and - eventually - re-entry, and to build a new engine that can deliver 2,500 pounds of thrust, versus the 750-pound rating on the Xoie engine.
A wild finish for the Lunar Lander Challenge - The Space Review
@glxp: The quick #NGLLC highlight reel showed at last week's award ceremony is now on YouTube! http://bit.ly/10WayS
@ikluft: my photos of Washington DC trip w/ MSS team for NASA awards for Lunar Lander Challenge http://is.gd/4RkZC
@ikluft: my photos of Masten Space Systems L2 flights in Lunar Lander Challenge on Oct 28-30 http://is.gd/4RkXS
Google Lunar X PRIZE
@Pomerantz: RT @glxp: Here's some great news: #GLXP Team Astrobotic picks up ANSYS as a sponsor! http://bit.ly/3C40us
Bad weather postpones launch of first Romanian rocket - Romanian Times
Prototype fab update #1 - Team FREDNET Lander
@Team_Selenokhod: Laboratory of innovative radiosystems from Research center of Novgorod State University - our new partner http://www.novsu.ru/english/about/
Space Elevator Games - Power Beaming
Highlights from 2009 Competition - LaserMotive
@LaserMotive: Media interview requests are coming in fast from around the world!
And it's over... - USST
Winner in Contest Involving Space Elevator - New York Times
Awards Ceremony - Space Elevator Blog
Contemplating 5 m/s - The Space Elevator Games - In addition to some thoughts about the 3 final teams should they choose to compete next year, this post has some information about the competition next year:
... the next round of the power beaming challenge, which will only have the 5 m/s benchmark level. ... Our job next time, however, is much easier – we have the racetrack stored in a box, we have the right crew, the right venue – we know how much it costs, and how long it takes to do. We’ll be making small changes in the rulebook and setup to facilitate smoother operations, but otherwise – see you all in the next round, date TBA.
Other Prizes
@Pomerantz: RT @ikluft: White House office of Science & Tech Policy blog mentions MSS, #ngllc "A Phenomenal Week for Prizes!" http://is.gd/4Rc0m
In addition to mentioning some X PRIZE and Centennial Challenge news, the OSTP post points out the DARPA Network Challenge, described as
a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems. The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States. The balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads.
AUVSI Student Competitions - Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International - The site look has been updated, and dates and times are given for next year's competitions.
Singularity University, Day Two: Peter Diamandis Thinks Big - Wired
MiniSpaceWorld update - Space for All - It's interesting that one of the worlds includes an "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard", which might be considered a fairly obscure reference in today's movie and TV driven SF market. It looks pretty much like what I'd imagined, too.
@paulsrobotics: Moonraker is now on display in the #WPI Campus Center for the next couple weeks! Go check it out! http://fb.me/34WAux8
Scholarships for Space Studies - Out of the Cradle covers numerous scholarships, competitions, and awards for students.
The Teaching with Contests.com site has lots of information about student prizes. Here are some example posts from the last few days:
2010 Thacher Environmental Research Contest - ... awards cash prizes to secondary school students (grades 9-12) whose projects demonstrate the best use of satellites and other geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. Remote sensing, aerial photography, GIS and GPS are included in the eligible geospatial technologies.
Alan Shepard Technology in Education Awards
Team America Rocketry Challenge
KIDS’ SCIENCE CHALLENGE! 2010 - One of the categories is Sports on Mars.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
New York Times Energy Prize Article
Here's a roundup of some energy and environment prize news I've come across:
Using Prizes to Drive Energy Innovation - New York Times
The New York Times article mentions several different prizes. I've put together some links and updates on some of the prizes mentioned in the article.
The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE - I've posted on this many times, so you're probably familiar with this competition to encourage marketable highly fuel efficient vehicles. You can see the latest news on this X PRIZE here:
Meet the Qualified Teams at SEMA Next Week - Progressive Automotive X PRIZE blog - Actually the week in question ended on November 6; I'm a bit late with this link.
SEMA 2009: Progressive Automotive X-Prize Contenders - AutoBlog
@progautoxp twitter account also has numerous updates from SEMA.
$5.5 Million in Funding from U.S. DOE to Further Goals of Competition - X PRIZE Foundation press release - The X PRIZE Foundation, a world leader in conducting incentivized competitions to stimulate innovation, today announced it will receive up to $5.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). ... The DOE funding will provide for technical expertise that ensures each vehicle design is reviewed correctly and consistently. Funding will also support expanded outreach and education efforts that will focus on promoting public awareness of the science and engineering behind energy efficient vehicle designs.
Virgin Earth Challenge - The Virgin Earth Challenge is a prize of $25m for whoever can demonstrate to the judges' satisfaction a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth's climate.
I haven't seen a lot of activity on the Virgin Earth Challenge site over the years, but there's a post in the News and Press releases section on "846 ideas and counting" (actually over 900 according to the text) and geoengineering in general.
H-Prize - The H-Prize, enacted by Congress, authorized the Secretary of Energy to create a program to competitively award cash prizes that will advance the commercial application of hydrogen energy technologies by dramatizing and incentivizing accelerated research. ... There are several H-Prize categories, including production, storage, distribution, utilization, and prototypes and transformational technologies. The 2009-11 prize will be awarded in the area of storage materials in mobile systems for light-duty vehicles.
L Prize - Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb.
Philips Submits First L Prize Entry - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition has received its first entrant, a product from Philips Electronics. Philips has developed, manufactured and will bring to market an LED replacement for the common 60-Watt incandescent light bulb. Philips developed this product in response to DOE's industry-wide challenge, and was today recognized by DOE as the first company to submit an entry.
Using Prizes to Drive Energy Innovation - New York Times
The New York Times article mentions several different prizes. I've put together some links and updates on some of the prizes mentioned in the article.
The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE - I've posted on this many times, so you're probably familiar with this competition to encourage marketable highly fuel efficient vehicles. You can see the latest news on this X PRIZE here:
Meet the Qualified Teams at SEMA Next Week - Progressive Automotive X PRIZE blog - Actually the week in question ended on November 6; I'm a bit late with this link.
SEMA 2009: Progressive Automotive X-Prize Contenders - AutoBlog
@progautoxp twitter account also has numerous updates from SEMA.
$5.5 Million in Funding from U.S. DOE to Further Goals of Competition - X PRIZE Foundation press release - The X PRIZE Foundation, a world leader in conducting incentivized competitions to stimulate innovation, today announced it will receive up to $5.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). ... The DOE funding will provide for technical expertise that ensures each vehicle design is reviewed correctly and consistently. Funding will also support expanded outreach and education efforts that will focus on promoting public awareness of the science and engineering behind energy efficient vehicle designs.
Virgin Earth Challenge - The Virgin Earth Challenge is a prize of $25m for whoever can demonstrate to the judges' satisfaction a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth's climate.
I haven't seen a lot of activity on the Virgin Earth Challenge site over the years, but there's a post in the News and Press releases section on "846 ideas and counting" (actually over 900 according to the text) and geoengineering in general.
H-Prize - The H-Prize, enacted by Congress, authorized the Secretary of Energy to create a program to competitively award cash prizes that will advance the commercial application of hydrogen energy technologies by dramatizing and incentivizing accelerated research. ... There are several H-Prize categories, including production, storage, distribution, utilization, and prototypes and transformational technologies. The 2009-11 prize will be awarded in the area of storage materials in mobile systems for light-duty vehicles.
L Prize - Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb.
Philips Submits First L Prize Entry - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition has received its first entrant, a product from Philips Electronics. Philips has developed, manufactured and will bring to market an LED replacement for the common 60-Watt incandescent light bulb. Philips developed this product in response to DOE's industry-wide challenge, and was today recognized by DOE as the first company to submit an entry.
Twitter Management
In recent months I've found myself swamped scanning various twitter accounts for prize news. My first attempt to solve this was a page full of twitter accounts, but clicking each one was too time-consuming. Only a few would have updates on a given day, so I needed a method to just get the updates, preferably organized by theme. I tried some twitter widgets within blogger (on the right here and here). These have been helpful, but they seem to have refresh limitations. I also tried some canned twitter searches, and these are also proving to be helpful. For example, for the X PRIZE Foundation, I have
X PRIZE Foundation Accounts
For student prizes, I have
Student Prize Accounts
For Google Lunar X PRIZE, I have
1 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
2 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
3 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
These solve the problems with the widgets, but I'm not completely happy with these, either. First, I would rather have 1 Google Lunar X PRIZE search, not 3, but there's a 140 character limitation to twitter searches. Another issue is that it seems like Twitter Search doesn't do what I would intuitively expect it to do. For example, let's say I go to twitter and look up "GoZeroG" or "pkhomer":
twitter.com/gozerog
twitter.com/pkhomer
For pkhomer, I see updates from a couple weeks ago, and for GoZeroG, I see updates from a few hours ago. However, when I use Twitter Search:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=from%3Agozerog
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=from%3Apkhomer
I get "No results for from:gozerog" and the same for pkhomer. It seems to happen for some accounts, and not others. I'm sure there's some esoteric but rational reason for this, but it's not what I want. That's why I was interested in the follow tweet from Doug Comstock from NASA IPP, the organization that, among other things, runs Centennial Challenges on the NASA side:
@Doug_Comstock: I started a new list of NASA Prize Winners on twitter. Four so far. Let me know if there are others. @Doug_Comstock/nasa-prize-winners
Here's a link to that list: nasa-prize-winners. Currently it has @dmasten, @LaserMotive, @paulsrobotics, and @plhprod1 (Peter Homer).
Apparently "Twitter Lists" is a new feature that is being rolled out. See Hands-on with Twitter Lists - CNet News. I'm looking forward to trying this new feature, and hoping it solves the various problems I've encountered with my patchwork of twitter management attempts.
For the NASA prize winners list, and just sticking with Centennial Challenges, I'd probably use @pkhomer, since that twitter account seems to be the active one for Peter Homer. I'd also include @armadillogadget. For Masten, I'd probably be torn between using @mastenspace and the whole Masten team (which, as far as I know, means adding @mojaverocketguy, @wikkit, @colinake, and @mmealling to Dave Masten's account above).
X PRIZE Foundation Accounts
For student prizes, I have
Student Prize Accounts
For Google Lunar X PRIZE, I have
1 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
2 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
3 Google Lunar X PRIZE Accounts
These solve the problems with the widgets, but I'm not completely happy with these, either. First, I would rather have 1 Google Lunar X PRIZE search, not 3, but there's a 140 character limitation to twitter searches. Another issue is that it seems like Twitter Search doesn't do what I would intuitively expect it to do. For example, let's say I go to twitter and look up "GoZeroG" or "pkhomer":
twitter.com/gozerog
twitter.com/pkhomer
For pkhomer, I see updates from a couple weeks ago, and for GoZeroG, I see updates from a few hours ago. However, when I use Twitter Search:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=from%3Agozerog
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=from%3Apkhomer
I get "No results for from:gozerog" and the same for pkhomer. It seems to happen for some accounts, and not others. I'm sure there's some esoteric but rational reason for this, but it's not what I want. That's why I was interested in the follow tweet from Doug Comstock from NASA IPP, the organization that, among other things, runs Centennial Challenges on the NASA side:
@Doug_Comstock: I started a new list of NASA Prize Winners on twitter. Four so far. Let me know if there are others. @Doug_Comstock/nasa-prize-winners
Here's a link to that list: nasa-prize-winners. Currently it has @dmasten, @LaserMotive, @paulsrobotics, and @plhprod1 (Peter Homer).
Apparently "Twitter Lists" is a new feature that is being rolled out. See Hands-on with Twitter Lists - CNet News. I'm looking forward to trying this new feature, and hoping it solves the various problems I've encountered with my patchwork of twitter management attempts.
For the NASA prize winners list, and just sticking with Centennial Challenges, I'd probably use @pkhomer, since that twitter account seems to be the active one for Peter Homer. I'd also include @armadillogadget. For Masten, I'd probably be torn between using @mastenspace and the whole Masten team (which, as far as I know, means adding @mojaverocketguy, @wikkit, @colinake, and @mmealling to Dave Masten's account above).
Friday, November 06, 2009
Looking Back at the Lunar Lander Challenge
With all of the recent space prize activity, I've been barely able to keep up, let alone post on all of the events. I just went through over 100 notifications in my email about prize news articles, blog posts, and so on. Whew! That takes a while, and it's only 1 information path.
My advice is to check sites like RLV News. You can see news on the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge events, the awards ceremony for the winners, and how some of the teams are continuing after the prize. If you follow this blog, you'll know some of the other sites to check, too. I'm not going to duplicate all of that, but I do have a few items I thought were interesting:
Masten Space Systems Wins NGLLC LII - Donna's Journey
Parting thoughts as the NGLLC fades to black - TrueZer0
Did Ask for a Photo? - Team Phoenicia
New Photo - Team Phoenicia
@unrocket - Starting Clean up from LLC my entropy maximization efforts got out of control. Started with my Primary computer,new 1Tb Hdrive, $69.00!
Here's a well-deserved vacation:
@wikkit: I saw two oceans and a gulf in one day. My new record. Wandered around Miami Beach a bit, tomorrow is more exploration here.
I made a couple canned twitter searches for the Lunar Lander Challenge (yes, uh, just in time). Actually, I think the teams will continue to be active in some way, so there will still be content there after the Challenge. The searches are at the top right of Space Prizes blog. There are 2 because Twitter seems to take its 140 character limit idea to its searches, too:
Lunar Lander Challenge Accounts
More Lunar Lander (Masten)
My advice is to check sites like RLV News. You can see news on the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge events, the awards ceremony for the winners, and how some of the teams are continuing after the prize. If you follow this blog, you'll know some of the other sites to check, too. I'm not going to duplicate all of that, but I do have a few items I thought were interesting:
Masten Space Systems Wins NGLLC LII - Donna's Journey
Parting thoughts as the NGLLC fades to black - TrueZer0
Did Ask for a Photo? - Team Phoenicia
New Photo - Team Phoenicia
@unrocket - Starting Clean up from LLC my entropy maximization efforts got out of control. Started with my Primary computer,new 1Tb Hdrive, $69.00!
Here's a well-deserved vacation:
@wikkit: I saw two oceans and a gulf in one day. My new record. Wandered around Miami Beach a bit, tomorrow is more exploration here.
I made a couple canned twitter searches for the Lunar Lander Challenge (yes, uh, just in time). Actually, I think the teams will continue to be active in some way, so there will still be content there after the Challenge. The searches are at the top right of Space Prizes blog. There are 2 because Twitter seems to take its 140 character limit idea to its searches, too:
Lunar Lander Challenge Accounts
More Lunar Lander (Masten)
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
LaserMotive Qualifies!
I got home at just the right time ... and got to see LaserMotive qualify for the Beam Power / Tether Climber challenge money. Then they tried again, as the speed of the climbs factor into how much money is won. The results also depend on how well the other teams do.
Here's a post from LaserMotive on their pre-games setup work: Power Beaming Results, Nov. 3rd 2009.
Update (later the same evening):
MKKare: RT @EENugent AP report: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/success-frustration-in-space-1...
Here's a post from LaserMotive on their pre-games setup work: Power Beaming Results, Nov. 3rd 2009.
Update (later the same evening):
MKKare: RT @EENugent AP report: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/success-frustration-in-space-1...
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Space Elevator Games Setup - Part 2
In addition to the canned twitter search I mentioned earlier today, hashtags are also useful. However, not everyone uses them - they may not know about them or remember them at the right time. In the case of the Space Elevator Games, it looks like the following 2 hashtags are being used by some (but not all) accounts participating in, or following, the Games:
#TPNASA
#segames
Some twitter accounts using these:
EENugent (related to Tom? I don't know)
MKKare (related to Jordan? I don't know)
b0yle (Alan Boyle, MSNBC.com science editor)
spaceelevator (Space Elevator Reference)
As a result, I made another Space Elevator Games twitter search with these tags:
Space Elevator Games Accounts and Tags
This search is also at the top right of the Space Prizes blog. At the moment the search gives 5 or 6 pages of tweets from the last 24 hours, and the main event hasn't started yet. Here's one that gives background on the games and some ways to follow them:
b0yle: Another $2 million NASA-backed contest ramping up, this one for laser-powered, cable-climbing robots: http://bit.ly/3NKgkI (expand) ... #segames
The Space Elevator Blog had some posts today, too, in spite of what I'm sure is a lot of other work to get ready for the Games. In addition to the status of the setup, there's a lot of information in these posts on how to follow the games:
Status - doing a dry run…
Dry run; so far, so good
No more video today
Re-installing rotor blades on a helicopter
#TPNASA
#segames
Some twitter accounts using these:
EENugent (related to Tom? I don't know)
MKKare (related to Jordan? I don't know)
b0yle (Alan Boyle, MSNBC.com science editor)
spaceelevator (Space Elevator Reference)
As a result, I made another Space Elevator Games twitter search with these tags:
Space Elevator Games Accounts and Tags
This search is also at the top right of the Space Prizes blog. At the moment the search gives 5 or 6 pages of tweets from the last 24 hours, and the main event hasn't started yet. Here's one that gives background on the games and some ways to follow them:
b0yle: Another $2 million NASA-backed contest ramping up, this one for laser-powered, cable-climbing robots: http://bit.ly/3NKgkI (expand) ... #segames
The Space Elevator Blog had some posts today, too, in spite of what I'm sure is a lot of other work to get ready for the Games. In addition to the status of the setup, there's a lot of information in these posts on how to follow the games:
Status - doing a dry run…
Dry run; so far, so good
No more video today
Re-installing rotor blades on a helicopter
Power Beaming/Climber Competition Setup
The setup for the 2009 Space Elevator Games Climber/Beam Power competition is already happening, with the main event starting tomorrow.
Payload... - The Space Elevator Blog
Current Status (11/1) from Space Elevator Games: Completed first day of setup at Dryden, and all is well. First games day is Wednesday, though a potential schedule change might prompt us to squeeze in a few climbs on Tuesday. Putting finishing touches on live coverage screen (above) - stay tuned!
Happy Halloween - The Space Elevator Blog - This one is obviously a few days old. Among other things, it gives a twitter account for @USST, one of the 3 remaining teams this year.
Speaking of twitter, I'm in the process of setting up some canned twitter searches. Right now they're at the top right of the Space Prizes blog, although I could move them to the Space Prizes twitter pseudo-blog. There's a canned search for Space Elevator Games Twitter Accounts at the top of the list - that's one of the (hopefully) finished ones. At any rate, it includes tweets from the twitter accounts I know about. It's easy enough to adjust the search using Twitter's search engine once you click on the canned search (eg: if you want to search for more than just those accounts, or tweets based on messages "to:" those accounts, or the string "power beaming challenge"). Here are some recent Space Elevator Games tweets from yesterday:
NASAPrize: Preparations underway for Power Beaming Challenge this week! Competition scheduled for Nov 4 & 5
LaserMotive: Lunch on the lakebed. http://yfrog.com/emfy6j
SEGames: status: Horizontal laser test now occurring. KCSP first up, then LaserMotive and then USST.
LaserMotive: Current temp and humidity. http://yfrog.com/dyp5gj
USST: We've made arrangments to hopefully pickup a new antennae from the factory in LA today. Hopefully we can get back in time with traffic.
SEGames: Go to http://live.spaceelevatorgames.org for latest pix.
Payload... - The Space Elevator Blog
Current Status (11/1) from Space Elevator Games: Completed first day of setup at Dryden, and all is well. First games day is Wednesday, though a potential schedule change might prompt us to squeeze in a few climbs on Tuesday. Putting finishing touches on live coverage screen (above) - stay tuned!
Happy Halloween - The Space Elevator Blog - This one is obviously a few days old. Among other things, it gives a twitter account for @USST, one of the 3 remaining teams this year.
Speaking of twitter, I'm in the process of setting up some canned twitter searches. Right now they're at the top right of the Space Prizes blog, although I could move them to the Space Prizes twitter pseudo-blog. There's a canned search for Space Elevator Games Twitter Accounts at the top of the list - that's one of the (hopefully) finished ones. At any rate, it includes tweets from the twitter accounts I know about. It's easy enough to adjust the search using Twitter's search engine once you click on the canned search (eg: if you want to search for more than just those accounts, or tweets based on messages "to:" those accounts, or the string "power beaming challenge"). Here are some recent Space Elevator Games tweets from yesterday:
NASAPrize: Preparations underway for Power Beaming Challenge this week! Competition scheduled for Nov 4 & 5
LaserMotive: Lunch on the lakebed. http://yfrog.com/emfy6j
SEGames: status: Horizontal laser test now occurring. KCSP first up, then LaserMotive and then USST.
LaserMotive: Current temp and humidity. http://yfrog.com/dyp5gj
USST: We've made arrangments to hopefully pickup a new antennae from the factory in LA today. Hopefully we can get back in time with traffic.
SEGames: Go to http://live.spaceelevatorgames.org for latest pix.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Where to find Lunar Lander Updates; Space Elevator Prep, ARCA, Google Earth/Sketchup Contest, More
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
There's been a lot of activity with the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge that I haven't kept up to date on in the Space Prizes blog over the last few days. Although I have been watching the events, I don't have more to add to the excellent coverage already available. Some good places to keep up to date include RLV News, the X PRIZE Foundation's The Launch Pad, some of the twitter accounts at the twitter list I set up (for example, accounts under the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge and X PRIZE Foundation headings), and the NGLLC twitter tag. If those aren't enough, these point you to more information sources. Note that the RLV News and Launch Pad links are to specific posts; they have many more and more will probably be on the way.
Space Elevator Games
Only 5 more days… - The Space Elevator Blog (and that was a couple days ago) - In addition to setup for the games, this includes a number of links to posts at the Space Elevator Games site.
KC Team Competes to Build an Elevator to Space - fox4kc.com
@lasermotive - The truck has stopped for the night, almost halfway to Mojave.
Google Lunar X PRIZE
Helen loaded onto ship - ARCA at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page
Here's another Google Lunar X PRIZE Forum.
Other Prizes
Your 3D buildings arrive in Google Earth and Shelter Competition winners announced - Google Earth Blog
MIT Elevator Pitch Contest ~ Finale Thurs 10/29! - Maximizing Progress
U.S.-European Space Cooperation: Go Boldly, and Go Together - The German Marshall Fund blog proposes that NASA and ESA join forces to offer major space exploration prizes. The space agencies would also continue to fund science missions. The government would also provide common launch facilities and space communication networks for the private explorers.
There's been a lot of activity with the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge that I haven't kept up to date on in the Space Prizes blog over the last few days. Although I have been watching the events, I don't have more to add to the excellent coverage already available. Some good places to keep up to date include RLV News, the X PRIZE Foundation's The Launch Pad, some of the twitter accounts at the twitter list I set up (for example, accounts under the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge and X PRIZE Foundation headings), and the NGLLC twitter tag. If those aren't enough, these point you to more information sources. Note that the RLV News and Launch Pad links are to specific posts; they have many more and more will probably be on the way.
Space Elevator Games
Only 5 more days… - The Space Elevator Blog (and that was a couple days ago) - In addition to setup for the games, this includes a number of links to posts at the Space Elevator Games site.
KC Team Competes to Build an Elevator to Space - fox4kc.com
@lasermotive - The truck has stopped for the night, almost halfway to Mojave.
Google Lunar X PRIZE
Helen loaded onto ship - ARCA at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page
Here's another Google Lunar X PRIZE Forum.
Other Prizes
Your 3D buildings arrive in Google Earth and Shelter Competition winners announced - Google Earth Blog
MIT Elevator Pitch Contest ~ Finale Thurs 10/29! - Maximizing Progress
U.S.-European Space Cooperation: Go Boldly, and Go Together - The German Marshall Fund blog proposes that NASA and ESA join forces to offer major space exploration prizes. The space agencies would also continue to fund science missions. The government would also provide common launch facilities and space communication networks for the private explorers.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Prize Roundup: 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge and Space Elevator Games Even Closer, GLXP Variety, X PRIZE Meeting, Regolith Reviews, New Mexico News
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
@nasaprize - on the way to california for the final lunar lander attempts of 2009
@dmasten - We have been testing so much our Pad A looks worse than the lunar pad. http://twitpic.com/n5mjn
I think we are ready for #ngllc level 2. All tests are done. Last was a nice stable hover of 195sec in 30+ knot winds.
@mojaverocketguy - In at the shop, bright and surly. At least not 4:50am like last Tuesday.
Bad news: Missed seeing the flight because I someone had to stay for the UPS delivery. Good news: Xoie's fine and I heard it from the shop.
Doing concrete work in 50mph wind gusts--not fun. Good thing I got myself a college edjumacation so I wouldn't have to do jobs like that...
@ngllc09 - #NGLLC news update on The Launch Pad: http://bit.ly/lLWxm
NGLLC 2009: And Here They Come Down the Final Stretch! New post on The Launch Pad: http://bit.ly/I3QSI #ngllc
Tune in tmrw for webcast of Masten Lvl 2 #NGLLC attempt starting at 9am PST/16:00 UTC: http://bit.ly/ngllc09
Unreasonable update - RLV News
BonNova recap - RLV News
Briefs: Speed Up hybrid test; Source of rocket grade H2O2 - RLV News
I'm posting these Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge updates on Wednesday morning:
Unreasonable ups and downs - RLV News
Masten Space Level II attempt - Oct..28.09 - viewing info - RLV News - Using the #ngllc twitter search on this page, you can already see a lot of tweets on the event as people get ready to go, like these:
alias_amanda: Only for a rocket launch could I be up at 4am and be somewhat happy about it #ngllc
ikluft: I'll be tweeting from Mojave today for the @mastenspace flight in Level 2 of the Lunar Lander Challenge #ngllc
Pomerantz: Made it to Mojave (& gave #NGLLC team SpeedUp's Bob Steinke a ride on the way up). Excited for tmrw's @mastenspace flights! Godspeed, Xoie
Space Elevator Games: Power Beaming/Tether Climber
@lasermotive - The designing, building and testing is finally done. Today the packing begins. We are ready.
@segames - Very good - just organized a commentary team for the live cast. (Live video has a lot of boring moments, and while we have some B-roll+ ... material, there's nothing like play-by-play descriptions.)
NASA Centennial Power Beaming Challenge to Feature Three Teams - The Space Elevator Reference
Games updates - The Space Elevator Blog
Briefs: Power Beaming Challenge; Regolith scraper - RLV News
Regolith Excavation Challenge
@doug_comstock - Check out cool Gigapan images (a nasa spinoff http://tinyurl.com/bm3pl6) from the Regolith Excavation Challenge: http://tinyurl.com/yk45lmf
@paulsrobotics - WPI Reception for the team is currently scheduled for Wednesday at 2PM in HL005 (we think). Feel free to stop by... http://bit.ly/1Y75C
Also see the RLV News link in the previous section for another Regolith Excavation Challenge article.
Google Lunar X PRIZE
@team_selenokhod - The first Selenokhod mockup rollout: http://selenokhod.com/en/node/44
The first Russian private-built-rover at Mission Control Center: http://selenokhod.com/en/node/45 That was amazing!
@nextgiantleap - Nice day for a drive to Louisville, CO, but looks like snow for the way home. ... Looking forward to meetings at SNC tomorrow!
@omegaenvoy - With our rover naming contest coming to an end, will you be the one to break the tie? http://bit.ly/POiyi #GLXP
Notice the new name (with an underscore) on the twitter address for this next one:
@Odyssey_Moon - Odyssey Moon Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Spudis on lunar lava tubes: http://bit.ly/19GDbc
@arcaspace - Octomber 23, 2009 - CONSTANTA The first launch attempt of Helen vehicle will take place starting with October 29... http://bit.ly/2NEU5n
Other Prizes
Economy, rule change ground X Prize plans - Las Cruces Sun: Landeene said the X Prize Cup does spur interest in aerospace among students.
"Ultimately, what I'd like to do is have X Prize-like events at the spaceport and surrounding community," he said.
Spaceport Visitor Center Approved - - KRWG TV: The Board of Directors of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has voted to establish a welcome center for Spaceport America in downtown Truth or Consequences... A welcome center is also planned for the village of Hatch which is on the southern approach to Spaceport America.
@fineri (N-Prize team) - http://twitpic.com/mzn62 - Plumbing all done, cone needs finishing, electronics and engine need integrating.
@peterdiamandis - Great X Prize Trustees dinner at Elon Musk's home... great crowd, Sergey Brin, Ansari Family, Beyster's, Mike Boustridge, Jim Gianopulos... great to also host Esther Dyson, Peter Bloom, Rob McEwen, Erik Lindbergh and Peter Ferrel
i am searching for a strong Director/Chief of Staff to work with me as CEO of X Prize, MBA desired. LA base @ XPF HQ
@nasaprize - on the way to california for the final lunar lander attempts of 2009
@dmasten - We have been testing so much our Pad A looks worse than the lunar pad. http://twitpic.com/n5mjn
I think we are ready for #ngllc level 2. All tests are done. Last was a nice stable hover of 195sec in 30+ knot winds.
@mojaverocketguy - In at the shop, bright and surly. At least not 4:50am like last Tuesday.
Bad news: Missed seeing the flight because I someone had to stay for the UPS delivery. Good news: Xoie's fine and I heard it from the shop.
Doing concrete work in 50mph wind gusts--not fun. Good thing I got myself a college edjumacation so I wouldn't have to do jobs like that...
@ngllc09 - #NGLLC news update on The Launch Pad: http://bit.ly/lLWxm
NGLLC 2009: And Here They Come Down the Final Stretch! New post on The Launch Pad: http://bit.ly/I3QSI #ngllc
Tune in tmrw for webcast of Masten Lvl 2 #NGLLC attempt starting at 9am PST/16:00 UTC: http://bit.ly/ngllc09
Unreasonable update - RLV News
BonNova recap - RLV News
Briefs: Speed Up hybrid test; Source of rocket grade H2O2 - RLV News
I'm posting these Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge updates on Wednesday morning:
Unreasonable ups and downs - RLV News
Masten Space Level II attempt - Oct..28.09 - viewing info - RLV News - Using the #ngllc twitter search on this page, you can already see a lot of tweets on the event as people get ready to go, like these:
alias_amanda: Only for a rocket launch could I be up at 4am and be somewhat happy about it #ngllc
ikluft: I'll be tweeting from Mojave today for the @mastenspace flight in Level 2 of the Lunar Lander Challenge #ngllc
Pomerantz: Made it to Mojave (& gave #NGLLC team SpeedUp's Bob Steinke a ride on the way up). Excited for tmrw's @mastenspace flights! Godspeed, Xoie
Space Elevator Games: Power Beaming/Tether Climber
@lasermotive - The designing, building and testing is finally done. Today the packing begins. We are ready.
@segames - Very good - just organized a commentary team for the live cast. (Live video has a lot of boring moments, and while we have some B-roll+ ... material, there's nothing like play-by-play descriptions.)
NASA Centennial Power Beaming Challenge to Feature Three Teams - The Space Elevator Reference
Games updates - The Space Elevator Blog
Briefs: Power Beaming Challenge; Regolith scraper - RLV News
Regolith Excavation Challenge
@doug_comstock - Check out cool Gigapan images (a nasa spinoff http://tinyurl.com/bm3pl6) from the Regolith Excavation Challenge: http://tinyurl.com/yk45lmf
@paulsrobotics - WPI Reception for the team is currently scheduled for Wednesday at 2PM in HL005 (we think). Feel free to stop by... http://bit.ly/1Y75C
Also see the RLV News link in the previous section for another Regolith Excavation Challenge article.
Google Lunar X PRIZE
@team_selenokhod - The first Selenokhod mockup rollout: http://selenokhod.com/en/node/44
The first Russian private-built-rover at Mission Control Center: http://selenokhod.com/en/node/45 That was amazing!
@nextgiantleap - Nice day for a drive to Louisville, CO, but looks like snow for the way home. ... Looking forward to meetings at SNC tomorrow!
@omegaenvoy - With our rover naming contest coming to an end, will you be the one to break the tie? http://bit.ly/POiyi #GLXP
Notice the new name (with an underscore) on the twitter address for this next one:
@Odyssey_Moon - Odyssey Moon Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Spudis on lunar lava tubes: http://bit.ly/19GDbc
@arcaspace - Octomber 23, 2009 - CONSTANTA The first launch attempt of Helen vehicle will take place starting with October 29... http://bit.ly/2NEU5n
Other Prizes
Economy, rule change ground X Prize plans - Las Cruces Sun: Landeene said the X Prize Cup does spur interest in aerospace among students.
"Ultimately, what I'd like to do is have X Prize-like events at the spaceport and surrounding community," he said.
Spaceport Visitor Center Approved - - KRWG TV: The Board of Directors of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has voted to establish a welcome center for Spaceport America in downtown Truth or Consequences... A welcome center is also planned for the village of Hatch which is on the southern approach to Spaceport America.
@fineri (N-Prize team) - http://twitpic.com/mzn62 - Plumbing all done, cone needs finishing, electronics and engine need integrating.
@peterdiamandis - Great X Prize Trustees dinner at Elon Musk's home... great crowd, Sergey Brin, Ansari Family, Beyster's, Mike Boustridge, Jim Gianopulos... great to also host Esther Dyson, Peter Bloom, Rob McEwen, Erik Lindbergh and Peter Ferrel
i am searching for a strong Director/Chief of Staff to work with me as CEO of X Prize, MBA desired. LA base @ XPF HQ
Sunday, October 25, 2009
2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Approaches
Unreasonable progress - RLV News
Briefs: Unreasonable progress; NGLLC in The Economist - RLV News
@NGLLC09 - Two Moon related prizes - the @NGLLC09 and the @Regolith_Chal - get write-up in the Economist! http://bit.ly/2o9Xii
Briefs: Masten propellant tanks; BonNova on NGLLC stage - RLV News
From Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation (PDF) (i.e. the Augustine Committee's final report):
All three variants [of the Committee's Flexible Path option] also include a hybrid lunar lander that is smaller than the Altair. (See Figure 6.2.2-2.) The ascent stage is developed by NASA, but the descent stage is assumed to be commercially developed, building on the growing industrial capability pursuing NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge and the Google Lunar X-Prize.
@wikkit - This year it didn't rain before the wind picked up, so we worked in a dust storm for most of the day. Going to be a gray shower tonight.
@mastenspace - RT @rbranly: Designing educational payloads to fly aboard Masten Space Vehicles.
Preview of final week of NGLLC 2009 - RLV News shows a press release from the X PRIZE Foundation on the week of events.
Update (Sunday evening):
Armadillo flies higher - RLV News
NGLLC: BonNova bows out; Unreasonable update; Masten update - RLV News
@nasaprize - No Lunar Lander Challenge attempts on Mon or Tuesday but Masten and Unreasonable Rocket are still on for Wed-Saturday attempts
Update (Monday morning):
@wikkit - If you're interested in coming to our LLC flights this week or other tests, send me an email at ben@masten-space.com .
@mastenspace - RT @rbranly: The MSS payload capsule demonstrator project includes a multispectral imager as a flight option.Aiming 4 imager mass of 500g
Briefs: Unreasonable progress; NGLLC in The Economist - RLV News
@NGLLC09 - Two Moon related prizes - the @NGLLC09 and the @Regolith_Chal - get write-up in the Economist! http://bit.ly/2o9Xii
Briefs: Masten propellant tanks; BonNova on NGLLC stage - RLV News
From Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation (PDF) (i.e. the Augustine Committee's final report):
All three variants [of the Committee's Flexible Path option] also include a hybrid lunar lander that is smaller than the Altair. (See Figure 6.2.2-2.) The ascent stage is developed by NASA, but the descent stage is assumed to be commercially developed, building on the growing industrial capability pursuing NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge and the Google Lunar X-Prize.
@wikkit - This year it didn't rain before the wind picked up, so we worked in a dust storm for most of the day. Going to be a gray shower tonight.
@mastenspace - RT @rbranly: Designing educational payloads to fly aboard Masten Space Vehicles.
Preview of final week of NGLLC 2009 - RLV News shows a press release from the X PRIZE Foundation on the week of events.
Update (Sunday evening):
Armadillo flies higher - RLV News
NGLLC: BonNova bows out; Unreasonable update; Masten update - RLV News
@nasaprize - No Lunar Lander Challenge attempts on Mon or Tuesday but Masten and Unreasonable Rocket are still on for Wed-Saturday attempts
Update (Monday morning):
@wikkit - If you're interested in coming to our LLC flights this week or other tests, send me an email at ben@masten-space.com .
@mastenspace - RT @rbranly: The MSS payload capsule demonstrator project includes a multispectral imager as a flight option.Aiming 4 imager mass of 500g
2009 Beam Power/Climber Competition Approaches
Power Beaming Challenge ready to shine - RLV News - This has a lot of essential links for the games, including links to the teams. It also gives an overview of what the status is for the games.
LaserMotive is doing a countdown ... note that this one was from Oct 22:
@lasermotive - T minus 9 days until we leave town for Dryden.
Pre-competition update from the Kansas City Space Pirates - The Space Elevator Blog shows some of the testing the KC Space Pirates are doing.
Space Elevator Games - Current Status (10/24) - The "Current Status" is in box on the right side of this site; the link I've given is to the overall site. Here's the currrent status:
One week to go... Everything on schedule so far. Flying to Washington to prep the helicopter on Thursday, then driving to Dryden to meet the teams on Sunday. Setup begins Monday morning.
LaserMotive is doing a countdown ... note that this one was from Oct 22:
@lasermotive - T minus 9 days until we leave town for Dryden.
Pre-competition update from the Kansas City Space Pirates - The Space Elevator Blog shows some of the testing the KC Space Pirates are doing.
Space Elevator Games - Current Status (10/24) - The "Current Status" is in box on the right side of this site; the link I've given is to the overall site. Here's the currrent status:
One week to go... Everything on schedule so far. Flying to Washington to prep the helicopter on Thursday, then driving to Dryden to meet the teams on Sunday. Setup begins Monday morning.
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