Category Archives: Astrobotic

Thursday / 8 October 2015

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Israel Google Lunar XPrize Team SpaceIL Declares Launch Contract With SpaceX

1082015With Competition Extension Deadline Approaching SpaceIL Ticket Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 For Second Half Of 2017 Extends Competition; GLXP Vice Chairman Bob Weiss (BL) Confirms SpaceIL “As The First And Only” Team To Have Verified Launch Contract; Launcher Was Purchased Via Spaceflight Industries With President Curt Blake (BC) Sharing Excitement In Achieving “SpaceIL’s Quest To Win The Google Lunar XPRIZE”; In Order To Win Team Will Need To Land On Moon & Rover Must Explore 500 Meters Then Transmit Images Back To Earth; Contender Moon Express Announcement With Rocket Lab Also Supporting Its Competition Goals; Teams Astrobotic & Hakuto Planning Cooperative Launch Also Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

Pictured (BR): SpaceIL Team

Credit: GLXP, SpaceX, SpaceIL, Spaceflight Industries, Moon Express, Astrobotic, Hakuto

Wednesday / 19 August 2015

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GLXP Astrobotic Lands Commercial Clients For Lunar Missions

LED 081915Astrobotic Cites “Numerous Opportunities For Marketing On The Moon” When Contracted  To Deliver Japan Sports Drink Pocari Sweat Near Burg Crater Late 2016 For Undisclosed Sum; Future Rehydration With Lunar Water And Thirst-Quenching Enjoyment By Lunar Astronaut Expected; Time Capsule Container, Designed By Singapore’s Astroscale, Includes Messages And Music;  San Francisco Startup Elysium Space To Deliver Lunar Burial Services Via Astrobotic Griffin Lander; Founder Thomas Civeit Calls It An “Exceptional Tribute” 

Credit: Global Post, Astrobotic

Wednesday / 12 August 2015

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Aiming For The Moon With Aloha:
President Obama On GLXP Astrobotic;
Moon RIDERS Continues Project Testing

Hawaii GLXP

Hawai`i-Born Barack Obama Speaks About Astrobotic Moon Goals, Americans Being Those Who “Explore Next Frontiers… Pioneers With A Vision For Tomorrow, Whether It’s Lewis & Clark, Sally Ride… They’re The Driving Force In A 21st Century Economy”; Hawaii Moon RIDERS (Research Investigating Dust Expulsion Removal Systems) Partnering Hawaii Schools, PISCES, NASA KSC & Undisclosed GLXP Team, Testing Electrodynamic Dust Shield Experiment At Hawaii Island Moon Analog Site Mauna Kea In Preparation For Late 2016 Launch

Credit: GLXP, PISCES, Moon RIDERS, NASA, Gig Greenwood, `Iolani, Robin Bourne, Astrobotic

Friday / 31 July 2015

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Moon Express & Astrobotic Testing Landers / Developing Flight Software

ME & Astrobotic 2015 Jul

Moon Express (ME) Continuing Flight Testing Of MTV-1A Lunar Lander (Successor Of MTV-1X) At Kennedy Space Center ‘Moonscape’ Test Range, Final Version Will Land On Moon & Hop 500 Meters, ME GNC Software Was Also Tested On NASA Mighty Eagle Lander; Through Lunar CATALYST Agreement, Astrobotic Developing Lunar Guidance Systems / Flight Trajectory Plan Using NASA Core Flight Software & LRO Data To Land In Lacus Mortis Region At 44.96°N 25.62°E, Explore Lunar Cave

Credit: ME, Astrobotic, NASA, GLXP

Friday / 24 July 2015

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16 GLXP Teams Have <6 Months To Confirm Launch, Extend Competition

GLXP July 2015

 One Firm Launch Provider Contract, Designating Launch Window / Date, Required By 31 Dec 2015 To Continue US$20M Moon Challenge; Rideshare Contract Between Astrobotic & Hakuto Confirmed For TBD SpaceX Launch Mid-2016, Team Indus Looking Toward ISRO For Subsidized Launch, Synergy Moon Counting On Interorbital Neptune Rocket, SpaceMETA Has MoU With Alcantor Cyclone Space, Barcelona Moon Working With China Great Wall Industry, Penn State Lunar Lion Launch Reservation Fee Given To Spaceflight Inc / Sherpa Craft

Credit: GLXP, SpaceX, GLXP Teams

Tuesday / 14 July 2015

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Astrobotic Progressing
Notwithstanding SpaceX Setback

7142015Cooperation With NASA For Lunar CATALYST Program Providing Confidence In Astrobotic Technology Inc Ability For Precise Future Lunar Landings; Astrobotic Software Tested With NASA Core Flight Software, Modeling & Simulation Technology; GLXP Contender Moon Launch On SpaceX Falcon 9 May Experience Delays, Astrobotic Awaiting Further Details From The Investigation; NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Reiterates Spaceflight Challenges & Success Of Previous Six SpaceX Launches

Credit:  NASA, Astrobotic, SpaceX

Wednesday / 8 July 2015

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GLXP Updates: Launch Advancements, Lunar Rover Demo, Capsule Of Earth Art

7082015_2Team Synergy Moon Announces Developments With Launch Infrastructure, Vehicle & Lander; Team Puli Lunar Rover On Display For Participants To Operate In Budapest, Hungary At Exosphere Copernicus Series 13-31 July; Team Astrobotic Lunar Rover To Send Up “Moon Arts Ark” With Weight < 6oz Holding Earth Art / Led By Carnegie Mellon University’s Art Professor & Renowned Space Artist, Lowry Burgess (Top)

Credit: GLXP, Synergy Moon, Astrobotic, PresUniversity, Exosphere, Puli Space

Thursday / 11 June 2015

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Mexico Space Agency (AEM) To Send Payload On Astrobotic Lunar Lander

AEM0615

Mexico Seeks To Be First Latin America Country To Land / Operate Payload On Moon, Via Astrobotic GLXP Mission NET 2016; AEM Seeking Payload Proposals From Mexico Scientists, Selection In 4th Quarter 2015; Contract Moves Astrobotic 1 Step Closer To Securing Launch By End 2015 GLXP Deadline; Company Already Has Payload Contracts With GLXP Team Hakuto, 2 Private Companies, NASA, MoonMail Option For Average Citizens, Negotiating With 4 Other Teams, And Seeking Contracts From Several Other Of 50 Smaller Space Agencies

Image Credit: AEM, Astrobotic

Tuesday / 5 May 2015

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Astrobotic Gains 3 More Contract Awards From NASA

AstroboticSTTR0515

GLXP Contender Announces US$375,000 In Contract Awards Through NASA Small Business Technology Transfer Program; Astrobotic, In Partnership With Carnegie Mellon University, Will Advance 3 Proposals For Resource Exploration On & Under Surface Of Moon / Other Planetary Bodies: Develop Sensors To Precisely Detect Minerals In Lunar Regolith, Develop Imaging Technology To Map Lunar Robot Surroundings While In Shadowed Polar Craters, Create Navigation / Perception Technology For Flying Robots To Explore Lunar Caves Without Communication To Earth

Image Credit: Astrobotic, NASA

Tuesday / 28 April 2015

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Astrobotic Advancing Navigation Technology For Lunar Landing

AstroGE

GLXP Contender Selected By NASA Flight Opportunities Program To Test Navigation Technology; Astrobotic Will Demonstrate Reliability Of Soft Landing System Aboard Masten Space Systems’ Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle; Developed With Nvidia & General Electric, 4kg Avionics System Supposedly Capable Of Pinpoint Lunar Landing With Hazard Avoidance Down To 20cm, Touchdown Accuracy To 3m; GLXP Teams Must Declare Registered / Scheduled Launch By End 2015

Image Credit: Astrobotic, GE, Nvidia