How Big is Your Team |GLX-PRIZE

Rover Prototype Update:

The team at Tohoku University are making steady progress on the construction

of the rover prototype. The picture below shows the suspension integrated to the

body frame.

The wheels are now being made from acyclic polymer tube and will be attached next week.

Probably due to the Sendai Earthquake, there have been some serious delays with the

manufacturer of the new camera and the laser range finder, but the delivery of those

components is expected next month.

First demonstrations of the rover prototype are scheduled for July, with some significant

software progress by September. The rover will be ready to perform a mock-GLXP mission

on Earth by the end of this year.

Work will then continue through 2012 on the rest of the software, navigation strategies,

verification of the wheel configuration and installation of all electronic systems.

More about the MSS-2 flight

Chris King successfully downloaded the data from the flight computer,
Chute Controller and Featherweight Parrot. Detailed analysis of flight
data will be forthcoming in the near future.
- Ken Manatt, who led the tracking effort, provided the following post-flight report:

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/km_tracking_report.pdf

Photos of the launch event:

Rick Maschek 'painting' ignition primer on sugar grains

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05785.jpg

Paul Avery & John Newman discussing possible DoubleSShot launch tower design

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05802.jpg

Bill Colburn with MiniSShot-2

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05821.jpg

JP Montello applies silicone grease to Mid-bulkhead while Paul checks off that step

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05823.jpg

JP Montello installs screws for Mid-bulkhead

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05826.jpg

Paul and JP measure out copper thermite ingredients while JP senior looks on

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05831.jpg

MiniSShot-2 awaits forward avionics as Garvey Spacecraft people get safety briefing
on the LOX Methane static test in background

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05833.jpg

JP readies thermite igniter for test

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05842.jpg

Video of 5 gram thermite igniter test. For MSS, 10 grams were used for each motor chamber

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-hGywbs1S0

Ed Holyoke and Chris King ready forward avionics for airframe attachment

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05880.jpg

Chris and Ed work to finish assembly completion

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05885.jpg

MiniSShot after Rick pulls the safety shunt...now waiting liftoff

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05886.jpg

Rick and Paul recover detached forward avionics after tracking teams report
beacon position near launch site

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05902.jpg

(photos & video courtesy Rick Maschek)

The following are photos of the fractured section of the Recovery Bay:

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05950.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05953.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05954.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05955.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05957.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc05958.jpg

(photos courtesy Rick Maschek)

Additional photos of launch event:

JP Montello applies silicone grease to Mid-bulkhead

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc_5477.jpg

Business end of the MiniSShot-2 rocket motor

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc_5478.jpg

Liftoff of MiniSShot-2

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc_5603.jpg

MiniSShot-2 clears the launch tower

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc_5604.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/dsc_5604_crop.jpg

(photos courtesy Bruce Murdock)

And yet more photos:

Rick & Paul carrying the Booster section from assembly building to the launch tower

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture120.jpg

Loading the Booster section into the launch tower

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture126.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture133.jpg

Preparing to attach forward section to the Booster

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture136.jpg

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture137.jpg

Forward Avionics package

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture156.jpg

Rick preparing Aft Avionics while Paul follows procedure with checklist

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture164.jpg

Chris & Rick prepping Forward Avionics

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture189.jpg

Closeup of Forward Avionics package:

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/picture195.jpg

(photos courtesy Ed Holyoke)

Video of MiniSShot-2 flight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D2tBP4QJc

(video courtesy Dave Griffith)

At this point in time, only very preliminary analysis of flight data has been performed.
Adrian Adamson has so far taken a cursory look at the Parrot data and writes:

'The axial accel doesn't show any sign of trouble, but the lateral accel is definitely ramping
up before the event. It's as if there were a

sudden onset of aerodynamic instability leading to excessive angle of attack and the airframe
crumpled and burst. There was one event during the coast between burns that shows up in
both accel axes about 16 seconds into the flight.'

Hans Olaf Toft also has taken a quick look, so far, at the Main Computer/Chute Controller data.
Of particular interest is the motor

chamber pressure data. Hans provided the following graph of the 2nd phase burn:

http://sugarshot.org/downloads/chamberpressure.gif

The burn can be seen to be nominal right up to the 20.7 second mark, when the curve
suddenly truncates followed by erratic 'noise'. This is likely indicative of the point when
the sensor leads broke as the Recovery Bay fractured, separating the avionics from the
Booster.

A huge thank-you goes out to all those who participated in the MSS-2 launch event,
in particular, the ground/launch crew and trackers. A job well done!

MSS-2 flight video #1

NASA awards Moon mining contract to |Astrobotic

NASA has selected Astrobotic Technology and Carnegie Mellon University to develop a prototype robot for mining water and methane ices at the Moon’s poles. These volatiles can refuel astronauts’ spacecraft for their return trip to Earth, halving the cost of human Moon expeditions.

The award will fund a two-year effort to build a robot able to dig into frozen lunar dirt despite the Moon’s one-sixth gravity, which leaves excavators much less traction, needed to push digging implements into the ground, than on Earth.

The robot employs an innovative bucket-wheel excavator mounted transverse to the direction of travel; pushback from digging would mainly push lightly sideways on the wheels. Standard blade or scraper approaches push the robot back along the wheels’ direction of travel working against already limited traction. The small digging edges of a bucket wheel also concentrate digging force narrowly compared to machines with wide blades or scrapers.

“Shipping heavy machines to the Moon is very costly, so the challenge we solve is excavating with a low-mass robot in the range of 70 to 300 pounds,” said Chris Skonieczny, leader of the Astrobotic project. “In addition to the transverse bucket wheel, our design uses composite materials for light weight and high-speed driving for greater productivity.”

The $599,900 contract is a Phase II award in NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, following up a successful Phase I concept study. Astrobotic intends a commercial expedition to one of the Moon’s poles with the excavator when the concept is ready.

quelle: googlelunarxprize.org

Way to win the GLXP |SELENE

Landing the craft on the surface of the Moon:



The secondary vehicle carried by the craft is a composite propelled rocket.
The only payload the rocket carries is a wireless ignition system and a cartridge
with flash powder. The rocket is spin stabilized by a rapidly rotating launch pad.



The alignment device for the rocket is also used to adjust the up/downlink antenna:



The rocket lifts off and then moves a distance of 500m along the surface of the
Moon. As the secondary vehicle must have the theoretical capability to move
five hundred (500) meters in a straight line displacement, a rocket is probably
the only vehicle which is able to move 500m approximately in a straight line
displacement on the Moon. Every ground vehicle moves more or less in a zigzag
course due to its ongoing and continuous course corrections. Attempting to win
the Range, Survival or Water Detection Bonus Prize is impractical. The
development and transportation costs alone far exceed the prize money.
The scientific benefit would be questionable because lunar excursions in excess
of 5km happened back in the 1970s as part of the Lunokhod program which
survived lunar days and nights, while evidence of water on the Moon was
discovered in 2009.

The rocket hits the ground and the ignited flash powder indicates the landing site:



The camera, mounted on the craft, verifies the journey’s length. The camera
makes also photographs to yield a full 360º view of the landing site, which
include the horizon and a vertical dimension of no less than 60º. The camera
can also capture a sufficient number of images and videos to meet the
requirements for imaging of the Logo Cluster. To capture the XPF Payload,
the payload specifications must be defined initially by their overall effect on the
whole construction of the craft.



The only Bonus Prize worth pursuing would be the Apollo Heritage site
-- the Heritage Bonus Prize -- but the risk is too high that a miscalculated
crash into this particular heritage site and others might occur, destroying
them and jeopardizing the mission in question in the process.





quelle:GLPX