Sonntag, Mai 29, 2011
How Big is Your Team |GLX-PRIZE
Sonntag, Mai 15, 2011
Master Plan |Team SpaceMETA
The Mission
GENERAL VIEW OF THE MISSION
MISSION NAME: LUMEM – Lunar Micro Explore Mission
Revision 1.0
Intro
LUMEM , The Lunar Micro Explorer Mission , is a venture challenge designated to develop rupture innovation ideas on how to accomplish the main Challenges and Objective motivated by the Google Lunar XPrize , GLXP.
The vision of SPACEMETA about the LUMEM ( GLXP Challenge ), is divided is organized in key phases, where some of that phases are financial/engineering/administration challenges and others innovation challenges.
SpaceMETA Team has concentrated their initial efforts in innovation challenges motivations and the main aspecto of the mission is organized as 3 Basica Pillars and 5 aproachs with new-new-things specially designed for the LUMEM event. The basic pillars are: Launching , Injecting and Landing, and the 5 new-new-things are: INFIMO – Infinit Motion, COSMOA – Collaborative Space Modules Archicture, SLICOM – Sun Light Communication System, UTRAS – Universsal Trajectory System and BIA – Build it After
In a complementary way, SPACEMETA will use for the LUMEM Mission conventional e state-of-the-art technologies available when it will be justified by the Missions premisses , like security and environmental-friendly alternatives available.
As we will see during the detailment in this document, SPACEMETA new-new-things will consider ruptive visions like consider the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON ( in fact, the dynamically border zone ), a potential region to be used.
We would like to introduce in the following sections some one our basic ideas on how to accomplish the GLXP Challenge , and we hope to have better opportunities to better detail it furthermore.
THE NEW NEW THING
The SPACEMETA THING ( Codename SOLITAIRE ). A Innovative with very simple technology design-thinked to be reliable for surviver on the space with very low energy consumption.
INFIMO
Development of a new way to produce dynamic motion systems capable of long movements without conventional fuel restrictions on the arrival surface called INFIMO that means Infinity Motion. INFIMO is a vision that will inspire future projectists to try to work with very limited resources in space, AND, obtain the maximum of the results in movement in Space. INFIMO premises consider that we don’t need to have only one way to develop movment on the destination, but several mechanisms to long movement, short movement, and emergency movements. INFIMO is actually executing very well on the Earth conditions and starting outer-space environment simulation tests. The first product generated from the INFIMO Design concept is NITILEGS ( Coil-Legs NiTiNOL Based, described later on Mission Summary ).
SOLITAIRE
SOLITAIRE is a technology related with the same thermal gradient usage used on INFIMO apparatus for movement, and is also a concept to be applied for movement. Basically it is constituted by a inflatable structure when the internal gas combinations expand during the high temperature of the direct light radiation, it will promote CHAOTIC movements for the CRAFT, once the structure expansion will be constructed to expand randomically. The resultant movement will not came from flotation ( of course it need some atmosphere ) , but from strucutral deformations promoted by the expansion os the cover that will looks like a blob, melting and ummestilng on the surface. For more long movements, SOLITAIRE will have a complementary more strong movement system will be used also, based on memory shaped metal more described later.
This illustration shows The SPACEMETA Solitaire Module in a illustration near Apollo 12 Craft. You can observe a metallic semi-transparent blue sphere surface, flooded with SOLAR CELLs , and some pipes edge around it. This pipes edges are pipes that will hold the NiTiNOL legs and activate them on appropriate time promoting movement by impulse, and sensing the surface resonance on the impact
This is a Ilustration of NITILEGS by SPACEMETA, wich is a internal pipe with a compressed NiTiNOL Coil wich objective is to release locked mechanical energy and recover it again from the memory shaped metal design coil, to work on the gradient temperature on the Moon surface and releasing potencial-to-kinetic energy stored from earth or other events like impact on Moon surface. This coils are also used as probe to sense the terrain resistance, capacitance and density, helping to create a map of the touchable surface.
BIA
Development of initial researchs about BIA, i.e. Build It After. BIA Concept is related on how to build new objects usable by the mission after the beginning of the Jorney. The objective of this Theme, is to setup-mind for the future generations to think in how to construct space systems that will learn and build objects required to deal with real exo-world situations that was not provided before, or build some resource that will use much space after done.
COSMOA
Development of The COSMOA-Colaborative Space Modules Architecture. This architecture will motivate Teams to think in an Colaborative Modular way, where the concept of success in SPACE means not only accomplish Primary Mission Target, but also, leave building blocks for future missions.
SLICOM
Development of new way of communication without using conventional methods of radio-wave propagation from Space to Earth called SLICOM ( Sun Light Communication ). The SLICOM will use a very old technique inspiread by the local Indians communications and is known by Smoke Signals. Instead of generate conventional wave signals, we will modulate the SUN Light and reflect the modulated light directly to Earth, like it occurs day-by-day. In a very simple way, we can think like a smoke signal communication system, or a Morse-code directly into the powerfull channel of sun-light.
UTRAS
Development of a new way of trajectory system compensator , without use of fuel or jet systems, called UTRAS , Universsal Trajectory System, based on a innovation called MMM-Momentum-Mass-Movement Drive Systems. UTRAS is extremely theoretical designed systems, and will better described later on this document. Basically the theoretical concept of it is related to Conservation of Angular Momentum, and its applied to liquid metals onboard the carrier craft nd should be used when conventional fuel will be an restrict issue but electrical energy is available.
INFLATABLE
Inflatable is a conceptual vision of the redesign process for big structures like long diameters antennas, that should be build in a compact way on the Earth, and it will be inflatable by several process like gaze expansion of crystal growing on the destination, reducing the complex factor involved during the transportation and landing.
White Label Space |GLX-PRIZE
difficulties of doing outdoor testing and includes interviews with the
two team members who were responsible for the White Label Space
activities, Carmen Felix and Andrea Gini.
Donnerstag, Mai 12, 2011
Rover Development Update #02
Power & Power Management
The power budget for the Rover is expected to be < 50W:
- Primary DC motors - 4 numbers, 5W each
- Secondary DC motors - 2 numbers, 3W each
- Other mechanical control systems < 5W
- Electronics and "local" Comm infra < 5W
- Spare power ~ 12W
The entire power assembly will work at 6V DC.
Solar photovoltaic power is the primary power generation system for rover operations and re-charging secondary power systems - lithium ion batteries. A MPPT charge controller will be incorporated to maximize battery charging. More on batteries in a separate Blog post.
Assumed solar influx on the moon is ~ 1400W/sq.m. we are making provision for 100W peak power generation, it is further assumed that the 'landing' will happen closer to the 'evening', therefore average influx is expected to be lower - expected area of solar panel @25% efficiency ~ 0.4 sq.m., these panels will also work as 'solar shields' for the electronic box and other moving parts.
Other notes
Procurement - ITAR and related paperwork will probably set us back several months, therefore procurement is local, incidentally its cheaper here and we get to 'work' with the testing team when they are putting the equipment through the 'griller' - I guess works better for us this way!
Prototyping - Ver0.1, will use off-the-shelf components, non-space grade material - we are looking for a dev name for the rover, ideas anyone?
-- Indranil Chakraborty
Founding Member & Mission Crew
Team Indus - Development Log #03: 12th May 2011
"
Mittwoch, Mai 11, 2011
Barcelona Moon Team joins NASA meeting for preservation of American historical hardware on the Moon
A set of reccomendations on the distances and trajectories for the landings, as well as the roaming procedures around the American hardware were and will be discussed in the next months. Although the main interest obviously remains to the Apollo missions hardware left on the Moon, the Barcelona Moon Team would like to see a similar initiative from the Russian Federation on the Soviet hardware on the Moon.
Album: NASA MEETING
Final rover design - part 3
Motor with wheel hub and 16 inch diameter wheel legs:
The following video demonstrates the maneuverability of wheel legs:
Interesting Space Terms
Here are a few interesting space terms.
Space Archaeology:
In archaeology, space archaeology refers to the study of various human-made items found in space, their interpretation as clues to the adventures mankind has experienced in space, and their preservation as cultural heritage.
Graveyard Orbit:
A graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit,is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit, where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life.
Spacecraft Cemetery:
The so-called Spacecraft Cemetery is an area in the southern Pacific Ocean 3900 km southeast of Wellington, New Zealand, where spacecraft, notably the defunct Mir space station and waste-filled Progress cargo ships are and have been routinely deposited. It has been chosen for its remoteness, as not to endanger or harm human life.
More about the MSS-2 flight
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
Dienstag, Mai 10, 2011
Montag, März 07, 2011
ARCA: The road to supersonic - Episode 14
The ARCA team is working at the E-111 pozitiv cabin mold.
Donnerstag, Februar 03, 2011
Landing the Lunar X PRIZE |Seminar
Donnerstag, Dezember 02, 2010
Google Lunar X PRIZE |Roundup #38
So, here goes with three weeks (Nov 8th-29th) of goodness, including a flurry of activity from SELENE and a number of new partnerships all around:
- Team SELENE announced the winner of their spin stabilized rocket contest (and posted outtakes from the competition)! They also became sponsors of a Sugar Shot to Space team, and blogged about starting design on a four-wheel-drive rover; on design of a land-rover-rocket; on testing of a rocketed mini-DV camera; and about a design that comes full circle :)
- Team Part Time Scientists revealed their lander design! They also blogged about software failures.
- Team Rocket City Space Pioneers announced a partnership with the Hunstville Center for Technology! They also blogged about a satellite launch party at Dynetics :)
- Team FREDNET announced a new COO!
- Team SYNERGY MOON added a new partner: AU Vidulini!
- Team Astrobotic featured their rover’s mission control user interface design, as well as motor control for its camera and head!
- Team ARCA video blogged about propulsion installation!
- The official GLXP blog posted a video (complete with 80′s music) reminding that the deadline for team registration is near :)
- Evadot posted an update to their unofficial GLXP Scorecard!
- Team White Label Space’s Australian partner Lunar Numbat gave a TED talk on returning to the moon! The team also announced their new chief blog-o-naut :)
- Aspiring team Puli featured Hungarian scientist Zoltan Bay and his Moon radar experiment :)
quell: http://luna-ci.com
Donnerstag, Oktober 21, 2010
NASA awards Moon mining contract to |Astrobotic

quelle: googlelunarxprize.org
Sonntag, September 26, 2010
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 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
Donnerstag, September 23, 2010
Lunar Rover's Systems |Astrobotic
Extended duration lunar missions require survival of lunar night,
which approaches temperatures of -180C. The utility of night survival
means another 14 earth days of mission. Critical to operation upon
revival is the battery. Common batteries use an aqueous electrolyte
which ruptures cell chemistry when subjected to cryogenic temperatures.
Development of a lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack enables revival
after cryogenic freeze.
The prototype in this video shows a micro-controller to initiate wakeup
of a flight computer upon temperature trigger, which is sensed by the
micro-controller. This function is critical for boot-up of systems that endure
lunar night. This system is more fully described in the video.
Dienstag, September 07, 2010
Google Lunar X-PRIZE |News
Mission 4B |ARCA
Samstag, September 04, 2010
Rover Prototype Design |WhiteLabelSpace
Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab in Japan.
Jérémie Gaboriaud will be in charge of the CAD design of a
prototype of the rover to be used in our mission for the
Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP ).
configuration used for the recently completed project by
Xavier Laurand on the rover's thermal design and analysis.
This rover is shown in the picture below.
From this starting point Jérémie will construct additional CAD
models to examine different design options for the rover's various
subsystems and equipment.
on Earth. Its HD camera system, star tracker, and solar panels will
provide new research opportunities for the Space Robotics Lab.
Once the new test-bed is implemented, each subsystem will be
assessed for space-flight readiness and suitability for operation in a
lunar environment
Jérémie Gaboriaud is a French student currently studying mechanicalengineering as part of a degree through apprenticeship at ICAM
(Institut Catholique des Arts et Metiers) in Toulouse, France.
His course requires him to undertake a half year internship in a foreign
university and for this he chose to work at Tohoku Univeristy under the
supervision of professor Kazuya Yoshida on the GLXP project.
quelle: Google Lunar X-Prize
