#glxp

A team from Israel called SpaceIL has signed a contract to launch its robotic lunar lander toward the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2017. SpaceIL is therefore a strong contender to win the $20 million top prize in the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP), contest organizers said.

“We are proud to officially confirm receipt and verification of SpaceIL’s launch contract, positioning them as the first and only Google Lunar X Prize team to demonstrate this important achievement thus far,” X Prize Vice Chairman and President Bob Weiss said in a statement.

“The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated, representing an unprecedented and monumental commitment for a privately funded organization, and kicks off an exciting phase of the competition in which the other 15 teams now have until the end of 2016 to produce their own verified launch contracts,” Weiss added. “It gives all of us at X Prize and Google the great pride to say, ‘The new space race is on!'”

SpaceIL is not the only GLXP team with firm plans to head to the moon. For example, California-based Moon Express announced its own launch deal with the spaceflight company Rocket Lab last week, and Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic signed a contract with SpaceX back in 2011.

Moon Express aims to launch its robotic MX-1 lander to the moon for the first time in 2017, while Astrobotic team members have said they plan to loft their Griffin lander atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sometime next year.

But SpaceIL is the only team so far to initiate the verification process, in which contest organizers review and assess the launch contract and supporting documents, X Prize representatives told Space.com. This milestone is a big deal: At least one GLXP team had to announce a verified launch contract by the end of 2015 for the competition to be extended through Dec. 31, 2017.

This week’s episode of Ponderlust has been postponed until next week, so, tonight at our regularly scheduled time (8:30PM EST) we’re sharing some ponder-worthy material for you to indulge in while we’re away! 

Keeping with the themes of the previous two episodes of Ponderlust - Ep. 13: ‘Robots Are Taking Our Jobs’ & Ep. 14: ‘FIRST Robotics’ - we invite you to watch the made-for-planetarium dome show ‘Back To The Moon For Good’, narrated by Tim Allen and presented by the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

Created in 2007, the Google Lunar XPRIZE has reinvigorated the public’s interest in the Moon by highlighting the endeavors and technological achievements of the competition’s global teams. It is also inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, space explorers, and adventurers. The mission of the Google Lunar XPRIZE is to incentivize space entrepreneurs to create a new era of affordable access to the Moon and beyond.

From 2007 - 2010, 29 teams from 16 countries registered to compete in the Google Lunar XPRIZE. Today, 16 teams from 13 countries remain in the competition. They now have 6 months left to secure a contract for their launch into space.

How does the prize work?

The competition’s $30 million prize purse will be awarded to teams who are able to land a privately funded rover on the moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit back high definition video and images. 

The first team that successfully completes this mission will be awarded the $20 million dollar Grand Prize. The second team to successfully complete the mission will be awarded $5 million dollars. To win either of these prizes, teams must prove that 90% of their mission costs were funded by private sources. In addition, several bonus prizes are available for further technical and scientific achievements, such as surviving the lunar night or visiting an Apollo landing site.

Why the Moon?

Science Projects: The Moon has already impacted the way we think about future exploration through previous discoveries, such as the existence of lava tubes potentially big enough to support a lunar base and the detection of ice at the lunar poles. All of these discoveries have been made from lunar orbit. Now think of all the exciting research opportunities for scientists if they can have access to the lunar surface!

Abundant Resources: The Moon is a treasure chest of rare metals and other beneficial materials that can be used here on Earth. A successful Google Lunar XPRIZE would result in cost-effective and reliable access to the Moon, allowing for the development of new methods of discovering and using space resources, and in the long-term, helping to expand human civilization into space. 

To Infinity and Beyond: The Moon is an essential stepping-stone to the rest of the universe, and the opportunity to learn from our closest neighbor can provide the necessary experience to further humanity’s presence in the solar system and beyond.

Private Exploration: The technologies developed by the Google Lunar XPRIZE teams will further reduce costs and barriers to entry so that private industry can work alongside government agencies and advance lunar exploration.

See up to 10 related YouTube videos at end. C O N T E N T S: GENERAL INFO KEY TOPICS Moon Express, Inc. (MoonEx) is a privately funded commercial space company pursuing a long-term vision of exploring and unlocking the value of lunar resources, while developing innovative spacecraft designed to introduce new cost effective access to space beyond Earth orbit, including the Moon, the asteroids and…

Back To The Moon For Good – The New Space Race

Moon Express leases SLC-36 to develop, launch X-prize spacecraft.

Half a century after it was called upon to launch humanity's first missions to the planets and Moon, an abandoned Cape Canaveral launch site will again contribute to lunar exploration.

Moon Express, a California-based company competing for Google's Lunar X-prize, announced on Thursday, 22 January, that they have acquired Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 36 for testing and assembly of their lunar spacecraft. The five-year lease was made with Space Florida, the state's space development agency. Significant renovations will need to occur at the site before the first rocket lifts off to the Moon. After the pad was decommissioned in 2005, most above-ground structures were demolished. The company plans to renovate the blockhouse and other surviving structures, as well as the construction of launch facilities, a 20-foot tall spacecraft assembly and testing high bay, and lunar surface simulator. NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility has already hosted test flights of Moon Express' lander prototype, the MTV-1X. Moon Express is taking a different approach to the Google Lunar X-Prize, which states that a spacecraft must survive a landing on the lunar surface and move at least 500 meters. While the 17 other companies in the running are utilizing wheeled rovers, Moon Express plans to create a lander to hop across the surface.

The size of a large coffee table, the lander, dubbed MX-1, will weigh roughly 1300 pounds. This is within size and mass requirements for MX-1 to ride piggyback as a secondary payload on a rocket launching to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Once on its way to GTO, MX-1's engine will fire, placing the spacecraft en route to the Moon.

Too cool not to share! MoonExpress, one of 18 teams currently vying to be first private company to land on the surface of the moon as part of the Google Lunar XPrize, just released this awesome video about tethered flight tests of their MX-1 lander at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

MoonExpress is working with NASA in an un-funded Space Act Agreement called CATALYST, in which NASA offers its facilities and expertise to private companies without any money changing hands. MoonExpress shares its CATALYST agreement with GLXP competitor Astrobotic and Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander XPrize winner Masten Aerospace.