Friday, March 28, 2008

U. Arizona racing for the moon, $20 million


UA's UWIRE "Powered by the Content Generation"

by Ashley Waggoner Arizona Daily Wildcat
The University of Arizona is in the midst of a $30 million international contest to get a spacecraft on the moon.

The UA was included among the first 10 teams announced last month to be participating in the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, the first private robotic mission to the moon.

The UA’s Team Astrobotic is a partnership of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University and the Raytheon Co.’s Tucson-based Missile Systems. Its funding is being provided by UA research funds.

The team consists of 30 students who are working with the spacecraft design and 20 engineers and managers. Each team is required to go to the moon, travel on its surface for at least 500 meters and send photos or video back to Earth.

UA students comprising the technical team will “purchase the rocket, build a landing platform and the rover and also build the cameras and antennae needed to send images back to earth,” said Dante Lauretta, a deputy team leader and an associate professor in planetary sciences.

Full Story from Arizona Daily Wildcat

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