Moon Express licensed for lunar expedition in 2017

Moon Express unique torus bus approaches lunar vicinity in notional representation [Moon Express].

Mike Wall

Senior Writer

Space.com

For the first time ever, a private company has permission to land on the moon.

The U.S. government has officially approved the planned 2017 robotic lunar landing of California-based Moon Express, which aims to fly commercial missions to Earth's nearest neighbor and help exploit its resources, company representatives announced today .

"This is not only a milestone, but really a threshold for the entire commercial space industry," Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards told Space.com.

Previously, companies had been able to operate only on or around Earth. The new approval, while exclusive to Moon Express, could therefore serve as an important regulatory guide for deep-space commercial activity in general, Richards said.

"Nobody's had a deep-sea voyage yet. We're still charting those waters," he said. "Somebody had to be first."

Moon Express submitted an application to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on April 8. The document then made its way through the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission, Richards said.

View the full article, HERE.

Moon Express strains at its Kennedy tether

Google Lunar X-Prize competitor Moon Express test article MTV-1X takes its maiden tethered flight and new facilities recently opened at Kennedy Space Center's historic Space Launch Complex 36, where the early Atlas ICBM was developed and Surveyor was launched a half century ago. The 80 acre site, procured with the aid of Space Florida, includes a vintage concrete blockhouse the team has christened "Moon Mountain" [CBS News/C|NET].

"Latest in a series of reports by CNET Editor at Large Tim Stevens, traveling the world to track the progress of teams competing for the Google Lunar X-Prize.

"If all goes according to plan.. the Mountain View, California-based Moon Express team's.. lander will make a soft, controlled landing on the moon, look around in high-definition, then lift off again. The lander will touch down a second time at a location at least 500 meters away from the first...

"To see whether Moon Express can pull it off, Stevens traveled to Florida's Kennedy Space Center where Moon Express is testing its MTV-1X -- that is, its "Moon Express Test Vehicle 1 - XPrize Version." Or, more colloquially, the "flying donut," thanks to its toroidal shape. This is effectively a prototype for the final landing vehicle, the MX-1. The MX-1 will be launched into orbit atop a rather large rocket, fly itself across the approximately 240,000 miles to the moon and then orbit there a few times before touching down.

"Moon Mountain." the blockhouse trench and bunker of KSC SLC 36, focus of 80 acre proving ground in site of the iconic VAB at Cape Canaveral [CBS News/C|NET].

Sources:
Moon Express' unorthodox approach to the prize
- CBS News
Private moon firm to sign deal for test flights at Cape
- WTSP/ Tampa Bay, Sarasota
Moon Express to develop SLC-36 for MX-1 lunar lander
- Spaceflight Insider
Blasting off with Moon Express at KSC
- C|NET

Remote-operated Moon-based deep space telescope concept demonstrated in Hawai'i

h/t: moontoday.net

The International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), led by American businessman and educator Steve Durst, plans to place an astronomical observatory on the Moon to capture never before seen images from that unique vantage point, and in turn broadcast them back to Earth in support of the worldwide Galaxy Forum 21st Century Education program.

A Galaxy Forum was held earlier this month in San Jose California.

A "Global Demonstration" of the International Lunar Observatory precursor instrument (ILO-X) was conducted by ILOA and Moon Express and hosted by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope during the late hours of July 23 from Mauna Kea summit, on the Big Island of Hawai'i.

Astronomers from the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Europe took part, demonstrating international collaboration enabled with the participation of the commercial space sector. The instrument was made available through the Internet, operating as though on the Moon and capturing the galactic center at First Light. and images of deep sky objects inside and outside of our Milky Way Galaxy.

"The primary goal of the International Lunar Observatory is to expand human understanding of the galaxy and beyond through observation made from the Moon," Durst said.

Durst, ILOA founder and director, said, "we are very encouraged by our Global Demonstration and are excited about sending the ILO-X to the Moon."

A notional minimal lunar lander with
space telescope (1990).

ILOA also announced plans to strengthen their presence on Hawai'i by setting up an international headquarters and research center in Waimea this year. Preparations for the deployment of the teleoperated ILO-X observatory on the Moon are under development by Moon Express, a commercial lunar transportation company based at Ames Research Center in California.

Moon Express is among teams in competing in the Google Lunar X-Prize contest.

Moon Express has completed designs and is presently building ILO-X as a first Moon-based observatory. About the size of a shoe-box, ILO-X will utilize advanced optical and technology to deliver unique Deep Sky images of the galaxy and beyond.

"We're thrilled to be part of the ILO team, reaching for the Moon," said Moon Express CEO and co-founder Bob Richards.

The ILO-X is the planned precursor to a permanent installation of a larger, more powerful International Lunar Observatory near the Moon's south pole. ILOA and Moon Express have established a Joint Venture Agreement for the South Pole mission, currently in planning. The ILO missions are expanding the model of commercial space investment to the South Pole of the Moon to do science, education, exploration and commercial activities - such as Lunar Broadcasting of Space Calendar and Lunar Enterprise Daily through affiliated Space Age Publishing Company.

Malapert Massif, part of the rim of the vast South Pole Aitken basin, most of which is in the farside's southern hemisphere, has been the subject of multiple studies as a possible lunar outpost, in line-of-sight with both the Earth and the Moon's south pole. LROC Wide Angle Camera monochrome (604nm) montage swept up over the course of twelve sequential orbital passes in November 2010. Following a successful demonstration of the ILO-X concept, deployed by Moon Express closer to the Moon's equator, a larger and more robust remote-operated facility is planned for higher elevations in and around the permanently shadowed lower elevations near the Moon's south polar regions [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

International Lunar Observatory Association
Moon Express

Excalibur aims Soviet Almaz "to Moon by 2015"

One of two surplus Soviet-era ALMAZ "gunboat" space stations arrives at Excalibur, on the Isle of Man. The company hopes to charge customers $156 million for round-trip orbital excursions to the Moon by 2015. The formerly secret station cores are similar in design to the Soviet Salyut space stations [AmadeusPhotography.com].

Brid-Aine Parnell
The Register

Isle of Man based space tourism firm Excalibur Almaz has said that it will be ready to rocket the rich to the Moon by 2015.

The company told a space tourism conference that it was planning the first test flight of its fleet of second-hand ex Soviet capsules and space stations in 2014 and would be ready to send a well-off civilian on a lunar trip the following year, The Telegraph reports.

The company has so far purchased four capsules and two disused space stations - once part of the Soviet era "Almaz" ("Diamond") program - from the Russians, and plans to get launch rockets from the same source.

Excalibur Almaz is that same firm that said back in 2009 that it would be offering week-long tourist trips in space from 2013 for $35m. So clearly, it's moved a deadline or two before, and the price has also gone up by quite a lot. The firm reckons the first few trips to the Moon will cost £150m, falling to £50m over the next ten years of trips.

Read the full article, HERE.

GLXP team Moon Express acquires Next Giant Leap

Artist concept of Moon Express GLXP lander ME-1.

Alan Boyle
Cosmic Log
MSNBC

One of the competitors in the race to send the first private-sector probe to the moon says it's acquired the assets of a rival team, marking what could be considered a "Netscape moment" for the commercial moonshot industry.

Moon Express said the acquisition of Colorado-based Next Giant Leap will add to its momentum in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition, which promises a huge payoff to the first team that sends a rover to the moon for an exploratory trek that includes transmitting high-definition imagery back to Earth. Moon Express and Next Giant Leap are among 26 teams vying for the prize.

"There are many synergies between our companies," Bob Richards, Moon Express' co-founder and CEO, said in today's announcement, which was issued during a Google Lunar X Prize team summit in Washington. "We are all stronger together, and we look forward to carrying on the innovation and vision of the Next Giant Leap founders and partners."

Both ventures were selected by NASA in 2010 for data-sharing contracts that are worth up to $10 million each. Both companies have been working on rovers that would hop across the lunar surface. The Next Giant Leap effort produced a "hopper" design that attracted a $1 million commitment from the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory to fund the development of a guidance, navigation and control system testbed.

Read the full article, HERE.

Space merchants and planetary mining

Planetary Resources hopes to extract water ice and metals from near
Earth asteroids, while other companies are interested in mining such
resources from the Moon [Planetary Resources].

Ayodele Faiyetole
The Space Review

"The exhaustible mineral resources on Earth and their almost infinite deposits, by comparison, on the different planetary bodies in our solar system is fast leading to the development of a whole new industry spearheaded by exploratory-entrepreneurial visionaries. These space merchants, like the British who prospected America as a tobacco plantation, have conceived that the outer space holds the prospects for some of the world’s most valuable minerals that could be exploited for usage here on Earth and beyond."

"The Moon miners: Moon Express, Inc., which was selected by Forbes as one of the 15 “Names You Need to Know” in 2011, has made known its interest in prospecting outer space for resources since its formation in 2010. On April 23, the Google Lunar X PRIZE contender announced it had successfully delivered its Preliminary Design Checkpoint Technical Package to NASA under its $10-million Innovative Lunar Demonstration Data (ILDD) contract, providing NASA continuing data on the development of the company’s commercial lunar robotic missions and plans to mine the Moon. MoonEx, as Moon Express is also known, was selected in 2010 for this data buy contract, which happens only after technology is demonstrated at the company’s own risk. Technology luminaries Naveen Jain and Barney Pell teamed up with space visionary Robert Richards to form MoonEx based at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley."

Read the full article HERE.

Related Posts:

First, kill all the lawyers (May 1, 2012)
Staking a claim on the Moon (April 12, 2012)
Bolden: Moon to be a private colony (April 12, 2012)
A Rationale for Cislunar Space (April 12, 2011)

Additional ILDD contract awarded to Astrobotic

Prototype Astrobotic Scout Rover undergoes field tests in a
Big Island "lunar proxy" environment in 2011 [Astronbotic].

NASA has awarded Astrobotic Technology Inc. an additional task in its $10 million Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) contract under which NASA buys information about the company’s commercial robotic expeditions to the Moon. The $100,000 task order brings total funding under the ILDD contract thus far to $610,000.

Astrobotic Technology will launch its first expedition on a Falcon 9 rocket under contract from Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

 In May 2015, it will deliver a robot to the Moon’s south pole to prospect for water, methane and other minerals. Turned into rocket propellant, these resources will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration by providing an off-planet refueling station.

“The number one challenge in space exploration today is the cost,” said David Gump, Astrobotic’s president. “Commercial robotic expeditions can serve space agencies at one-third the cost they traditionally spend with cost-plus contractors. And by prospecting for rocket fuel ingredients at the Moon’s poles, we can provide a much lower cost source for spacecraft propellant as they venture further away from Earth.”

Astrobotic is a spinout from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, which carries out lunar research funded by Astrobotic. 

In October 2010 NASA awarded first phase ILDD contracts to Astrobotic (Pittsburg, PA), The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, MA, Dynetics Inc., Huntsville, AL, Earthrise Space Inc., Orlando, FL, Moon Express Inc., San Francisco, CA and Team FREDNET, The Open Space Society, Inc., Huntsville, AL.

Read the full Astrobotic news release HERE.