Lunar Gardening

Prototype space greenhouse. (Paragon Space Development Corp.)

Astrobiology, Based on a Universetoday.com release by Nancy Atkinson

"Imagine a bright flower on a green plant in a little dome-shaped growth chamber, sitting on the landscape of the moon, with the Earth rising up behind," said Taber MacCallum, CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation. "I think it’s a great vision." That vision of the first moon flower will likely become a reality, perhaps by 2014. Paragon has teamed up with Google Lunar X-PRIZE contender Odyssey Moon to deliver a biological greenhouse to the lunar surface. "We've grown plants in space before, but this will be the first time we'll attempt to grow a plant on another world," MacCallum told Universe Today. "It's not just a great vision, but interesting science, too."

Odyssey Moon is one of the teams vying for the $30M Google Lunar X-PRIZE, a competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth. One image may be the striking vision the MacCallum described.

Paragon has been involved with biology in space for several years. They developed the payload that bred the first animals through their life cycle on board the Mir space station, and also were part of the early commercial biology experiments on the ISS. The company is now working with NASA to develop the thermal control and life support systems for the new Orion and Altair spacecraft which will bring humans back to the Moon.

But growing a plant on the moon, well, that's just plain cool, says MacCallum.

Read the full article HERE.

Odyssey Moon to redeem UK's 'Beagle?'

A Hoped-for-Future for Odyssey Moon, with 19 other team in competition for the Google Lunar X-Prize, working to land and complete minimal tasks in mobility and remote sensing. A bonus purse goes to the winning team if, in addition, the winning team acquires real-time data of a genuine artifact of the earlier human exploration. (Odyssey Moon's lander design is based on the Common Spacecraft Bus, under development at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center.) Mission planners for the U.K. Mars lander Beagle, lost in December 2003, are apparently in negotiations to fly the groups mass spectrometer on-board the Odyssey Moon lander, pictured here landing near Surveyor 5 (1967), some 23 km northeast of Tranquility Base.

According to Craig Covault of SpaceflightNOW.com, "Collin Pillinger who headed the unsuccessful Beagle Mars project is in discussion with the commercial "Odyssey Moon" program to fly a backup version of Beagle's most powerful instrument on board the Odyssey lunar lander."

Read the Article HERE.

Odyssey Moon LTD gets serious

Common Spacecraft Bus, under development at NASA Marshall, is the Ford T-Model for a future lunar precursor robotics in need of standard "Quick Change" unmanned landers for a wide variety of mission needed before "extended human activity on the Moon." Now Google Lunar X-Prize competitor Odyssey Moon is reportedly teaming up with industry, and will use the CSB as model for it's planned "M-1" lander.

Joining the Odyssey Moon venture is:
• Near Earth LLC: a leading investment bank specializing in satellite, media and telecom
• The Brand Union/WPP: one of the world’s largest marketing and communications companies
• Aon International Space Brokers: the leading global space risk advisor and provider of space related insurance
• Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP: a leading global law firm experienced in telecommunications and space

“This is a power house team, a dream team,” said Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards, Odyssey Moon’s CEO. “We are combining the very best from the global satellite industry with the very best of the space exploration community to make this company and its historic first mission a success.”

“Odyssey Moon’s team now includes world-class leaders from the areas of finance, insurance, law, marketing, communications, advertising, and technology,” said Odyssey Moon chairman Dr. Ramin Khadem. “Each of these are esteemed firms that have been highly successful in their own right and now for the first time they have come together to support our lunar venture.”

"Odyssey Moon has also announced the addition of veteran investment banker Ms. Carol Goldstein to its executive team. With a career spanning 25 years on Wall Street specializing in financing and corporate transactions in the commercial satellite and telecommunications industries at ABN AMRO and Morgan Stanley, Carol is leading the company’s financial activities focused on its fundraising requirements. “I am very excited to be working with this world class group,” she said. “While providing attractive returns to investors, Odyssey Moon creates new opportunities for public and private companies in lunar science, exploration and commerce."

Read the post HERE.

Canada's space program, 'far to fly'

Honorary LP and CEO of Odyssey Moon Limited, Bob Richards reports he was glad Ottawa Business Journal made mention of the possibilities presented by the growing Commercial Space industry.

Elizabeth Howell, Ottawa Business Journal Staff

Years of non-direction from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) caused by underfunding are putting the space industry at risk of stagnation in Canada, points out a report issued Wednesday by the Rideau Institute and the Secure World Foundation.

Although Rideau Institute president Steve Staples notes the appointment of former astronaut Steve MacLean to head the CSA has brought new blood into an agency plagued by short-term presidents, he fears the economic crisis may push MacLean's long-awaited Long Term Space Plan into the background.

As a solution, Mr. Staples and the institute propose moving from a space plan into a more wide-ranging space policy that could be adopted by other government departments with a strategic interest in space exploration, such as defence.

"A whole government approach towards space, I think, would be welcomed by many," Mr. Staples says.

"But in the meantime, the (space) sector is looking for direction from the government to guide CSA into the future, and then that needs to be followed up by some (financial) resources into the CSA."

The report, called "Looking Up: A Report on the State of Canada's Space Sector,"(Adobe pdf file) tracks the progress of the Canadian space industry.

Follow the rest of the article HERE.

Odyssey MOON interview at Space Symposium

Engineering TV has posted a video interview of Bob Richards, CEO of Odyssey Moon, taken at their display booth during the 25th International Space Symposium.

Read and watch the feature HERE.

Odyssey Moon plans Lunar greenhouse partnership

Tackling the challenge In Situ Resource Utilization head on, Odyssey Moon is apparently planning a partnership with Paragon Space Development Corporation, "focused on delivery of a biological greenhouse to the Moon’s surface."

The story is picked up by Rocketeer.co.uk via Space Coalition Blog, "thanks to Parabolic Arc."

ODYSSEY MOON becomes Charon, ferryman over the River Styx

San Diego – Odyssey Moon Limited, a commercial provider of lunar transportation products and services, announced today that it has reached a commercial launch services agreement with Celestis, Inc., the pioneer and global leader in Memorial Spaceflight. The agreement provides for payload capacity aboard Odyssey Moon’s lunar missions for placing memorial flight capsules and modules in lunar orbit or on the Moon.

In 1999 NASA requested Celestis to assist the colleagues and loved ones of renowned astronomer Dr. Eugene Shoemaker in placing a portion of his cremated remains aboard the NASA Lunar Prospector mission. On July 31, 1999, at the completion of the Lunar Prospector’s mission, the spacecraft was intentionally impacted into the Moon’s South Pole, making Dr. Shoemaker the first human inhabitant to be laid to rest on another planet.

Read the announcement of their Commercial Launch Agreement HERE.

(Adobe Reader .pdf)

Odyssey Moon aims for July 2011, seeks information on potential payloads

Odyssey Moon Limited (OML) is a private commercial lunar enterprise offering lunar services and products to aid humanity’s sustained return to the Moon.

Odyssey Moon will be sending a series of small robotic missions to the Moon in support of science, exploration and commerce in the coming decade. In December 2007, the company was unveiled as the first official competitor for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. It was also announced that mission design work had begun by the company’s prime contractor, MDA Space Missions of Canada.

The inaugural mission of the Odyssey Moon “MoonOne” (M-1) Lunar Lander, currently scheduled for launch by July 2011, has 15 to 25 kg of additional payload capacity available to the lunar surface. OML intends to offer an opportunity for the international lunar community to place scientific or technology demonstration payloads onboard the initial M-1 mission through an Announcement of Payload Flight Opportunity (PFO).

This PFO will be the first of a series of Odyssey Moon mission opportunities designed to enable low cost, rapid and frequent access to the Moon (orbit or surface) for government, academic and commercial customers. The inaugural M-1 flight opportunity will serve as a prototype for scientific and technology payloads sharing space on Odyssey Moon commercial “missions of opportunity” on a recurring basis.

OML is conducting this request for information (RFI) to survey interest in the international lunar community for this payload flight opportunity. OML seeks to identify potential payloads and Principal Investigators (PIs) who wish to explore rapid, low-cost lunar flight opportunities. OML will work with PI’s to identify how such flight opportunities could be supported by national space agencies and other sources.

Note that this RFI is not an announcement for funding of payloads.

Purpose

This RFI concerns an opportunity for scientific and technology demonstration payloads (totaling 15 to 25 kg maximum, with required margins) to be delivered to the lunar surface in the equatorial regions, with launch planned by July 2011. This is a preliminary survey of interest only. Landing loads, telecom and other technical details necessary for detailed proposals will be contained in a subsequent formal PFO announcement.

Read the entire announcement HERE.