Category Archives: Cislunar Space Development

Friday / 26 July 2013

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GLXP Proposes New Achievement-Based Cash Prizes

GLXP 25 July

23 Remaining Google Lunar X Prize Teams May Be Able To Receive Additional Cash Prizes Totaling US$14M; Current GLXP Prizes Total $30M; Proposing $7M Split Between 1st Teams To Successfully Launch, $1M For 1st Team To Reach 500-Km Moon Altitude & Eight $750K Prizes Available Prior To Launch – 4 For Complete Designs With Power, Navigation, Hardware Plans, 4 For Complete Camera Subsystem Designs

Image Credit: GLXP, NASA, Xinhua/Y. Yan, SpaceX, Teams: Indus, Penn State, Selenokhod, ARCA

Wednesday / 24 July 2013

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Earth & Moon Imaged From Deep Space

BlueDot0713

Two NASA Interplanetary Spacecraft Capture Images Of Earth-Moon System; MESSENGER Obtained Its Black & Whited Photos (R) From A Position Around Mercury (98 Million Km From Earth), While Cassini Used Acquired Color Images From A Vantage Point 1.5 Billion Km Away, Behind A Back-Lit Saturn; Images Demonstrate How Tiny Earth Is In Vastness Of Space, & Strategic Importance / Logic Of Developing Earth-Moon System As 1st Step In Human Expansion Into The Cosmos

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 19-22 July 2013

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Golden Spike To Lunar South Pole?

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To Be True Leaders / Pioneers In 21st Century Lunar Exploration Golden Spike Company May Focus On Ideal Destination For Enabling 1st Permanent Off-World Settlement: Moon South Pole; Plentiful Ice Water / Resources For ISRU In Permanently Shadowed Craters / Aitken Basin, Relatively Stable Temperature, Access To Near-Continuous Sunlight To Power Long-Duration Missions & Permanent Settlements; GSC Working To Achieve Commercial Human Moon Missions By End Of Decade

Image Credit: Golden Spike Company, NASA

Thursday / 18 July 2013

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ILO Mission Demonstrates Rising Importance Of Moon South Pole Destination

ILO_SouthPole713

South Pole Destination Of NET 2016 ILO-Moon Express Lunar Mission Selected To Ensure Long-Duration Nature Of Mission – Thermal Environment (~-50°C) / Solar Power Access On Malapert Mountain / PEL, Continuous Line Of Sight To Earth For Commercial Communications, Ability To Image Milky Way Galaxy Center; ILO Also To Observe & Report Human Lunar Buildout, Private & Public Parties Pointing To South Pole / Aitken Basin – With Prevalent Water Ice / Mineral Deposits – As Ideal Location For Development 

Image Credit: ILOA, Moon Express, NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 12-15 July 2013

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Golden Spike Company Being Courted By Florida & Texas

GSCFloridaTexas

Colorado-Based Company Seeking To Deliver 2-Person Crews To Lunar Surface For US$1.5B Is Garnering Attention From Aerospace-Minded States Florida & Texas, Which See Economic Potential In Hosting Start-up Company; CEO Alan Stern Notes Current Host Colorado Has Not Offered Support Nor Incentive To Company; GSC Rapidly Advancing Business Plan Through Recent Technical Breakthroughs With Research Partners Northrop Grumman, ULA, Etc.

Image Credit: Golden Spike Company, Space Florida, governor.state.tx.us

Friday / 12 July 2013

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Astrobotic Reduces Moon Payload Delivery Cost

Astrobotic

GLXP Team Astrobotic Technologies Inc. Offers 30% Price Reduction For Payload Delivery To Moon Aboard Its Lunar Lander / Rover With Launch Set Oct 2015 Via SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket; US$99K/kg For Trans-Lunar Injection, $1.2M/kg For Lunar Surface Delivery On Lander, $2M/kg On Rover; Lander & Rover Will Power & Support Payload Operations For 10 Days, Then Hibernate For 14-Day Lunar Night & Recover After Sunrise, Continue Operations

Image Credit: Astrobotic

Wednesday / 3 July 2013

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Lunar Telerobotic Mission Demonstrated By ISS Astronaut

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Astronaut Chris Cassidy Pilots NASA Rover For 3 Hours Across Mock Lunar Surface At Ames Research Center; Remotely Directed Robot Unfurled ‘Antenna Film’ Developed By Jack Burns / University Of Colorado Boulder Scientists For Lunar Farside Radio Telescope Mission Concept; Burns & Team Hope To See Rover / Radio Telescope Deployed By Similar Telerobotic Technique Via Orion Mission To Earth-Moon L2

Image Credit: NASA, lunar.colorado.edu

Friday / 28 June 2013

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Funding Trips To Moon – 1st Giant Step Into Galaxy

PayPal Galactic 2

Universal Space Payment Initiative ‘PayPal Galactic’ Headed By PayPal, Apollo Moonworker Buzz Aldrin, Space Tourism Society, SETI Institute To Address Multi-World, Multi-Star Species; As Space & Moon Tourism Becomes Reality With GSC, SpaceX, VG, XCOR, Humans Will Need Interplanetary Payment System For Flights, E-Books, Moon-Rock Souvenirs, Pizza Deliveries In Space; Moon Travel 1st Step Toward Asteroids, Mars, Jupiter, Deep Space, Galaxy Stars

Image Credit: STS, K. Belew/CNN

Tuesday / 18 June 2013

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International – Commercial Partnering For Moon Exploration

ILDC - Buzz

International Lunar Development Corp. Proposed By Buzz Aldrin To Facilitate Unified International, Commercial & Academic Partnerships To Advance Moon Exploration & Settlement; China, India, Russia, Japan, Europe, USA, NewSpace Companies Such As Bigelow, Shackleton Energy, Golden Spike Urged To Implement Step-By-Step Space Plan; Humans Need To Become Multi-World Species For Long-Term Survival, Will & Should Settle On Moon Long Before Mars, Europa, Etc

Image Credit: Bigelow Aerospace, PISCES, Shackleton Energy Co., GSC

Friday / 14 June 2013

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From Hawai`i To The Moon To Deep Space

Buzz Aldrin, PISCES

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin (L) Says Geography / Geology Of Big Island, Hawaii Is Excellent Analog / Testing Ground For Permanent Moon Base; He Encourages Learning In Hawaii, Settlement Of Moon, Then Mars & Beyond; Also Supports PISCES Technology Development For Robotic & Human Missions Beyond LEO – Rob Kelso (R) Exec Director Featured On The Space Show 21 June; ISDAC-USIS Workshop On 22 June In Colorado Continues Discussion Of ‘Moon Permanent Base Headed By Buzz Aldrin’

Image Credit: Getty Images, IAF, ESA/Foster, WHT/A.Pacheco