Lunar Lander Challenge Update!

Bryan — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:02:26 +0000

Its been a while since I’ve last given an update on this exciting space race so I thought it was about time to revisit the Subject. The Google Lunar Lander Challenge is now officially underway. The year 2010 was the market for the beginning of the challenge period, so any team has the opportunity to win as early as Tomorrow! Although we would probably know about any attempts weeks ahead of time. The teams now have 2 years in order to grab the full 20 million dollar first prize, after that the prize will drop incrementally, The final deadline being the year 2014. The full list of teams that are competing is available on the Space companies page.

The secrecy of the different teams has tightened up since the competition has officially gotten underway. The lunar X prize forums have also been shut down, because of so called in adequate ability to manage the forum, thus most chatter has been cut to a minimum since the start of 2010. A few teams still stand out as the best possible teams for achieving the challenge in the near future. These teams include: Odyssey Moon, Astrobotic, ARCA, and Frednet. Currently the main challenge for the rest of the teams that sets them behind these ones is launch capabilities. For Example Odyssey Moon, works closely with NASA and has the intellectual know how working for them. ARCA has developed a balloon launching system that seems promising, And the Frednet and Astrobotic, either have large pocket books or the ability to Raise the funds for a ride on SpaceX’s Commercially driven Launch Systems.

Space Rocket vs Space Craft

Bryan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:38:11 +0000

Hollywood movies always display glamorous space Crafts that can land freely on a planet and take off and go straight into space. However NASA and every other space agency has from the dawn of space travel only used rockets. Can rockets really be the best method for space travel? The movies may have it more right than wrong in this situation but lets take a closer look.

You may be thinking to yourself what can this guy possibly be saying? We cant build spacecrafts that take off from the ground and fly straight into space. Well your right we cant… yet, but we are close. Virgin Galactic’s spaceship one has made it into space without the use of huge rockets and massive amounts of fuel, Here’s how it works. White Knight (carrier plane) takes off from a runway like a normal plane while carrying spaceship one. When the White Knight reaches a certain altitude it then detaches spaceship one to boosts off into space. More advancements in this area may reveal spaceships that can take off from a runway or even like a harrier jet! While this seems like a good method of travel why are so many companies using spaceships and more using rockets? For example XCor and SpaceX prefer rocket launches as opposed to space crafts and Virgin Galactic chooses to use a space craft. Whether its an issue of money or safety this branch off deserves a deeper look.

Lets explore the differences between a space rocket and a space craft(for these examples we will be using spaceship one as an example since its the only working space craft in existence). Rockets take off vertically and get to space much quicker, although they use more fuel. Rockets are not reusable and create a ton of garbage from detaching fuel tanks and rockets. Space Ship one uses a lot less fuel but it does take a lot longer to get to space, where a rocket takes minutes spaceship one takes hours. Spaceship one currently takes more technical preparedness because of the new technology, while rockets have almost become routine. Overall I think space crafts are the better choice in the long term compared to the dated rocket launches, While rockets may offer safety and speed they are an hindrance to our continued exploration of space.

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SpaeCor News » Space Transportation

Lunar Lander Challenge Update!

Space Rocket vs Space Craft