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Are there any private companies planning to visit the Moon?
Could a new Plasma propulsion system reduce the cost and time to visit the moon? Would this technology be implement, first by private industry?
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Aside from various national space agencies that are planning to go to the Moon, among them the United States, China, Japan, India, Russia, Europen Union, there are some private companies that are willing to jump into the race.
The fly to the moom will not be characterized by nationalism or patriotism like in the 60´s or early 70´s but instead on collaborative efforts between partners, named space agencies or private investors alike.
Some of the private companies that are gambling on the moon:
* Transorbital, a company fromLa Jolla, California, plans to deliver personal items (ashes, jewellery, artwork and other memorabilia) to the Moon starting in late 2008, for a hefty fee of US$2,500 a gram.
* Space Adventures, from Virginia, which has already taken tourists to the International Space Station, promises two $100-million seats on a trip around the Moon by 2010 or 2011.
* Odyssey Moon, from Europe's Isle of Man, was announced as the first competitor to race for the Google Lunar X Prizein in December 2007. The group is hopeful their "MoonOne (M-1)" spacecraft will take the grand prize.
* Astrobotic Technology, Inc.from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, plans to launch its first rover to NASA's Tranquility Base in May 2010 to win the Google Lunar X Prize competition.
* Independence-X Aerospace, from Malasya, with extensive experience in rocket propulsion and robotic control systems are also competing for the Google Lunar X Prize.
* Omega Envoy, from the University of Central Florida, with the common goal of advancing private and commercial space exploration is the last entry into the lunar X Prize.
http://a52.g.akamaitech.net/f/52/827/1d/www.space.com/images/080221-astrobotic-google-02.jpg
The Astrobotic team's "Artemis Lander" (background) and "Red Rover" (foreground) are some of 10 spacecraft now enrolled to compete in the Google Lunar X PRIZE Cup.
The fly to the moom will not be characterized by nationalism or patriotism like in the 60´s or early 70´s but instead on collaborative efforts between partners, named space agencies or private investors alike.
Some of the private companies that are gambling on the moon:
* Transorbital, a company fromLa Jolla, California, plans to deliver personal items (ashes, jewellery, artwork and other memorabilia) to the Moon starting in late 2008, for a hefty fee of US$2,500 a gram.
* Space Adventures, from Virginia, which has already taken tourists to the International Space Station, promises two $100-million seats on a trip around the Moon by 2010 or 2011.
* Odyssey Moon, from Europe's Isle of Man, was announced as the first competitor to race for the Google Lunar X Prizein in December 2007. The group is hopeful their "MoonOne (M-1)" spacecraft will take the grand prize.
* Astrobotic Technology, Inc.from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, plans to launch its first rover to NASA's Tranquility Base in May 2010 to win the Google Lunar X Prize competition.
* Independence-X Aerospace, from Malasya, with extensive experience in rocket propulsion and robotic control systems are also competing for the Google Lunar X Prize.
* Omega Envoy, from the University of Central Florida, with the common goal of advancing private and commercial space exploration is the last entry into the lunar X Prize.
The Astrobotic team's "Artemis Lander" (background) and "Red Rover" (foreground) are some of 10 spacecraft now enrolled to compete in the Google Lunar X PRIZE Cup.
source(s):
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=2764
http://www.space.com/news/081030-astrobotic-lunar-exploration.html
http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=2764
http://www.space.com/news/081030-astrobotic-lunar-exploration.html
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There is a contest, the Google Lunar X-Prize,to land robots on the moon, and over a dozen teams are in the running. They hope to go there by the end of 2012, or 2014 at the latest.
There are no plans to put humans on the moon, however. Human exploration is much, much more difficult than robotic exploration. The payload is much heavier because of the life support and extra shielding, requiring a far bigger rocket. And the rocket must be even more reliable, because human lives are involved, which means more redundancy and even more weight.
Plasma propulsion is probably not a factor in getting to the moon. Plasma propulsion generated very little thrust, so accelerating to the moon would take a very long time. The advantage of plasma propulsion is in long trips, where the light weight of the thrust mass allows you to accelerate for a very long time without adding a lot of mass to the ship. It's better for visiting comets and planets than a nearby object like the moon.
The hardest problem of getting a payload to the moon are in getting into orbit. No private company has succeeded in putting humans in orbit. Once that's solved, you have to build a rocket that will take something to the moon, which is technologically relatively simple (though hardly a walk in the park), but it adds even more mass to the payload.
There are no plans to put humans on the moon, however. Human exploration is much, much more difficult than robotic exploration. The payload is much heavier because of the life support and extra shielding, requiring a far bigger rocket. And the rocket must be even more reliable, because human lives are involved, which means more redundancy and even more weight.
Plasma propulsion is probably not a factor in getting to the moon. Plasma propulsion generated very little thrust, so accelerating to the moon would take a very long time. The advantage of plasma propulsion is in long trips, where the light weight of the thrust mass allows you to accelerate for a very long time without adding a lot of mass to the ship. It's better for visiting comets and planets than a nearby object like the moon.
The hardest problem of getting a payload to the moon are in getting into orbit. No private company has succeeded in putting humans in orbit. Once that's solved, you have to build a rocket that will take something to the moon, which is technologically relatively simple (though hardly a walk in the park), but it adds even more mass to the payload.
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