Tag: Interlune
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NASA taps Blue Origin to deliver lunar rovers for Moon Base initiative
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander lowering an Astrolab rover to the lunar surface. (NASA Illustration) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has won NASA’s nod to deliver crew-carrying rovers to the lunar surface as part of the space agency’s decade-long plan to create a base near the moon’s south…
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Interlune wins $6.9M NASA contract to create system to extract helium-3 and hydrogen from moon dirt
Interlune test engineer Alex Lewandowski and mechanical engineer Jessica Wu check test equipment for the mass spectrometer system in the Regolith Lab at the company’s Seattle headquarters. (Interlune Photo) NASA has awarded a $6.9 million contract to Seattle-based Interlune for the development of a system that can extract gases such as helium-3 and hydrogen from…
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Interlune digs into the development of an excavator for helium-3 and construction projects on the moon
Interlune and Vermeer worked together to test a full-scale prototype of an excavator with auxiliary components. (Interlune / Vermeer Photo) Interlune is leveraging a $150,000 NASA contract to develop develop lunar trenching and excavation technology — and although the primary goal is to extract valuable helium-3 from moon dirt, the project also signals the company’s…
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Interlune brings in fresh funding to keep its mission to mine the moon moving forward
An artist’s conception shows Interlune’s robotic harvester on the moon. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune is raising additional investment to support its campaign to identify and extract resources on the moon that can be brought back to Earth, starting with helium-3. The fundraising effort came to light in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange…
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Interlune will team up with Astrolab to send a camera to the moon for helium-3 survey
An artist’s conception shows Astrolab’s FLIP rover on the moon. Interlune plans to put a helium-hunting multispectral camera on the rover. (Astrolab Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune says it’s struck a deal with California-based Astrolab to send a multispectral camera to the moon to estimate how much helium-3 is present in lunar soil. Interlune’s camera will be…
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Interlune announces deals for moon mining equipment — and for selling lunar helium-3
An artist’s conception shows a rocket with a capsule containing helium-3 heading back to Earth from the moon’s surface. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune provided a triple-barreled update today on its progress toward mining helium-3 on the moon and returning that resource to Earth. The startup joined Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered in Iowa,…
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Interlune wins $4.8M grant for Texas center focusing on simulated moon dirt
An artist’s conception shows Interlune’s robotic regolith harvester on the moon. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune has won a grant of up to $4.84 million from the Texas Space Commission to open a center of excellence at NASA’s Johnson Space Center that would focus on simulated moon rocks and soil. The center would be part of…
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Interlune comes out of stealth with its plan to harvest helium-3 and more on the moon
An artist’s conception shows Interlune’s robotic harvester on the moon. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune officially lifted the curtain today on its plans to build a robotic harvester that could extract helium-3 from moon dirt and send it back to Earth for applications ranging from quantum computing to fusion power. Rob Meyerson, a co-founder of the…
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Former Blue Origin president’s startup raises funding to go after moon resources
Space industry executive Rob Meyerson speaks at a 2016 space conference. (ISPCS via YouTube) A stealthy space venture co-founded by the former president of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says it’s raising funds to move ahead with its plan to harvest resources on the moon and bring them back for use on Earth. Former…
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Blue Origin’s chief architect lifts the veil on stealth moon startup at Pathfinder Awards
Blue Origin chief architect Gary Lai talks about his past and his future in the space business at the Pathfinder Awards banquet at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. (Photo by Ted Huetter / The Museum of Flight) Gary Lai’s resume features his status as chief architect and pioneer spaceflier at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture…