Tag: Moon
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NASA’s Kilopower project demonstrates a nuclear reactor that’s made for space
Kilopower lead engineer Marc Gibson and Vantage Partner’s Jim Sanzi install hardware on the Kilopower assembly at the Nevada National Security Site during testing in March. (NNSS Photo) That’s one small step for nuclear reactors on the moon and Mars, and several giant leaps to go. Eventually, the technology pioneered by NASA’s Kilopower project could…
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NASA cancels lunar rover, shifts focus to commercial moon landers
The Resource Prospector prototype searches for a buried sample tube at the Johnson Space Center rock yard in August 2015. Credit: NASA As NASA turns up support for future commercial lunar landers, the space agency last week canceled a mission that would have placed a rover on the moon to survey resources, such as water…
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NASA is reworking its moon rover mission amid outcry from lunar advisory group
A prototype for the Resource Prospector rover undergoes field testing. (NASA via YouTube) An influential group of advisers on lunar exploration says NASA is canceling its Resource Prospector mission to explore the moon’s surface in the 2020s — and urged the agency’s newly sworn-in administrator, Jim Bridenstine, to reverse the decision. In response, NASA pledged today…
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Want to sponsor a race to the moon? XPRIZE resurrects lunar landing challenge
Moon Express’ MX-1E settles on the lunar surface. (Moon Express Illustration) Less than a week after the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize officially expired, its organizers say they’re relaunching it as a non-cash competition to put a privately funded lander on the moon. They’re also looking for a new sponsor to lend its name,…
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NASA courts commercial options for Lunar Landers
As NASA refocuses – once again – on returning to the Lunar surface, the agency has published a Request For Information (RFI) that will be used to gauge interest from the private/commercial space sector in building domestic lunar landers. The request points to an evolution of concept, with small-scale cargo landers being used to prove the…
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Vodafone and Nokia join PTScientists to put 4G mobile phone network on moon
The PTScientist team’s Alina lander and Audi Quattro rover are on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (PTScientists Photo via Twitter) Can you hear me now, on the moon? Not yet, but Nokia has just signed onto a team that aims to extend 4G coverage to the lunar surface as early as next…
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Commercial space ventures hail NASA opportunities in orbit and on the moon
An artist’s conception shows Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander on the lunar surface. (Astrobotic Illustration) The Trump administration’s proposed shift to commercial partners for space operations in low Earth orbit as well as on and around the moon is getting a predictably positive reception from those potential partners. “This moment here, with the shift to the moon,…
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Organizers confirm no teams will win Google Lunar X Prize
Artist’s concept of a privately-developed lunar lander designed by the Israeli team SpaceIL. Credit: SpaceIL None of the teams who have spent the last decade chasing a $20 million grand prize by placing a privately-funded lander on the moon will meet a deadline at the end of March to claim the award, the organizers of…
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XPRIZE confirms no one will win Google’s millions for commercial moon landing
A prototype moon rover makes an appearance at the 2007 kickoff of the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition. (XPRIZE Photo) The organizers for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition acknowledged today that the award for a commercially funded lunar landing will go unwon, despite a decade’s worth of work. But the California-based XPRIZE foundation’s…
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Moon ambitions get a reality check — plus a boost from Apollo moonshot memories
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lunar lander. (Blue Origin Illustration) Update for 10:54 a.m. PT Jan. 23: The managers of the Google Lunar X Prize competition acknowledge that the prize will go unwon. Previously: Who’s going to the moon? The prospects are looking dimmer for any commercial lunar landings in the short…