Wed, Jan 22, 2014
Only University Contestant For The Google Lunar XPRIZE
Penn State's Lunar Lion team, the only university-led team in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, has gone live with a crowdfunding campaign on RocketHub. The goal: to raise $406,536 toward the design and build of a prototype of its Lunar Lion moon lander that will land on the Moon by December 2015, the deadline for Google's Lunar XPRIZE. The campaign will run from January 20 to February 24.
Led by NASA NIAC Fellow and space industry veteran, Michael Paul, the Lunar Lion team has a clear lead in the Google-sponsored race to the Moon. Comprised of more than 80 students across eight of Penn State's university disciplines, the team has outlined the technology milestones and timelines required by the XPRIZE Foundation to win the competition. Using at least 90% private funding, the Lunar Lion will land on the Moon, transmit video and images back to Earth, move 500 meters to another spot on the Moon and repeat the video/image transmission, all by the end of 2015.
"We're on the cusp of an Apollo moment," said Michael Paul, Lunar Lion team leader and director of Space Systems Initiatives for the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory. "And one of the most significant differences between this Moon landing and the first ... more than 40 years ago ... is that this mission is being driven by the next generation of pioneers, our students. That kind of innovation is at the heart of the Lunar Lion mission and of a new business model, uSpace, that we believe will launch a new age of space science and exploration."
Penn State, a close research partner to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and space industry companies, has introduced a new paradigm in space science and exploration centered on university capabilities and leadership it calls "uSpace." Through collaboration with industry and governmental partners, uSpace matches the strength of major research universities with the innovation found at NewSpace companies. A rapid development timeline, driven by cost and schedule considerations, will enable a whole new class of missions while simultaneously allowing participation of students of all disciplines and creating an experienced next generation of space pioneers.
(YouTube image of Lunar Lion Rocket Test)
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