themoonrace.org:The Moon Race competition is a global initiative founded by Airbus and international partners, aiming to boost the movement around Moon exploration and enable the demonstration of key technologies required for its sustainable exploration....2019 - Propose - team up and apply2020 - Prototype - demonstrate Proof-of-Concept2021 - Develop - test in lunar environment - monetary award2023 - Build - prepare for potential launch - monetary award + potential moon ride2024 - Fly to the Moon! - monetary award...SPACE AGENCIES AND INDUSTRY ARE ALREADY SUPPORTING.- Agencia Espacial Mexicana- Airbus- Blue Origin- ESA- Vinci Construction
My take on it is that Airbus and Blue Origin won't be competing... they'll be providing the prizes, including launch services to the Moon.If you look at the contest categories, none of them are really things that these guys have shown any interest in doing themselves (power production, ISRU, etc.). But they (especially BO) want to get people doing these things, to kickstart a lunar economy and build demand for their transport services.So, unlike the Google Lunar X-Prize, where getting to the Moon was the entire battle... this contest is saying, don't worry about that. We'll take care of it. Now, assuming you can get to the Moon, what useful demo/development can you do there?Pretty exciting stuff, IMHO.
The most unclear part of it, to me, is step 3, "2021 - Develop - test in lunar environment". This is before any launch services are provided. So I assume they mean, test in a simulated lunar environment. A big vacuum chamber, with regolith simulant and 4-week lighting cycle? Making such a simulator sounds like a pretty big project in itself to me.
Quote from: jstrout on 10/02/2018 02:38 pmThe most unclear part of it, to me, is step 3, "2021 - Develop - test in lunar environment". This is before any launch services are provided. So I assume they mean, test in a simulated lunar environment. A big vacuum chamber, with regolith simulant and 4-week lighting cycle? Making such a simulator sounds like a pretty big project in itself to me.I agree a fairly high fidelity chamber is a singificant investment. But once made I bet there will be a queue for time in it.
They've learnt few things from Lunar Xprize. Milestone prizes which are essential for a lot of these small groups to keep going.