Australian Partner Lunar Numbat Joins White Label Space

White Label Space is proud to announce its newest partnership with the Australian/New Zealand group called Lunar Numbat. The Lunar Numbat group will use their skills and Open Source technologies to help us develop novel hardware and software solutions for our Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP) mission.

The Numbat is a small and cute marsupial animal native to Western Australia. The Numbat was formerly classified as endagered and had a total population less than 1000 in the 1970's. Today however, its population has increase somewhat and it is classified as 'vulnerable'.

While working with us on GLXP, the Lunar Numbat group also hopes to bring about innovations in space science using open source technologies, to collaborate with other space science entities, to educate as to the benefits that space science provides all people and advocate the formation of an Australian Space Agency. Perhaps the recovery from near-extinction of the Numbat can set a good example for the recovery of the Australian space industry, which is currently in a state of neglect by the Australian government.

In the coming months our White Label Space core engineering team will work together with the Lunar Numbat group to determine which parts or subsystems of our space mission they will develop.

White Label Space looks forward to forming partnerships with other like-minded organisations around world who have the right stuff to undertake ambitious space exploration and to inspire today's generation that wasn't even alive when humans last walked on the Moon.

Australian Mars Mission - Students in Preparation

Check out this video from the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) in Australia, a space-themed school education centre encouraging secondary school students to be excited about space exploration and using hands-on learning to show how they could enjoy careers in science or engineering.

The highlight of the experience is the simulated Mars mission where the students cooperate to execute a typical Mars surface mission involving role-playing activities dressed as astronauts and work in a simulated mission control center. Interacive software provides problem solving skills amongst the students, including a Martian dust storm that risks the safety of the astronauts.



VSSEC is a fantastic way to teach the Australian youth about the dream of space exploration and science and hopefully they will be inspired them to pursure careers in the space sector and support future government efforts to fund space activites.

Australia is the only nation in the top 25 GDP nations that doesn't have a government-funded space agency (see Senate Report). In fact, despite its well-educated population of over 21 million, Australia doesn't even have a central point of contact for foriegn nations interested in cooperating in space activities!

Not surprinsingly, there is a strong interest in Australia for the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP). Team FredNET already attracted some Australian involvement, and we at White Label Space are also in discussions with many individuals and organizations in Australia who are interested to join our GLXP effort.


See also:

• Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (now disbanded)
• CSIRO Astronomy (and Space?) Division
• FedSat
• Australian Space Research Institute
  National Space Society of Australia
• Australia Needs a Space Agency Already! (facebook group promoting a space agency)
• Australian National University Space Activities
• Centre for Hypersonics at the University of Queensland
• Australian Hypersonics Initiative
• Grollo Aerospace (and related info: [1], [2], [3])
• Engineers Australia National Committee in Space Engineering