First look at the WLS rover solar array

The first look at the WLS rover's solar array comes courtesy of our newest team member, John Walker, an engineer who's decided to chase his dream of working in the space industry.

Jump to the end to see the solar array pics

Six months ago, John was working throughout Canada as a consulting engineer, machine designer and project manager in the railroad, lumber and food production industries.

Now, after attending the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France, he he's been tasked with designing the rover's solar panels and modelling the optics of the camera system,under the supervision of Kazuya Yoshida at Tohoku University's Space Robotics lab.

Welcome to WLS, John. First up, why the move into the space industry?

As a child I wanted to go to space or at least help send people and things into space. After graduation in 2005, I was offered a "normal" job and did not pursue the space industry. I never stopped dreaming about it though, and when I was given a chance to attend the International Space University this past summer, I did not hesitate to go. It's an exciting time to move into the space industry; private companies are gaining new capabilities every day and making space more accesible.

How is working at WLS different from what you've done in the past?

It is fantastic working on something that I am passionate about, and I learn something new every from the people in different fields that I work with.

Are you just with us until the end of your internship? Where do you hope to end up with this change in career path?

I plan to continue working with WLS after my internship. Right now I am applying to positions in the industry as well as aerospace engineering graduate programs.

Are there any special considerations for solar panels that need to operate on the lunar surface?

Yes, there are several aspects of the design that need to be optimized, but they are in conflict with each other. Weight, power output, panel position and radiative cooling ability are parameters that "fight" each other. In addition, the parameters behave very differently at different times of the lunar day.

What about the camera system? What kind of problems do you have to overcome?

We are developing models to simulate the 360 degree panoramic image now. It looks like it will work very will without moving parts. The problem we are solving right now is the exact placement of the main camera and camera mirror. We are using the camera to see the rover itself as well as the landscape. There are trade-offs between visibility of these two things, and between the rover's field of vision and pixel density. Fortunately, we have freedom in the mirror design to give a large field of view, that is also high-resolution in key areas.

UPDATE from John

The camera height and solar panel size have been optimized, and the detailed design of the solar panel mechanism is underway so that prototype panels can be manufactured in spring.

Simulation of the 360 panorama view from the rover's camera, before processing

The solar panels in stowed configuration (for flight)

The solar panels in deployed configuration

Good for SpaceX, good for all

In a big year for space exploration, the first ever successful return of privately owned spacecraft from orbit has probably slipped unfairly under the mainstream media radar.

What with asteroid exploration, water on the Moon, habitable planets and solar storms to contend with, a three-hour orbit and subsequent spalshdown of an unmanned capsule might seem relatively ho-hum in 2010.

But for private space exploration companies, the success of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster and launch and retrieval of the Dragon capsule last week could be just the spark the fledgling industry needs.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has put his money where his mouth is, and he's got a lot of it, having also founded PayPal and Tesla Motors.

He started SpaceX with $100 million of it in 2002, recognising the ability of privateers to deliver low-cost solutions for space agencies, claiming most of the savings would come from cutting bureaucratic expenses.

Eight years and $2.4 billion in NASA contracts later, Musk is doubling his workforce every year to keep up with the demand.

Obviously, it helps if you've got a couple of billion under your belt to play with, but any success of any private organisation is good news for the industry as a whole.


If SpaceX continues its run of successes, confidence in privateers grows. With that comes increased opportunities for other privateers as space agencies around the world recognise the benefits of contracting out almost every aspect of their space programs.
 
Confidence at SpaceX is growing, too. "This has really been better than I expected," Musk said after the retrieval. "It's actually almost too good."

Universe Today reports they're so pleased with Dragon's success that they're keen to skip several demonstration flights of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) vehicle and aim straight at the International Space Station. Their biggest NASA contract is a 12-mission one to carry supplies to the ISS as soon as the space shuttle program is wound up in April next year. NASA's reportedly a touch nervous about SpaceX's enthusiasm to get on with the job, but maybe they won't have a choice.

It's pure coincidence, but the irony of SpaceX's success at the same time the space shuttle Discovery was being pulled off the launch pad due to a string of failed attempts to fix cracks associated with its fuel tanks won't be lost on NASA and other government space agencies around the world watching on.

The success of SpaceX is exactly that - it's success. Musk's team continue to deliver while others fall by the wayside. The supply of contracts for the COTS program turned into something of a debacle, with several teams that won initial contracts - big contracts - losing them after failing to secure sufficient private backing.

In March, the other team left to share the COTS contract with SpaceX, Orbital, will launch its Cygnus spacecraft with the Taurus II rocket.

They might be the competition for anyone trying to crack the private space industry, but here's hoping they can replicate the achievements of Musk and Co. It's not like there's not enough space to go around out there.

Rover round-up - The $11.5m bean-bag wheels

What price a pair of lunar wheels? Try $US11.5m.

At least, that is if the rover has been ordered by the Canadian Space Agency and you been tasked to tackle the terrain of the Moon and Mars.

It's a hefty chunk of GLXP prizemoney, but this $US11.5m rover has no ordinary wheels, either.

McGill University mechanical engineering professor Peter Radziszewski and his team plan to base the wheels on a model they're calling the "i-ring".

It's a fabric wheel filled with particulate and it's caught the eye of the CSA for its ability to help rovers climb obstacles larger than their individual wheels.

It’s “like a (metal) bean-bag wheel,” Prof Radziszewski told the Star.

That also means it can travel at higher speeds than a rubber or pneumatic tyre, which bounce easily, or solid wheels, which can turn a rover over on impact.

The "bean-bag" wheels conform with shapes they come into contact with and have superior climbing ability, Prof Radziszewski said.

Read more about the Canadian Space Agency's Lunar Exploration Light Rover contracts here

WLS lander model revealed soon

MORE volunteers on board this week at White Label Space, with Marco van Duijn, a stress engineer with international aerospace experts AOES Group BV, offering to help build a full-size mock-up of our GLXP lander.

Marco's an excellent example of the quality of volunteers attracted to WLS's effort, without which none of what the team is trying to achieve would be possible.

The model of the WLS lander will be finished within a few weeks. Stay tuned for more details and pics as soon as they're available.

Welcome to WLS, Marco. How did you come to join the team?

I know Andrew Barton since he joined AOES. I know of this project due to a presentation he gave about the Google Lunar X-Prize.

Where are you based?
I am based in AOES headquarters in Noordwijk (south of Holland).

What kind of work have you been involved in recently?
I have been involved in projects like Pal-V (FE analysis of the rotor blade connection), Fuselage Design Optimization (non-linear FE analysis, FP7-project), LAPCAT 2 (structural layout FE analysis, FP7-project) and Proba-V (thermo-elastic analysis).

What role will you play in building the mock-up?
There is no real role; we have a short consultation meeting with Aad Eggers/Andrew Barton about what to be done and what should be done in a later stage. After that we act as a team to physically build the mock-up, like drilling holes and attach panel to the structure with bolts and nuts.

What interests you most about the project?
I like to help people in general and besides that, this real physical work is a nice and welcome variation to my daily work which mainly consists of building and analysing FE models with help of computers.

When will you start building/complete the mock-up?
I have already started to build the mock-up and to my latest understanding it should be finished at around mid-December 2010 due to a planned photo shoot of the mock-up.

Why is it being built?
It is being built to show its geometry and sizing; we are then able to see how things are arranged on the inside and outside of the lunar lander.

How do you hope to stay involved with WLS after it's completed?
I hope to stay in touch with many other people involved in this project!

On rovers and a space-faring future

A key element in White Label Space's bid for the GLXP lies in the strength of its global relationships.

Nathan Britton's journey to becoming system engineer for the WLS rover has taken him from the University of Hawaii to the International Space University in France.

Currently, he's in Japan as a research student at Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab.

In this interview with WLS-Japan CEO Takeshi Hakamada, Nathan talks about the challenges he faces in balancing the needs of the rover and his hopes for a future in which space habitation is not only possible, but essential.

"It's pretty clear that the way we live our lives today is unsustainable," he tells Takeshi.

"It's going to require a huge shift in how civilisation works in order to become a space-faring civilisation but I think it's pretty obvious that in order for us to meet our potential as a species we need to push out and start utilising resources from the solar system - starting with the Moon."

Watch the full interview below

Rover roundup - Chang'e 3 gets a launch pad

Latest news of lunar rover attempts outside of the Lunar X Prize

China has set its date to land a man on the Moon.

Well, several dates, depending on who you want to listen to.

It could be just 15 years away, according academic Ye Peijan from China Aerospace Science and Technology, but China expects it to happen by 2030 at the latest.

They're taking a slow, steady approach, which has so far been a successful one.

On November 8, CNSA announced its second orbiter Chang'e 2, successfully entered a 100km working orbit.

Chang'e 3 will launch in 2013 (Xinhua)

Now it's Chang'e 3's turn. Yesterday, the project's top boffin Ouyang Ziyuan announced the mission to put China's first rover on the Moon would launch from the Wenchang Launching Base in Southern China's Hainan Province.

Prof Ziyuan is a strong believer in the possibilities offered by the Moon's mineral supplies, particularly lunar helium-3, which he believes holds one of the keys to developing nuclear fusion power plants.

Chang'e 3 is the lunar-lander and rover that he hopes will dig for and return soil samples. The rover was finished last year and will be launched in 2013.

It can transmit video in real time and travel at 100m per hour, with the ability to climb hills and avoid obstacles.

According to China's Xinhua news agency, it will be launched from a Long March 3B vehicle and land in the Sinus Iridium (Bay of Rainbows).

Be part of the space race: Sponsor White Label Space!

If you really want to be part of the next space race then an easy, in-expensive and rewarding way is to sponsor White Label Space.

Space has long been the domain of government space agencies, funded by tax payers, yet now is the time for privately sponsored and funded ventures to go back to the moon, explore the solar system and reach for the stars. As an added bonus, sponsoring White Label Space is a donation and therefore Tax Deductible in many countries.

White Label Space recognises that we all have different budgets, so please slot yourself into one of these affordable options:

• Individual or Small Business
• Corporate or Mission Sponsors

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Lunar Numbat's TED debut

There are few better ways to spread the word about the achievements of the White Label Space team than through a TED event.

Last month, Australians were treated to TEDxCanberra - an ideas forum based on the original premise of the Technology Entertainment and Design events that began in the US in 1984.

Lunar Numbat team leader Marco Ostini was invited to speak at the inaugural event.

Scroll down to jump straight to the video of Marco's presentation

The Australian team is tasked with, among other things, developing the throttle control technology that will hopefully see the WLS Lunar Lander descend safely to the surface of the moon.

In typical TED style, speakers are given between three and 18 minutes. Marco used his to tell those gathered in the Australian capital "Why the world needs a Lunar Numbat".

(FYI - a numbat is an Australian marsupial that suffers from a lack of publicity in its home country. Marco's team have adopted it as a fitting mascot.)

In a nutshell, he squeezed in a wide range of issues, such as:

- Why space science is essential for ongoing human life and the maintenance

of life on Earth

- How space science has stagnated from where it should be, but latent

desires in many, such as those harnessed by the GLXP, can lead to a

reflowering of risk-taking and innovation

- White Label Space being the only team with significant Australian

presence and their development of one the most well thought out and credible

missions ready for actions

- How sponsoring the WLS Lunar mission would derive a lot more prestige

and marketing clout than the average Formula 1 race; and

- How Lunar Numbat hope to bring Open Source innovations to

space science by supporting WLS.

It's a great get for the Aussie team. The inaugural Canberra event sold out in 48 hours and Marco was invited to share his ideas alongside futurists, leading climate change experts, magicians and even the current Australian of the Year.

Check out the video of his speech in full below:

Peter Farquhar

Peter Farquhar is White Label Space's lead blogger.

A journalist with 12 years experience across newspapers, magazines and websites, his current role is Technology Editor of Australian website www.news.com.au.

Peter's first mission at News was the addition of a Sci-Tech section to ensure an increasing flow of space-related articles had a home.

"Even so, it's been hard to keep up in 2010," he said. "We've never pushed the boundaries of space exploration faster. Every day delivers an incredible new discovery."

Being able to work with the WLS team is as daunting as it is exciting for Peter.

"The breadth of experience the WLS team has pulled together from across the globe is an amazing achievement in itself," he said.

"There's a lot of stories to tell here. I'm looking forward to it."

Although he has followed the progress of the Lunar X PRIZE since its inception, Peter was particularly drawn to the strong Australian presence at WLS.

"We're lagging well behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to having any form of an official space agency, yet we've still got people determined to be at the top of the game," he said.

"Any opportunity to be show Australian kids they can still get involved in the race to space is worth pursuing."

Peter's favourite space celebrity of 2010 is ZombieSat, with a tip of the hat to US space plane, the X-37B.

You're welcome to contact him with news or feedback anytime at;
peter.farquhar_at_whitelabelspace.com.

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Announcing the Chief Blog-O-Naut

Last month White Label Space issued a call for a blog-o-naut, to lead our blogging efforts. A number of very good candidates responded and after much deliberation we finally selected Peter Farquhar for this role.

Peter is a journalist with 12 years experience across newspapers, magazines and websites, his current role is Technology Editor for the Australian website www.news.com.au. He will use his professional experience to help us tell our story to the world, as we look for sponsors to support our ambitious moon mission.

To support Peter, we are currently putting together a team of dedicated and talented individuals to work on specific publicity and promotion tasks including video production, social media and international translations.

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Redaction: Test Launch Successful

After our last post we have received numerous emails from various parties claiming that they neither own or intend to use spy satellites for the purposes of spying on White Label Space.

We accept this fully & would like to state that the last post was intended as a joke & it was not the intension that the absurd content of the post be taken seriously. The celestial bodies were aligned in such a way yesterday that they induced "Moon fever" in a certain not to be named member of our team leading to a temporary loss of sanity & the pressing of the big red publish post button.

We also would also like to apologise to any parties that spent much of the night trying to track & identify our satellite in it's supposed retrograde Lower Earth Orbit.

Presentation at Waseda Festival

In an event today at Waseda University in Tokyo, Takeshi Hakamada, the CEO of White Label Space Japan, addressed students and members of the public about the team's Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP) mission.

Below is a photo taken during the event, which was part of a Space 2.0 event that also included a talk by Japan's first space tourist, Noriaki Inami (the link points to his blog).


Takeshi Hakamada, together with other Japanese members of White Label Space, is operating a Japanese language blog that covers the team's activities for the Japanese audience.

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Greatest Space Ads - Blackberry Brings Space to the Public

"Bringing the Space Age to the public using space age technology" - that's the message that BlackBerry gives in this ad featuring Neil Milburn from Armadillo Aerospace.

This ad is a straight-up technology brand linkage. Note also the more female-friendly segment of the add showing how the smart phone can be used for more everyday (but equally important) things.



Thanks to the X PRIZE Foundation for spotting this ad which is a great example for GLXP teams.

Blog-O-Naut Wanted!

Did you ever notice that astronauts are fantastic public speakers? There is a reason for that. Their nearly unique role as envoy of humankind makes astronauts the ideal medium to tell the public about the valuable and exciting work being done by the engineers and scientists in their space agencies.

Are you passionate about space?

Do you want to see the inner workings of a well-established team competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE?

White Label Space is urgently seeking an enthusiastic individual to help us tell our story. Your core activities will be blogging and youtubing using raw content created within the team. We need to keep up a steady steam of output to keep the public engaged so you will also bring to bear your skills at twitter and facebook.

If you think you have the right stuff, send us an email: careers@whitelabelspace.com

We are accepting applications until the end of October. We are interested to see any similar things you've done in the past. This is a volunteer role but with chances to move into a paid position later. All ages, genders and experience levels are welcome.

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Whitelabelspace meetup in London - GLXP Summit debrief

Takeshi Hakamada Founder and Chief Executive Officer of White Label Space Japan, LLC met yesterday with Steven Allen Team lead of Whitelabelspace to discuss future collaboration. Amoungst topics discussed where the outcomes of the Google Lunar X PRIZE summit & new approaches to financing their global project. More news to follow after the full GLXP Summit debrief.

Message from the Team Leader

This message was written by Steve Allen, leader of the White Label Space GLXP Team, on the occasion of the 2010 GLXP Team Summit:

The Google Lunar X PRIZE was the primary catalyst for the formation of White Label Space but soon after the start it became apparent that this team was capable of far more than just one space competition project.

As the White Label Space team continues to grow globally, the GLXP mission has changed from a singular goal to a technology demonstrator for our team's capabilities, and today is a mere hint at where we plan to be in five years from now. Commercial space exploration is becoming a reality, no longer just the domain of state-sponsored space programs, and that's something that was unthinkable just five years ago.

GLXP will prove that a small dedicated team of talented passionate space enthusiasts can cheaply develop technology that will not only benefit the private space sector but also government space programs.

We owe it to future generations to commit to exploring the cosmos and setting up colonies on distant planets. It is a given that, at some point in the future, Earth will cease to support life as we know it and as Stephen Hawking so clearly points out, space exploration is the only hope left for the future survival of the human race.

The cost of sending exploratory missions to the nearest habitable planet are astronomical and that's why initiatives like the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition are so important for accelerating space technological innovation while driving down costs.

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a competition where in the end no one can lose. The winning team(s) will inspire a new generation of space farers and the other competitors will have knowledge/expertise that if managed correctly can be directly converted into profitable business. Space is not just the final frontier it's also the salvation of the human race.

Steve Allen was not able to attend the 2010 GLXP Team Summit but he sends his best wishes to all the competing teams and the X PRIZE Foundation.

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Takeshi Hakamada

Takeshi Hakamada is leader of the White Label Space GLXP team and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of White Label Space Japan, LLC.

He has dreamed of developing a commercial space industry since watching Star Wars in his childhood and later at University he became interested in the challenge of financial evaluation during the conceptual design phase.

He earned a Master of Science at Georgia Institute of Technology's Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), where he studied and researched the application of conceptual design methodologies to advanced aerospace systems. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Nagoya University.

Before joining White Label Space, he was a management consultant focusing on strategies and implementation of cost optimization for a variety of Japanese and international companies. He successfully led several projects for clients across many industries, assisting them to save costs.

He was also an organizer for the Yuri’s night Parties in Japan in 2008 and 2009.

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White Label Space Japan Office is GO!

Tokyo, 20'th September 2010 - the White Label Space Japan Office made its official launch at the Tokyo Culture Club.

Key members of the Japan Office were present including Professor Kazuya Yoshida (pictured below), Takeshi Hakamada and Taro Asazuma. Video messages from Peter Diamandis and Andrew Barton were also played.


Guests of the event were also invited to try their hand at remotely writing Japanese characters on a simulated lunar surface (see below), inspired by the lunar zen garden concept developed by White Label Space team artist, Ayako Ono.


Japanese speakers can watch the UStream Video of the event (fast-forward to about 17:30 for the start of the presentations).

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WLS Japan Office - Open For Business

The White Label Space team is proud to announce the establishment of our Japanese office.

Led by Takeshi Hakamada, the WLS Japan office will be responsible for coordinating the team's commercial and technical activities in Japan.

Japanese speakers can follow the progress of the new office via the Japanese language blog;
http://whitelabelspacejapanoffice.blogspot.com/

Leo de Bolster

Leo de Bolster is the propulsion engineer for the White Label Space team. He is a developer of rocket motors with over thirty years of hands-on experience in rocket motor engineering and testing.

He has developed a number of his own rocket designs based on non-toxic propellants including bipropellants, hybrids and solids. His developments are made in close cooperation with the Dutch Federation for Rocket Research (NERO) of which he has been a member since 1962.

After his technical school education, Leo worked for seven years in various diciplines in the aircraft industry. He then studied at the college for marine engineering in Rotterdam, after which he spent a period of six years sailing onboard various vessels. After retiring from his sailing career he founded MEROC Consultancy, a company specialized in mechanical engineering and rocket motor design, which he still owns and operates today.

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