Wanted: Marketing and Public Relations Volunteers for our Mission to the Moon

When you think of space you’re probably thinking of rocket scientists, astronauts with the right stuff, rovers roaming on Mars, or maybe just you’re thanking the weather and GPS satellites that give you important guidance on what to wear (will it be sunny or rainy tomorrow?) and how to navigate around town. Once it was the ‘sciences’ that had to get creative to launch the space race and make our lives easier, now the world of communications and media is getting creative to carry us to the next step: Thanks to the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP), space is a lot closer than you think.

Teams from all around the world are competing in the GLXP and White Label Space is making significant progress in building the right know-how and new and exciting equipment for our mission, like our own rover from our Japanese Team, and a moon lander, pioneered and currently undergoing testing by our design team in Europe.

WLS is now looking for bright marketing, public relations and creative sparks who see the potential of space and wish to participate. If you share the vision of WLS and can share it with potential sponsors and news outlets, then we want to hear from you.

For more information, contact our Commercial Manager: simon.drake@whitelabelspace.com

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White Label Space East Meets West

April 2001 - The Chairman of White Label Space, Dr Andrew Barton, visited Tokyo to participate in a number of events with the White Label Space Japan team members. The video embedded below shows footage from three particular events; a team strategy meeting, a social event at an Izakaya (traditional restaurant) and a visit to the supplier of the rover's mobility subsystem.

Opening Space Up to Small and Medium Sized Businesses

Many small parts make the whole, and assembling a mission to compete in the Google Lunar X PRIZE requires the combination of many high-tech parts, in-house developments (like the rover developed by White Label Space in Japan) and sponsorship.

White Label Space recognises that the foundations of nations’ economies rely not on large corporations, but on the millions of Small to Medium Enterprizes (SMEs).

If you want to associate your SME with a truly exceptional 21st century endeavour, then for as little as €100 (tax deductible in some countries), you can sponsor White Label Space, become part of our mission, and receive a Certificate documenting your contribution.

Naturally larger sponsor packages and exposure are available, yet for a small amount you can be part of something great - the next Space Race.

Take a look through our website to learn more about us and how we're assembling our Google Lunar X PRIZE mission - your sponsorship contribution to White Label Space will leverage awareness of your brand far higher than anything on earth.

Sponsorship via a Pay Pal donation can be made HERE.

Our Promotional Video:

A Presentation about Sponsoring White Label Space:

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WLS Team at Rio Tinto!

The Rio Tinto Mission was successful and a great experience to test WLS equipment and operations. Andrea and Carmen stayed in Rio Tinto between the 17 and 20 of April. Vasco stayed for 18 and 19. We had rain for the entire 19, and for the major part of the 20; the rain caused problems and delays to the simulation, and required us to cover the Lander mockup for most of the time. The guys from the Austrian Space Forum were really nice with us, and offered us equipment and support as soon as their busy schedule allowed them. During the 18, we had the chance to perform some tests using the Phileas rover with our camera onboard. Maarten came on 19: given the rain, we moved the Lander under a tent, and we filmed an interview with him. On the next day, even if Martin was working for Discovery Channel, he took some time to film our operations with the Dignity rover and the involvement of the WLS Lander during a simulated EVA.

Despite the problems caused by the broken glass of the camera, the resulting images from the tests offer a good idea of what the final result could be. We shoot various test pictures, and then we shoot a sequence with the camera at various distances from the Lander (1m, 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m, 30m and 40m). The Lander can be used as a landmark up to 40 meters: at this distance, even with the plastic cover, the metallic features of the Landers are still detectable with naked eye in the picture, and could be easily enhanced with image processing.

We shoot a 5 minute movie while moving the Phileas rover around. The rover was damaged during transportation to Rio Tinto, and so we were not able to move on its own wheels. Fortunately we had the permission to carry it around by pulling it with a tether.

On the April 20 we were allowed to use the Dignity rover to test a damage inspection scenario around the Lander. The dignity rover is similar, in size and dimension, to the White Label Space. So we performed damage inspection, exploration of the surrounding and sample manipulation. The operations were executed using the remote control in proximity of the rover. We also performed some remote manipulation from the Control Center using the rover camera: unfortunately the system was experiencing interferences and bandwidth problems, and so we were not able to perform safely remote movement.

The Lander was also used by the Austrian Space Forum for a damage inspection performed by the suited astronaut. The entire sequence was filmed by the media present.

The following video is from our test with the Lander and Dignity rover inspection, simulating the first minutes of operation of the rover after landing.

Video of Testing at Rio Tinto

This is a video by the Austrian Space Forum (OEWF) shows some testing activities at the Rio Tinto Mars Analog Testing earlier this week.

The video shows an astronaut in the Aouda.X mars spacesuit driving ESA's Eurobot rover. The White Label Space lander mock-up is also visible nearby at the end of the video.

White Label Space Japan fund raising for Disaster Relief

A message from White Label Space Japan

First, we would like to express our sincere sympathy to all those affected by the Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake, Tsunami and following disasters.

We have started collecting relief donations from 7th April 2011via “JustGiving”, UK’s first online fundraising service, for the affected people in Japan by the series of disaster. White Label Space Japan is the only team participating in the Google Lunar X PRIZE from Japan, which will award a total of $30 million in prize money to the first privately funded teams to land a robot on the surface of the Moon and operate specific missions.

As a representative of Japan, we are leveraging our GLXP network with 29 teams participating from around the globe and collecting relief donations not only from Japan, but also the whole world. We will donate all collected funds to CIVIC FORCE, a non-profit association that provides prompt and effective disaster relief to large scale natural disasters in Japan.

■ Term of donation:

from 7th April 2011 to 31st May 2011 (tentative)

■ Where you can donate:

"JustGiving"http://www.justgiving.com/WhiteLabelSpaceJapan

■ The organization where the donations go:

Public interest incorporated association in Japan "CIVIC FORCE"

※What is Google Lunar X PRIZE ?

A total of $30 million in prizes are available to the first privately funded teams to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon and have that robot travel 500 meters over the lunar surface and send images and data back to the Earth.

※What is White Label Space Japan LLC ?

The only team participating in GLXP from Japan, WLSJ is participating in the White Label Space team, founded in the Netherlands. WLSJ is in charge of development of the team's Lunar Rover and PR in Japan.

※About CIVIC FORCE

Civic Force provides prompt and effective disaster relief to large scale natural disasters in Japan. Currently it is transporting relief goods and experts by helicopter and trucks to the affected areas.

この度の東日本大震災において、亡くなられた皆様に深く哀悼の意を表します。被災された皆様へ心よりお見舞い申し上げるとともに、被災地の一日も早い復興をお祈り申し上げます。

民間企業による月面探査を競う総額3000万ドルの賞金レース「Google Lunar X PRIZE（グーグル・ルナー・エックス・プライズ）」に参加するホワイトレーベルスペース・ジャパンは、2011年4月8日（金）よりグローバルな募金活動を展開するファンドレイジング・サイト「JustGiving」を活用した「東日本大震災支援金」の募金活動を実施いたします。

ホワイトレーベルスペース・ジャパンは世界から29チームが参加するGoogle Lunar X PRIZEの日本代表チームとして、独自のネットワークを活用し、日本国内のみならず広く海外からの募金活動（通貨はユーロのみ）を行います。集められた募金は「東日本大震災支援金」として、被災地で支援を行う公益社団法人「CIVIC FORCE」に寄付いたします。集められた寄付金は「CIVIC FORCE」を通じて、被災地の皆様のために活用されます。

■ 実施期間

2011年4月8日（金）〜5月31日（火）（予定）

■ 募金サイト

「JustGiving」URL：http://www.justgiving.com/WhiteLabelSpaceJapan

■ 寄付先

公益社団法人「CIVIC FORCE」

以　上　

※Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP／グーグル・ルナー・エックス・プライズ)について

Googleがスポンサーとなり、X PRIZE財団によって運営される月面探査を競う総額3000万ドルの賞金レース。ミッションは、2015年12月31日までに月面に純民間開発の無人探査機を着陸させ、着陸地点から500m以上走行し、指定された高解像度の画像、動画、データを地球に送信すること

※合同会社ホワイトレーベルスペース・ジャパン（WLSJ）について

日本から唯一GLXPに参加するチーム。欧州宇宙機関（ESA）等で経験を積んだ若手たちがオランダで立ち上げたホワイトレーベルスペースと共同でGLXPのミッションに挑戦しており、主に月面探査を行うローバー開発と日本での広報活動を担当している。

※公益社団法人「CIVIC FORCE」について

被災者の視点を重視し企業・行政・地域とも連携。スピードと質の高い支援を提供している団体

Day one at Rio Tinto

Day one at the Austrian Space Forum Mars Analog mission. The White Label Space team had an early start with the unpacking and reassembling of the lander mock-up, and also with preparing the omnidirectional camera and setting up the software to process video and images collected. During the day we moved the Phileas rover around and took some pictures and videos near the lander - this time a "Mars" landing site.

Tomorrow we'll be trying to deal with some issues related to camera stability, image quality, Mission Control, Rover remote connection, and probably more...

Rio Tinto Mars Analog Event Rehearsal Wrap-Up

This week our friends at the Austrian Space Forum (OEWF) are holding a Mars Analog event at Rio Tinto in Spain, and there will be a substantial contribution by White Label Space.

Check out this blog post on the OEWF site summarising the results of the recent rehearsal for the event. Note the White Label Space lander mock-up, which got the chance to meet a Mars-bound astronaut.

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Rover Mobility Assembly Delivered

This photo of the White Label Space rover prototype's mobility assembly was taken earlier this week during a final delivery meeting at the supplier in Tokyo. The mobility assembly will now be integrated with the main body of the rover and testing of the rover protoype will start soon thereafter.

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Lightcurve Films

Lightcurve Films is White Label Space's partner for video production.

Lightcurve Films is a small film production company specialised in films about science and technology. The company has worked for institutes and agencies across Europe in the space sector (European Space Agency, Italian Space Agency, German Space Agency, French CNRS, European Planetology Network, Paris Observatory), medical sciences (VU Medical Centre Amsterdam, Dutch Thoracic Society) as well as for Discovery Channel Canada.

Lightcurve Fillms received its first television credit with the broadcasting of the documentary Spiral Galaxy, in 2009.

See also:

• Selection of videos by Lightcurve Films
• Collection of films related to planetary science

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Rio Tinto Dress Rehearsal - April 1-3, 2011 @ Innsbruck, Austria

Thursday 31-03-11

I arrived to the Austrian Space Forum on Thursday afternoon. The Spacesuit team gave me a warm welcome, and gave me an update about the preparation for Rio Tinto Dress Rehearsal. The Lander Mock-up and the rover were not here yet; they were expecting them to arrive the next day. There was a good and a bad new: the omnidirectional camera was here already, but unfortunately the glass tube was broken during its way from Canada to Innsbruck. The surface of the mirror had some scratches because of the glass pieces so it was polished. We needed to improvise using plastic sheet to replace the broken glass. Martin Seebacher was really helpful to have this solution ready by the end of the night. Glue and tape was used to fix the plastic sheet into the tube rings. We worked our best to minimize the visibility of glue lines or tape on the pictures taken after this implementation.

Friday 01-04-11

Some tests were done with the camera to fix the field of view of the lens. Pictures of the broken glass were sent to John Walker in order to ask for insurance. The Lander mock-up arrived during the morning and the first thing I noticed was that only one orange belt was around the gray container. The belt was damaged, what it means that there were some issues during the transportation.

I verified that all the pieces were inside the box, and took them to the roof to proceed with the Lander Mock-up assembly. The roof will be the simulated Moon/Mars field.

During the afternoon, we had a general meeting with all the teams involved in Rio Tinto Expedition. Gernot Groemer explained us the different experiments involved in the mission, and he gave us general announcements which are basically explained in the ‘Mission Manifest’ V1.2 (23Feb2011).

Spacesuit tests started during late afternoon, and I started to test our video application with the omnidirectional camera. The rover arrived, and it was necessary to figure out a way to mount the camera on the rover mast. With the help of Martin Seebacher, a simple rapid prototype holder was designed and printed late night.

Saturday 02-04-11

The camera holder was placed on top of the rover mast. This holder was made of two different plastic pieces, which ones we fix together with glue/gel. We will use the Philleas Rover to test the omnidirectional camera, but unfortunately the rover today presented different problems related with the wheels, and the electronics. People in charge of the rover worked the entire day trying to fix the problems, and at the end the rover was able to move straight, back and forth. A problem with the motor is still present, so hopefully this will be solve by tomorrow morning before the robotic tests.

The application to take pictures and video with the omnidirectional camera was ready, and a request about using a different OS or an extra laptop on board the rover was made.

Today, the spacesuit test included a simulation where the astronaut took a ‘contamination sample’ from the Lander. Two complete simulations were done during the day, improving all the logistic process for the second time. Good lessons learned from today, and for sure this will help to have a successful mission in Rio Tinto.

Sunday 03-04-11

The camera was finally mounted on the rover mast. The camera will be powered by USB, using an extension if necessary. We will wait until the end of the day to see if the problems with the rover’s motor are solved.

The EVA today includes our Lander. Three small pieces of paper with numbers were placed - without using any tape just the paper - in different parts of the Lander. The suit tester will need to search for the papers while simulating an inspection of the Lander for possible damages.

Marco Ostini Talks about Lunar Numbat Throttle Controller

In this video interview Marco Ostini gives some insight into why Lunar Numbat chose to partner with Google Lunar X PRIZE team White Label Space.

He also gives details and on the great work that his team are doing with the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) that also benefits White Label Space's Google Lunar X PRIZE mission.

Video Producer Needed - Students Welcome

Are you thinking of a leadership career in the film and media industry?

White Label Space is looking for a volunteer to coordinate the production and editing of video material in support of our Google Lunar X PRIZE efforts. Our team is increasing its output of video content and urgently needs a motivated individual to help maintain a steady flow of video for distribution over the web.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Liaise with team members to obtain raw video input in a timely manner
  
• Direct the editing team, dividing up workload according to resources and availability
• Manage and maintain information system for storing video data at all stages of editing
• Publish the finished video products on the web
• Monitor the audience engagement and follow-up on audience responses
  

We are looking for somebody with a proven track record in coordinating the efforts of volunteer groups.

This role would suit a media or film student, but applications are welcome from people from all backgrounds and ages.

Please send application letter with CV to: careers@whitelabelspace.com

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Lander Mock-Up Disassembly Instructions

This video shows the process for disassembling the lander mock-up and stowing it in the transport container. Thanks Aad and Marco!

Video of Mock-Up Final Assembly

Aad Eggers and Marco van Duijn have been doing some great work on getting the lander mock-up ready for Rio Tinto. This video is a quick look at what they've accomplished.

Lander Mock-Up En Route to Austria

Below are some photos of the shipping container for our lander mock-up, which is now on it's way to the Austrian Space Forum (OEWF) home base in Innsbruck. After some testing, it will then be transported to Rio Tinto (Spain) to support the field trials (see this earlier blog post).

Dr Andrew Barton to Present at University of Queensland

Dr Andrew Barton, chairman of White Label Space will speak at the University of Queensland next Wednesday on the challenges provided by the Google Lunar X PRIZE, and how his team with help from their partners will meet and overcome them, ushering in a new era of space innovation.

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: University of Queensand, Hawken building (Num 50), Room T105, Brisbane, Australia

For more information, contact events@whitelabelspace.com.

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All Team Members Reported Safe After Sendai Earthquake

After the devastating earthquake in the Sendai area, we are relieved to report that all White Label Space team members in Japan have been contacted and are safe. Below is a message written by John Walker, who was in Sendai at the Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab when the quake struck. He describes his experiences of the disaster.

Our hearts go out to the tens of thousands of people who were more severely affected by this powerful and tragic natural disaster.

Message from John Walker;

Tohoku University Students and Staff at an Evacuation Zone

We are OK in Sendai, as is everyone I know here. Nathan and I were in the lab during the earthquake and Prof Yoshida was abroad.

They are already starting to restore power and water to the city of Sendai.

The earthquake itself was pretty scary but afterwards everything is very well organized; we waited outside after the earthquake and eventually were allowed to grab our stuff from the lab. We left quickly after an aftershock and possible gas leak. At my dorm we are staying together in a group.

Where I am located in the city I don't have running water or power but we are safe with lots of food and water.

Although the shaking was quite violent, there are no buildings in the city itself that collapsed and flooding was confined to the subway system as far as I know. We knew it was serious right away as it was the first time we heard the early warning detection alarm (3 seconds before) and it was impossible to stay standing.

It was much worse to the West where the ground is different and to the East where tsunamis hit. We weren't aware of how serious things were until we heard news reports.

In the city yesterday, restaurants were giving free food and people were in good spirits, although you can see smoke from fires near the coast and there are smaller fires reported in the city.

Local groups are also making rice and soup for people. Basically the same food we've been eating in our cafeteria, but it is served hot!

Convenience stores were open yesterday, where people patiently lined up in the dark to buy a couple of day's worth of food each. I got food there, and was also given food by the school, as well as flashlights and batteries. Today, as new convenience stores open, people are lined up outside.

Amazingly, a handful of stores and even two bars were by open the main station yesterday afternoon.

There are buildings designated as refuges where people in tall and evacuated buildings can stay.

The international news images are not from Sendai city, they are from surrounding areas. The aftershocks were quite large and frequent until yesterday morning but have subsided now.

The nuclear reactors are not posing a serious risk according to local media, and despite the recent explosion widespread fallout is not a risk for this type of plant and failure. The current evacuation radius is 30km. The total radiation output is 0.5mSv per hour and under control. Normal human absorption from background radiation is 3.5mSv per year. Even the worst-case-scenario is not a risk for short term exposure.

We are not sure when we can go back to the lab. Many experiments were damaged but our rover was OK when we left it.

Our plans to send a camera/mirror system to Europe for testing are snagged but we think we can still put together a similar system using parts we have.

It's possible to find power and Internet. Many business owners are helping people charge phones and laptops. I should be able to update occasionally directly and via friends (email is sporadically working on my phone).

I want to stress that we are OK and in a relatively safe place. As a precaution, Nathan may travel to Yamagata, and I may travel to Tokyo to stay with our friends.

Nathan and I are currently standing in line to for lunch and were able to pre-order dinner. We are going to investigate the possibility of bus travel today, and see if it is possible to retrieve the rover.

John Walker

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Luke Weston LCA2011 Talk Online

As we posted earlier, Luke Weston from our open source partner Lunar Numbat recently gave a talk at lac2011 (the Linux of Australasia).

You can now watch his complete talk online at this link.

During his talk Luke gave an update on some of Lunar Numbat's ongoing developments, and in particular, his latest progress on the throttle control avionics and radar altimeter.

Lunar Numbat is currently developing hardware for AUSROC 2.5, a sounding rocket of the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI). After demonstrating the designs on the rocket, space-qualified versions will be developed for use on the White Label Space lunar lander.

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Rover Prototype Body Complete

John Walker just sent this photo of the completed body assembly of the WLS Rover prototype.

John expects the rover prototype to be driving around and taking photos by early April. The prototype is a full-scale and full-functionality model of the GLXP rover, and will be used for intergrated testing with the WLS lander mock-up.