Rover Prototype Design

A new student has joined the White Label Space team at the Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab in Japan. Jérémie Gaboriaud will be in charge of the CAD design of a prototype of the rover to be used in our mission for the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP).

The starting point for Jérémie's work will be the design configuration used for the recently completed project by Xavier Laurand on the rover's thermal design and analysis. From this starting point Jérémie will construct additional CAD models to examine different design options for the rover's various subsystems and equipment.

The rover prototype will initially be developed solely for operation on Earth. Its HD camera system, star tracker, and solar panels will provide new research opportunities for the Space Robotics Lab. Once the new test-bed is implemented, each subsystem will be assessed for space-flight readiness and suitability for operation in a lunar environment

Jérémie Gaboriaud is a French student currently studying mechanical engineering as part of a degree through apprenticeship at ICAM (Institut Catholique des Arts et Metiers) in Toulouse, France. His course requires him to undertake a half year internship in a foreign university and for this he chose to work at Tohoku Univeristy under the supervision of professor Kazuya Yoshida on the GLXP project.

Space Rover: Move Me With Your Touch

Andrea Gini and the Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab are pioneering the use of touchscreen technology for planetary exploration. This video of the Kaizen telerobotic control software shows the touchscreen interface in action, commanding the El Dorado II moon rover prototype on a trip through the lab.

We are already planning a smart phone version of the Kaizen software to give ordinary people the chance to take a turn driving our rover on the moon during our Google Lunar X PRIZE mission!



Credit to Kristhian Mason for the fantastic video editing work.

Andrea Gini developed the Kaizen software at Tohoku University as part of his  Masters of Science in Space Studies at the International Space University. Andrea is an Information Technology professional, with extensive experience in software design and education, working as a professional consultant and as a teacher in training and certification courses. He already has masters degrees in computer science and scientific journalism. This project was conducted at Tohoku University, the key partner developing the rover for our White Label Space mission in the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

Kaizen is a Japanese word composed of the words KAI (change) and ZEN (better). It refers to a philosophy of constant and never ending improvement in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes and management.

***

NASA Surveyor Programme – 1966-68 – Laying the Foundations for Apollo

In the 1960s America's NASA undertook the Surveyor programme, a series of robotic missions to land on the Moon for the purposes of science and technology development to support the Apollo program. The very first mission of the programme, Surveyor 1, successfully achieved a soft landing in an equatorial mare region of the Moon (Oceanus Procellarum). That was the very first American propulsive Lander on another planetary body and came just three years before the first human landing. In total six of the seven Surveyor missions successfully achieved soft-landings, which gave the United States a very solid technological basis for later propulsive landing missions to the Moon, Mars and Venus.

Surveyor 3 Spacecraft, Credit NASA

A large part of the success of the Surveyor programme can be attributed to the selection of a simple and reliable mission architecture that had a pragmatic and incremental approach to solving the most critical engineering challenges of the time, namely the closed-loop terminal descent guidance and control system, throttleable engines, and the radar systems required for determining the Lander’s altitude and velocity. The Surveyor missions were the first time that NASA tested such systems in the challenging thermal and radiation environment near the Moon.

Key features of the missions were the choice of wide flat landing areas, a two-stage design (the first stage using a solid motor for braking), and the use of a 'direct-descent' trajectory that did not enter Moon orbit before landing. The main advantages of this approach were the relatively simple design of the engines for the landing stage, and the fact that a complex precision landing system was not needed. In the years following Surveyor, NASA developed more advanced landing technologies building upon Surveyor's critical systems and components, as well as the lessons learned during the programme.

Embedded below is a detailed PhotoSynth of the Surveyor spacecraft at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., created by one of the White Label Space team members in 2008.

Lunar Numbat Leader Marco Ostini TEDx Talk

Marco Ostini will talk at TEDx on the 23rd of October in Canberra, Australia.

His talk titled "Seeking answers from spacebound marsupials" will explain how our partner Lunar Numbat is contributing to our brandless White Label Space mission, and why space science is good in general.

The abstract for his talk:

"As Project Leader and founder of Lunar Numbat, Marco Ostini is working to combine the vitality and innovation of Open Source technologies with Space Science; essential for the survival of humanity, yet floundering, generally misunderstood and inaccessible to most people. 

Lunar Numbat is a team of Australian and New Zealander volunteers using Open Source technologies and their skill to build mission-critical parts. These parts are needed to help their partner White Label Space win the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP); an international private competition to safely land a rover on the moon, travel more than 500 meters and transmit back high definition video and images.

Why go to the moon? It’s our companion world, our off shore island. Invariably when you learn about the moon, you learn about the Earth. In more ways than may seem self evident, they’re linked.
Along the way Lunar Numbat is helping the Australian Space Research Institute with AUSROC 2.5, and cooperating with others, all to further the goal of lowering the barrier to entry that surrounds Space Science, and expand the horizons of all people.

Space Science contains the answers to the questions we don’t yet realise we should be asking."

***

WLS Team Members Feature in Asia Times Article

The Asia Times interviewed two White Label Space team members, Andrew Barton and Kazuya Yoshida, for this article about how the recent plans for the joint Indian/Russian moon landing mission might impact the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP).

The image above is an extract, download the full article here: Part 1, Part 2.

***

Aad Eggers

Aad Eggers is the Secretary of the White Label Space Foundation.

Aad is an all-round engineer with extensive experience in the design/development of test facilities and test methodologies, and in the Assembly Integration and Testing (AIT) of complex spacecraft systems, subsystems and units.

In 1971 he graduated from the aeronautical engineering department of the Technische Hoge School in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Since then he has worked at a number of Dutch aerospace companies in roles encompassing many technical disciplines including mechanical, thermal and optical.

Highlights of his career have included developing the test equipment and breadboards for the European Robotic Arm (ERA), which is due to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012 and development work on the Spacelab Airlock, a design that later flew successfully on 16 Space Shuttle missions.

***

Henri Kok

Henri Kok is the treasurer of the White Label Space Foundation.

Henri is the founding director of Euro Financieel AdviesCentrum, a Dutch company specialized in financial planning, mortgages, insurance, financing, pensions, (bank) savings, investments and tax advice.

He holds a Masters of Financial planning from Erasmus University and a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering for TU Delft. Henri worked as a designer at Fokker Aircraft Industries from 1986 until 1996 when he started his career as a financial advisor.

***

Greatest (Inner) Space Ads - Rolex 50 Years of Underwater Heritage

Rolex released this video to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the deepest undersea voyage to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The 1960 deep sea mission by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard included a specially designed Rolex watch called the "Deep Sea Special" strapped to the outside of the vessel. The depth reached during the mission was 10,915 meters (35,810 ft). At that depth the watch was subjected to over a thousand times atmospheric pressure.

But the dive was far from just a simple advertising stunt. Rolex engineers spent about ten years and suffered many setbacks to develop a watch design that could function at that extraordinary depth. The trials of the Deep Sea Special were also a central feature in Rolex's advertising campaigns for its Rolex Submariner product line (watches which incidentally have appeared in eleven James Bond movies!).



It's probably fair to say that that those efforts were a key building block of Rolex's elite brand image that has lasted till today... but what's next Rolex? Fancy taking a watch on a mission to the moon?

More details about the Deep Sea Special HERE.

***

New Partner Airborne Composites to Provide Advanced Composites for GLXP Mission

PRESS RELEASE  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   

Airborne Composites to Partner with

White Label Space Team in $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE

 

Noordwijk – The Netherlands, 1 July 2010, today White Label Space announces its latest Partner, Airborne Composites B.V. 

Airborne is a developer of advanced composite products and technologies for space and other industries, and will provide lightweight high performance composite structures for White Label Space's no-name robotic mission to land on the moon.

White Label Space is one of twenty one teams around the world competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a competition for privately-funded teams to send a robotic mission to surface of the Moon and transmit a data package including photos and HD videos back to Earth.
 
With competences covering the full range of composite manufacturing techniques, as well as in-house engineering for product design and development, Airborne is an ideal partner for the White Label Space moon landing mission.
 

Image: Satellite CFEsat with 4 deployable panels built by Airborne, operational in orbit since March 2007

Minimizing the weight of space mission hardware is extremely important for mission success and this is especially true for Moon landing missions which require a very large change in velocity, or 'delta-V'. Advanced composite materials are an efficient and cost-effective way to make lightweight structures.
 
Sandor Woldendorp, Business Manager Space at Airborne, commented on the partnership: “Joining the White label Space team gives Airborne the opportunity to show our competences in design and build of composite structures for space applications. The Google Lunar X PRIZE offers a great challenge in terms of applying our space-proven composite technologies to fly on this moon exploration mission with White Label Space.”

Airborne is the ninth Partner to join the White Label Space team. The eight existing Partners include non-profit groups, private companies and universities. All the Partners bring unique and valuable capabilities to the White Label Space team.
 
About Airborne
Airborne Composites B.V. has business units in the Netherlands and Spain, where it develops and produces advanced composite products for a variety of markets including space, aeronautics, antennas, tubulars and machine components. Airborne operates state-of-the-art engineering and production facilities and has competences covering the full range of composites engineering development including technology research, product design, process engineering, qualification, maintenance and composite repair. The company turns innovative know-how into industrialized production, through integrated Design and Build programs and is dedicated to quality, customer satisfaction and cost-efficiency. In the rapidly evolving world of composites, Airborne is committed to developing new game-changing technologies, in materials, automated manufacturing processes and product design. [http://www.airborneinternational.com/]

About White Label Space
White Label Space joined the Google Lunar X PRIZE in May 2009 and is comprised of people from many nationalities, including England, Netherlands, Australia, United States, France, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Norway and Portugal. The team’s name originates from the concept of a “White Label” product which is a generic brand, developed by one company and then sold to another brand. White Label Space sees the Google Lunar X PRIZE as the beginning of the next wave of space exploration where the common person can become a contributor and not just a spectator. [www.whitelabelspace.com] 

About the Google Lunar X PRIZE
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an international competition organized by the X PRIZE Foundation, which previously ran the Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital space vehicles. The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls for privately-funded teams to compete in successfully launching, landing, and then traveling across the surface of the moon while sending back to Earth specified photo and other data. The PRIZE will award US$20 million to the first team to land a robot on the moon that successfully travels more than 500 meters and transmits back high definition images and video. There is a $5 million second prize, as well as $5 million in bonus prizes for challenges such as traveling long distances, photographing man-made objects on the Moon, detecting water ice or surviving a lunar night. The $20 million first-place prize is available until December 31, 2013, and then it drops in value to $15 million until December 31, 2014. [www.googlelunarxprize.org]

###

Rover Thermal Analysis

Xavier Laurand, a Masters student at Cranfield University, is undertaking a Masters thesis project on the thermal design and analysis of the White Label Space moon rover under development for our mission in the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP).

One of the major challenges on the moon is to deal with the wide range of surface temperatures that results from its lack of an atmosphere and its slow rotational speed. The extremely high infrared flux from the moon can be attributed the moon's surface properties, namely the low albedo, high absorbtivity and emissivity. Consequently the lunar regolith absorbs most of the sun's energy and reaches very high temperatures during the day. At night it emits a lot and cannot maintain its temperature for a long time. During cold periods, sufficient electric power is needed to maintain the electronics at a temperature high enough to survive. During high temperature periods, the radiators on the rover must be capable of rejecting enough heat to keep all electronic equipment within its functional limits. Even if the baseline mission requires operation only during the lunar day, the temperature range is extreme.

Xavier is using thermal analysis software based on the lumped parameter method to analyse the performance of the rover under its expected operating conditions. The picture below shows some of Xavier's analysis results for a non-flat terrain with high surface temperatures. His thermal analyses take into account both radiative and conductive effects.

An important thermal challenge of lunar surface missions is dealing with dust from the lunar regolith. Dust deposits can occur on the surfaces of the rover due to the landing, the natural deposition, meteorite impacts and roving. Since the thermal control subsystem can be impacted by these dust deposits (particularly on the radiator surfaces), Xavier is analysing their impacts and investigating design mitigation techniques.

Xavier is undertaking the MSc course in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University. His project is being conducted in partnership with Tohoku University Space Robotics Lab, the lead partner for the team’s rover development. The lead thermal designer in White Label Space core engineering team, Martin Lemmen, is providing additional technical guidance for Xavier’s project.

Greatest Space Ads - Chevrolet Builds a Rocket Like in the Apollo Era

Chevolet has released this simple but effective ad linking their new 2011 Chevrolet Corvette with the heyday of American rocket science around the Apollo program.

The ad's slogan, "It's nice to know that America still builds rockets" is a clear reference to the current political debate about NASA's role in building the next generation of rockets (the types of rocket that fly into space that is). Timed to coincide with the signing of NASA's Reauthorization Bill, this ad is almost certainly attempting to go viral by bootstrapping on the publicity associated with this important point in NASA's history.

Three New Members for GLXP Rover Work at Tohoku University

Three new students have just started projects at Tohoku University to assist with the development of the moon rover for our mission to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP). Welcome all of you to the team!

Andrea Gini - is an Information Technology professional, with extensive experience in software design and education, working as a professional consultant and as a teacher in training and certification courses. He has a master's degree in computer science, a master in scientific journalism and is currently attending the Masters of Science in Space Studies at the International Space University in France. Andrea's project will be to develop software to monitor and tele-operate the rover.


Roxanne Cote-Bigras - is a candidate for the B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering with focus on robotics and artificial intelligence at Sherbrooke University, Canada. She is now conducting research on the GLXP rover vision and positioning system. Her previous experiences include domestic robot design and implementation, as well as software development. Her fields of interest are autonomous life-support systems, guidance and navigation of mobile robotic platforms and artificial intelligence applied to human-robot interactions. She is also an active and devoted IEEE member in her local chapter.

David Jacquot-Letellier - is an undergraduate student currently studying Telecommunication Engineering, with a focus on Multimedia Technologies - involving Image and Sound Processing and Computer Science. During the course of his studies, he worked on various Signal Processing and Programming projects and was a member of his university's Robotics Association. He will soon be assigned to one of the ongoing projects within the laboratory related to planetary rover missions.

***

New GNC Developments

White Label Space's new Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) engineer, Dhanushka Chamara Liyanage, has kicked off an ambitious development of a GNC test vehicle. The vehicle (pictured right) is a quad rotor aircraft that will be used as a test bench for investigating some of the fundamental aspects of the decent and landing phase of our misson to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP).

The vehicle has a GNC sensor package including a 6 dof IMU containing 3 axis accelerometers, 3 axis gyros, two pressure sensors, 3 axis magnetometers, 3 axis temperature sensors and a built in GPS unit. The sensor package will provide raw data about all accelerations, rate outputs and position and Dhanushka will couple the sensor data stream with Simulink to refine the design of the control system.

Dhanushka has Bachelor of Science Honors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is currently working as an industrial engineer in Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

Congratulations SpaceX - You Are an Inspiration!

June 4th, 2010 - SpaceX has successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket into low Earth orbit on the very first mission. The launch was broadcast live on the internet for all the world to see. The image below was snapped off the video published on the internet and shows the ignition of the rocket's second stage (click on image to watch video).

A brief timeline for the key events off the Falcon 9 development is shown below the image. Amazingly the complete development of the vehicle from the first public announcement to the first orbital insertion took less than 5 years - a pretty a darn impressive feat!

• May 5, 2004 - Elon Musk testifies to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation stating that "Long term plans call for development of a heavy lift product..."
• September 8, 2005 - SpaceX formally announces the Falcon 9 describing it as being a "fully reusable heavy lift launch vehicle"
• April 12, 2007 - SpaceX announces it had completed the primary structure for its first Falcon 9 first-stage tank
• October 17, 2007 – SpaceX announces successful completion of the Critical Design Review for the first Falcon 9 / Dragon mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration program
• July 31, 2008 - First successful multi-engine firing test of Falcon 9 first stage
• January 2, 2010 - Successful full duration orbit insertion firing of the Falcon 9 second stage
• March 9, 2010 - First static firing test of the first stage on the launch pad
• June 1, 2010 - Successful completion of testing of the Flight Termination System
• June 4, 2010 - Falcon 9 successfully launched on the second attempt of the day

Greatest Space Ads - Coke and Mentos Rocket Propulsion

Coke and Mentos have teamed up to produce this video showing a bunch of rocket scientists using their respective products as propellants for a human-carrying vehicle. Although the specific impulse is not as high as other more common rocket propellants this approach certainly gives impressive visuals! There is also a nice shot of the scientists looking up at the Moon at the end of the video.

Marketers are increasingly looking to these kinds of viral video ads as a cheap alternative to traditional media. Video sharing sites like YouTube make it possible to reach a very large audience at no cost beyond the production of the video itself.

At White Label Space we have also been looking at how we can use the new media approaches to fund our activities for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. We aim to provide our sponsors with unique advertising opportunities that convey fresh and exciting messages at a competitive price.

Jean-Paul Godon

Jean-Paul Godon is an advisor to White Label Space. He is an international business development consultant specialized in advanced technologies.

For several years he was in charge of international development for several major French aerospace companies including SNECMA and EADS, and also has extensive experience developing business in other highly technical fields across the European Union, the USA, the Middle East, Asia and Russia. He was one of the founders of the European Hydrogen Association (EHA) as well as the French Hydrogen Association (AFH2).

He obtained a degree in business administration at the French business school ESCP-EAP and later he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study international relations at Johns Hopkins University, Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

***

Kirby Ikin

Kirby Ikin is an advisor to White Label Space.

Kirby is Chairman of the National Space Society and Managing Director of Asia Pacific Aerospace Consultants (APAC), which offers consulting services to the commercial space industry including market analysis, industry analysis, risk management and insurance advice.

Prior to his role with APAC he worked in the space insurance, risk management, and commercial space fields for over fifteen years. His career included over ten years as a space insurance underwriter and Managing Director of GIO Space, as will as being the Director of Commercial Operations at the Asia-Pacific Space Centre (APSC) with the aim to introduce the Russian Aurora launch vehicle to the commercial launch market. He was directly responsible for managing the insurance requirements for both APSC and its launch customers.

***

PCB Design for Engine Throttle Controller

Lunar Numbat is now getting close to construction of the first full working prototype of the throttle valve assembly that we will use on our lunar lander engine. The valve assembly will include a digital control system, a custom design by the Lunar Numbat team..

Remember, you can follow the details of their technical progress online because Lunar Numbat is an open source effort!

This PCB design was recently created by Luke Weston and the team is now preparing to build it in hardware. It contains a microcontroller that drives the electric motor as well as an interface for the CAN bus that forms the backbone of the vehicle's avionics.

Other components of the valve assembly include;

• motors: MCG ID23900 brush motors.
• servo drive board: Rutex R2020.
• position encoder: E5S-50-250-IEG from US Digital
• ball valve: Apollo 86R-204-01-14

***

Martin Lemmen

Martin Lemmen is the lead thermal design engineer of the White Label Space team, responsible for the conceptual and preliminary design decisions as well and overseeing the detailed thermal analyses conducted by other members of the team.

Martin is a thermo-mechanical engineering specialist with over twenty years experience in the Dutch space industry. During his career he has worked on numerous advanced space projects including items such as mirrors, optics boxes, future launchers, the Ariane V launcher and thermal protection systems for re-entry vehicles.

Martin holds a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Delft University of Technology and is author or co-author of six technical papers and one European patent application. He also acts as mentor for thermal engineering aspects of student design synthesis projects the Technical University of Delft.

***

Engine Throttle Valve Activated on Lab Bench

Luke Weston from our open source partner Lunar Numbat has made this video showing progress on the engine throttle valve. The ball valve's position can now be set via software commands sent to the servo drive board.

The valve's first flight test will be on the AUSROC 2.5 rocket in preparation for use on our GLXP lander.