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Physics and astronomy thread (1 Viewer)

private company going to the Moon to "exploit" its resources. among other things.

even still... pretty jazzed about this. tied into Google's lunar-x prize. I was just talking about my Space 1999 lunchbox- really hope we get to see a colony on the moon before too long.

 from Space.com

For the first time ever, a private company has permission to land on the moon.

The U.S. government has officially approved the planned 2017 robotic lunar landing of Florida-based Moon Express, which aims to fly commercial missions to Earth's nearest neighbor and help exploit its resources, company representatives announced today (Aug. 3).

"This is not only a milestone, but really a threshold for the entire commercial space industry," Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards told Space.com. [Images: Moon Express' Private Lunar Lander]

Previously, companies had been able to operate only on or around Earth. The new approval, while exclusive to Moon Express, could therefore serve as an important regulatory guide for deep-space commercial activity in general, Richards said.
"Nobody's had a deep-sea voyage yet. We're still charting those waters," he said. "Somebody had to be first."

Moon Express submitted an application to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on April 8. The document then made its way through the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission, Richards said.

The interagency approval process "took some time, not because anybody was against or averse to this," he said. "It's just that we asked questions that had never been asked before, and that had to be addressed and worked out."

Moon Express can now focus exclusively on the financial and technical challenges of the 2017 moon mission, which will begin with the launch of the company's MX-1 lander atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster. (Moon Express signed a multilaunch deal with Rocket Lab last year.) 

The main goal of the maiden launch is to test out the MX-1's performance and capability on the lunar surface. Moon Express representatives also hope to win the Google Lunar X-Prize, a $30 million competition to land a privately funded robotic vehicle on the moon by the end of 2017.

The first team to pull off this landing — and get the vehicle to move at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface, and beam high-definition video and photos back to Earth — will win the $20 million grand prize. (The second team to achieve all of this gets $5 million, and another $5 million is available for meeting other milestones. At the moment, 16 teams remain in the running.)

"We're still shooting for the end of 2017," Richards said of the maiden MX-1 moon mission. "A lot has to go right, but at least we have a shot at our moon shot, given this regulatory approval."

If all goes according to plan, future Moon Express missions will help assess, extract and exploit lunar resources such as water ice, helping to launch a new era in space exploration, company representatives have said.

"Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children," Moon Express co-founder and Chairman Naveen Jain said in a statement today. "In the immediate future, we envision bringing precious resources, metals and moon rocks back to Earth. In 15 years, the moon will be an important part of Earth’s economy, and potentially our second home."
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This may be a :Honda: but I found the Osisis-Rex mission interesting

The mission, developed by the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, is planned for launch in September 2016.[2] The science team includes members from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy.[11]

After traveling for approximately two years, the spacecraft is to rendezvous with asteroid 101955 Bennu in 2018 and begin 505 days of surface mapping at a distance of approximately 5 km (3.1 mi).[1] Results of that mapping will be used by the mission team to select the site from which to take a sample of the asteroid's surface. Then a close approach (without landing) will be attempted to allow extension of a robotic arm to gather the sample.[12]

An asteroid was chosen as the target of study because an asteroid is a 'time capsule' from the birth of our Solar System. In particular, 101955 Bennu was selected because of the availability of pristine carbonaceous material, a key element in organic molecules necessary for life as well as representative of matter from before the formation of Earth. Organic molecules, such as amino acids, have previously been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating that some ingredients necessary for life can be naturally synthesized in outer space.[1]

Following collection (from 60 grams to 2 kilograms, or 2.1 oz to 4.4 lb) in September 2019, the sample will be returned to Earth in a capsule similar to that which returned the samples of comet 81P/Wild on the Stardust spacecraft. The return trip to Earth will be shorter, allowing the sample to return and land at the Utah Test and Training Range in September 2023. The capsule will then be transported to the Johnson Space Center for processing in a dedicated research facility.[1]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OSIRIS-REx_mural.png



 
Osiris, the Egyptian underworld lord of the dead




The acronym OSIRIS was chosen in reference to the ancient Egyptian mythological god Osiris, the underworld lord of the dead. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs and wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side. Rex means 'king' in Latin.[13] His name was chosen for this mission as asteroid Bennu is a threatening Earth impactor capable of causing vast destruction and death
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Wiki

Home page

Nasa's mission page

Bonus video

 
The Perseid meteor shower is set to peak later this week Aug 11-12.  An outburst effect is forecast for this year meaning that instead of glancing the edge of the Swift-Tuttle comet's debris trail a gravitational assist from Jupiter will pull the debris in such a way that we should pass more through the middle of the particle stream.  

 
For the first time ever, a private company has permission to land on the moon.

The U.S. government has officially approved the planned 2017 robotic lunar landing of Florida-based Moon Express, which aims to fly commercial missions to Earth's nearest neighbor and help exploit its resources, company representatives announced today (Aug. 3).
Click to expand...
So you have to ask US Government permission to land on the moon?  I could see permission to take off out of US airspace, but to land?  How does the US government have any authority over that?

 
Jayrod said:
So you have to ask US Government permission to land on the moon?  I could see permission to take off out of US airspace, but to land?  How does the US government have any authority over that?
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I would imagine that permission to launch from US airspace is probably contingent on approval of the mission as a whole.

 
El Floppo said:
I didn't remember a robot on venus... very cool link.
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Has a spacecraft ever landed on Venus?


Yes, several landers from the former Soviet Union have landed on Venus. They were only able to send us information for a short time because the extremely high temperature and pressure on the surface of Venus melted and crushed the landers. On December 15, 1970 an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, Venera 7, became the first spacecraft to land on another planet. It measured the temperature of the atmosphere on Venus. In 1972, Venera 8 gathered atmospheric and surface data for 50 minutes after landing. On Oct. 22, 1975, Venera 9 landed on the surface of Venus. It took the first close-up photograph of the planet's surface. Three days later Venera 10 landed on Venus. Venera 10 took photographs of its surface and studied its rocks. In December 1978, Venera 11 and Venera 12 landed on Venus and sent back more data on the atmosphere of Venus. Venera 12 sent back data for 110 minutes (the longest of any Venera lander) before the effects of heat and pressure ended its mission. In March 1982 two more Soviet spacecraft landed on Venus - Venera 13 and Venera 14. They sent back images and studied soil.
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The Man With No Name said:
Right now it would take us more than 10,000 years to get there. On the bright side, people could live there 3000 years
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Announced to great fanfare in April, the Starshot Initiative is a $100 million research and engineering program seeking to lay the foundations for an eventual interstellar voyage. The first step involves building light-propelled “nanocrafts” that can travel up to 20 percent the speed of light. Such a spacecraft would reach the Alpha Centauri star system just over 20 years after launch. Currently, the project’s scientists are trying to demonstrate the feasibility of using powerful laser beams to propel a lightweight sail.

 
Walking Boot said:
While it's in the habitable zone (probably cool enough for liquid water to flow), the star itself pumps out X-rays so much it's unlikely to have an atmosphere. It's also orbiting 11 times closer than mercury (just around a much smaller star) and is likely tidally locked, preventing a friendly climate from forming. 
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Buzzkill

 
Cliff Clavin said:
Announced to great fanfare in April, the Starshot Initiative is a $100 million research and engineering program seeking to lay the foundations for an eventual interstellar voyage. The first step involves building light-propelled “nanocrafts” that can travel up to 20 percent the speed of light. Such a spacecraft would reach the Alpha Centauri star system just over 20 years after launch. Currently, the project’s scientists are trying to demonstrate the feasibility of using powerful laser beams to propel a lightweight sail.
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Wouldn't it be easier to just ask the aliens, hanging around Area 51, how they would do it?

 
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