First team sets a date for Google Lunar X-Prize attempt

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 24th 2008 at 7:04AM

Just under a year after Google ponied up the money for the Lunar X Prize, there's a team set to attempt a launch and claim the $20M reward. The Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) has scheduled up a launch of a 92-pound rover called the European Lunar Lander within the next three months, with the plan being to float a balloon over the sea to a height of 11 miles, at which point a STABILO rocket will carry the payload to space. To win the prize, the ELL has to land, travel 500 feet on the surface of the moon, and send video, images, and data back to Earth. That's quite a tall order -- we'll be watching this one closely, since even if ARCA succeeds, there's still several $5M prizes out there for second places and the completion of several other objectives.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Tags: acra, Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association, AeronauticsAndCosmonauticsRomanianAssociation, ell, European Lunar Lander, EuropeanLunarLander, google, lunar, lunar x prize, LunarXPrize, space, x prize, XPrize

Relevant Posts

HTC's Android-driven Dream revealed in glorious spy photos (7 days ago - 176 Comments)
Video: Android SDK v0.9 hits the internet looking almost ready for primetime (19 days ago - 131 Comments)
Google talks Android Market app store (9 days ago - 106 Comments)
Android Developer Challenge winners announced (8 days ago - 95 Comments)
Google's Brin says Chrome headed to Android, probably (2 days ago - 65 Comments)

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

RC @ Jun 24th 2008 7:08AM

They've really got balls....on their spacecraft.

Neutral

Mic2000 @ Jun 24th 2008 7:13AM

Balls of steel it is

Neutral

fred @ Jun 24th 2008 8:19AM

Spaceball 1?

Neutral

lance @ Jun 24th 2008 7:17AM

sheeeesh! for that kinda cashola you think they were rocket scientists or somethin!

oooh ... yeah.. right.

Neutral

xstream @ Jun 24th 2008 7:30AM

hmm starting a spacecraft from a balloon alignment should be tricky

Highly Ranked

Prasand J. @ Jun 24th 2008 7:41AM

*makes a "pop" sound*

Neutral

vladcome @ Jun 24th 2008 7:46AM

I am surprised , i am Romanian and i didnt know about ARCA and stuff :) are u sure its romanian ...

Neutral

salimai @ Jun 24th 2008 9:12AM

The article the read link directs to does say the same thing: Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association. Oddly, they also list the acronym as ARCA. Some language/translation quirk?

Neutral

joshua @ Jun 24th 2008 8:09AM

The acronym for Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association would be ACRA, not ARCA.

Highly Ranked

Cosmin @ Jun 24th 2008 10:35AM

ARCA is the Romanian acronym. Stands for Asociatia Romana de Cosmonautica si Aeronautica.

Neutral

charlie @ Jun 24th 2008 9:02AM

I don't buy it. They say it will launch in three months, yet after browsing their website for a few minutes I could not find a single picture of real hardware, only computer models.

Highest Ranked

lettcco @ Jun 24th 2008 9:03AM

wait till NASA (Nigerian Aeronautic and Space Association) submit their entry!

Neutral

Pradster @ Jun 24th 2008 9:17AM

BALLS!

(but as i see many others have beat me to it, Dang!!..BALLS!!!)

Neutral

Brad @ Jun 24th 2008 9:54AM

As an aerospace engineer, I see so many things wrong with this concept. First, where's the main thruster engine? That line pointing to the "E1 Rocket Engine?" Yeah, that's just an expansion nozzle. You also might be interested in investing in a combustion chamber.

Next up, the fuel. Where did it go? You've got some nice oxidizer tanks, but where are you putting the fuel?

And finally, the solar panels. Where, exactly, do you intend to stow them so that they're not sheared off during launch?

Cripes, I could make a model like that in under an hour. Lets see some engineering detail.

Neutral

HDE @ Jun 24th 2008 10:28AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNF_t3TC5s

I'm not an engineer but this may answer some questions. I looks like it would work but a concept video of flying to the moon and actually flying to moon are 2 different things.

Neutral

GIANT SQUID @ Jun 24th 2008 10:06AM

This editing is balls.

Neutral

dg @ Jun 24th 2008 1:22PM

CORRECTION: It's 500 meters, or 1,640.42 feet.

Neutral

dg @ Jun 24th 2008 1:26PM

CORRECTION: It's 500 meters, or 1,640.42 feet.

Neutral

dg @ Jun 24th 2008 4:35PM

...sorry.

Neutral

GXLP Fan @ Jun 25th 2008 8:58AM

This is not an Google Lunar X PRIZE attempt; it is a test of their lander propulsion system with a goal to reach an altitude if 100km, not the Moon. The original article misconstrued the launch test as a prize attempt. The ARCA website clearly describes this as a test.

Neutral

MrReilly @ Jun 25th 2008 11:22AM

This is great. Free market principles spurring science that transcends national boundaries. Hope it works!

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

X3F interviews Gears 2 lead artist and writer Joystiq Interview: GRiN's Simon Viklund on rearming Bionic Commando X3F Week in Review: August 29, 2008 - September 4, 2008	5 Free Apps to Clone Your Hard Drive 4 "SpeedDial" Options for Firefox Joost to kill desktop client, provide browser-based video player?
iPod nano 4G rumors-a-go-go 2Chicks1Mac - Tip Applications: Hot? or Not? Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: 2nd Edition	Ford's fantasy: Making money on small cars Ads Gone Bad: Dolce & Gabbana proves (yet again) that sex sells Citigroup may dump an asset that is too small to matter
Free $60 Amazon gift card with Elite 360 purchase Bungie: New H3 achievements part of title update X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Gin Rummy, Shred Nebula, Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball	Sony picks GT Academy winners to race in Dubai 24 Hours 10th Anniversary Victory Vision sells out in 7 minutes Free gas promotion for video game goes awry in UK
EA could license Spore engine to third parties Is the Crysis piracy issue overblown? Max Payne movie director upset with possible R rating	Just Kidding Arizona Cardinals; as It Turns Out, Anquan Boldin Is, in Fact, Mad At'cha Line Play Should Decide Vikings-Packers Josh McDanieis Still Frustrated About Super Bowl Loss, Seeks Revenge on Kansas City