Paul’s Robotics remains in the lead for $500,000 in cash in the Regolith Excavation Challenge with four teams remaining to compete. The two qualifying teams thus far:
Paul’s Robotics (Worcester, Massachusetts) – 439 kilograms
Braundo Rancho (Palos Verdes, California) – 263.75 kilograms
Video of Technology Ranch’s regolith excavation challenge effort…
A second team, Paul’s Robotics of Worcester, Mass., has qualified for prize money in the Regolith Excavation Challenge. The team from Worchester Polytechnic Institute excavated 439 kilograms of simulated soil, which puts it in the lead for a $500,000 cash prize from NASA. The second place team will received $150,000, with $100,000 going to the third place team.
There was some controversy over whether the robot had excavated soil outside the assigned area; however, the judges looked at the markings in the test bed and confirmed that there was no problem with the effort.
Video from the Regolith Excavation Challenge at NASA Ames.
CALIFORNIA SPACE AUTHORITY PRESS RELEASE
Tension remains high as teams competing in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge await the final round tomorrow. By the end of today’s activities, half of the 20 teams scheduled to compete had completed their turn in the simulated moon dirt, or regolith. The competition will continue tomorrow.
The late great Mir space station - now in pieces at the bottom of the Pacific.
A couple of high-flying space figures – former NASA chief of staff Courtney Stadd and MirCorp founder Walt Anderson – have fallen on decidedly hard times after running afoul of the law. They now find themselves doing work normally done by working class stiffs.
Technology Ranch’s excavator in action at the Regolith Excavation Challenge at NASA Ames.
In a letter to the editor, NASA has disputed a Houston Chronicle story that the space agency is “considering cutting as much as 20 percent of its employee costs on the manned space program.” The text of the letter:
NASA MISSION UPDATE
NASA’s Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was a smashing success, returning tantalizing data about the Centaur impact before the spacecraft itself impacted the surface of the moon.
Last week, plunging headlong into Cabeus crater, the nine LCROSS instruments successfully captured each phase of the impact sequence: the impact flash, the ejecta plume, and the creation of the Centaur crater.
The competition has broken for dinner here at Moffett Field. The results thus far:
Braundo Rancho: 263.75 kilograms – Palo Verdes, California
Technology Ranch – 26.45 kilograms – Arroyo Grande, California
Laurentian Rock: .4 kilograms – Glendale, California
Auric Design – 0 kilograms – Orlando, Florida
Lunar Arc – 0 kilograms – Irvine, California
Next Step Robotics – 0 kilograms – Houston, TX
Top Hat Robotics West – 0 kilograms – Lafayette, Indiana
C2 Robotics – 0 kilograms – San Luis Obispo, California
Moon Diggers A & Moon Diggers B – Disqualified – San Francisco, California
(Update: Judges reversed their decision to disqualify Moon Diggers B. It will be the last team in the competition on Sunday.)
Lunar Arc’s entry in the Regolith Excavation Challenge
Greetings from the Regolith Challenge at NASA Ames.
So far, seven teams have competed. Two of them have succeeded in picking up and delivering simulated lunar regolith,while five others have succumbed to technical failures. The successful teams are:
Braundo Rancho: 263.75 kilograms – Palo Verdes, California
Laurentian Rock: .4 kilograms – Glendale, California
