GLXP contest jury reviews progress of mission

TeamIndus says limit is early March

October 05, 2017 11:06 pm | Updated 11:06 pm IST - Bengaluru

TeamIndus, which is sending a private-funded landing mission to Moon, said its spacecraft would have to lift off by March 6-8 next year “in the worst case” in order to meet the winning goals of the contest.

The lone Indian entry based in Bengaluru and other four contestants must complete their missions by March 31, 2018, to qualify for the prize.

GLXP or Google Lunar XPRIZE global contest is a $30 million global contest. Apart from its own lander rover, the TeamIndus spacecraft will also carry the rover of its fellow contestant, Team Hakuto of Japan.

Its chief or ‘Fleet Commander Rahul Narayan on Thursday briefed a news conference about the team’s progress. During the past five days, a jury of three experts and GLXP official Chandra Gonzales-Mowrer reviewed its engineering readiness level. “The panel and TeamIndus agreed on the parameters by which the mission would ultimately be evaluated.”

TeamIndus had booked a launch on December 28 for its spacecraft on an upcoming PSLV rocket of the Indian Space Research Organisation. (After ISRO's PSLV mission of August 31 failed, it put its missions on hold. It has said launches will be resumed in December after the lapses are corrected.) TeamIndus said its 600-kg spacecraft is slated to go for qualification tests next week. Before that, they conducted drop tests of the 60-kg lander rover.

Mr. Narayan said they were in the process of raising the second half of the funds they need to complete the mission, estimated to cost them ₹450 crore. They were also finalising the Deep Space Network that will keep the rover in contact with Earth. The Indian DSN in Bengaluru is not as powerful as the three NASA networks in California, Canberra or Madrid.

The review included demonstrating the qualification models of the spacecraft, the moon rover ECA (short for Ek Choti si Asha / a small wish) and a simulation of the mooncast.

Panel chairman, Alan Wells, director of the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre, said: “We have come away from this rigorous exercise impressed by the readiness of TeamIndus. They are clearly on the right trajectory to make history.”

Ms. Gonzales-Mowrer, GLXP Prize Lead, commended the team’s work that was in tune with an objective of the contest, which is to trigger innovative thinking in space exploration.

According to the contest, the prize goes to the first team to soft land on Moon, move for 500 metres and send clear pictures and images of the lunar landscape.

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