Odyssey Moon
Encyclopedia
On December 6, 2007, Odyssey Moon was the first team to register for the Google Lunar X Prize
competition, an event that hopes to rekindle the efforts of humans to return to the moon. The competition is referred to as "Moon 2.0" and is composed of other private organizations like Odyssey Moon Limited, the commercial lunar enterprise that makes up this team. Each team will be competing for a $20 million first prize, a $5 million second prize, and additional $5 million in (potential) bonuses.
Odyssey Moon Limited is based on The Isle of Man, and is the design of Robert D. Richards
. His goals include developing the first commercial enterprise that utilizes the energy and resources on the moon. To achieve this end, the team enlisted the part-time consultant services of Alan Stern
, NASA's former top-rank planetary scientist. On September 22, 2008, another veteran of NASA joined Odyssey Moon. Jay F. Honeycutt
was named president and will be responsible for all programs and commercial launch operations. He brings a great deal of expertise in managing large scale engineering operations. His experience at NASA was diverse. He was director of the Kennedy Space Center
for several years and was director of Shuttle Management and Operations for more than five years. Outside of NASA, another part of his forty years of professional experience was as president of Lockheed Martin
Space Operations from 1997-2004.
The team's goals are to build and deploy a robotic lander that will deliver exploration as well as scientific payloads to the moon. The new lander/spacecraft has been dubbed "MoonOne (M-1)". These efforts have been contracted to MacDonald Dettwiler
, a Canadian corporation with a successful history of providing technical space solutions for several NASA
projects including the Space Shuttle
and the International Space Station
.
The Planetary Society, an international space interest group co-founded by Carl Sagan
, joined Odyssey Moon's efforts in 2007, specifically with public outreach and coordination between public and private organizations.
Colin Pillinger
, a scientist with a background in studying meteorites, led the European Space Agency
's failed Beagle 2
Mars lander project in 2003. In 2009 he was in discussion with Odyseey Moon regarding the use of an identical version of Beagle's most powerful instrument on their lander.
Google Lunar X Prize
The Google Lunar X PRIZE, abbreviated GLXP, sometimes referred to as Moon 2.0, is a space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. It was announced at the Wired Nextfest on 13 September 2007...
competition, an event that hopes to rekindle the efforts of humans to return to the moon. The competition is referred to as "Moon 2.0" and is composed of other private organizations like Odyssey Moon Limited, the commercial lunar enterprise that makes up this team. Each team will be competing for a $20 million first prize, a $5 million second prize, and additional $5 million in (potential) bonuses.
Robert D. Richards
Robert D. Richards is a Canadian-born space entrepreneur. He is co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, Inc., a U.S. company awarded a $10M commercial lunar contract by NASA and a competitor in the Google Lunar X PRIZE...
. His goals include developing the first commercial enterprise that utilizes the energy and resources on the moon. To achieve this end, the team enlisted the part-time consultant services of Alan Stern
Alan Stern
S. Alan Stern is an American planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto....
, NASA's former top-rank planetary scientist. On September 22, 2008, another veteran of NASA joined Odyssey Moon. Jay F. Honeycutt
Jay F. Honeycutt
Jay F. Honeycutt became the director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center effective January 22, 1995.Honeycutt served as the director of Shuttle Management and Operations, Kennedy Space Center, from March 1989 until he was named KSC Director by NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin...
was named president and will be responsible for all programs and commercial launch operations. He brings a great deal of expertise in managing large scale engineering operations. His experience at NASA was diverse. He was director of the Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
for several years and was director of Shuttle Management and Operations for more than five years. Outside of NASA, another part of his forty years of professional experience was as president of Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
Space Operations from 1997-2004.
The team's goals are to build and deploy a robotic lander that will deliver exploration as well as scientific payloads to the moon. The new lander/spacecraft has been dubbed "MoonOne (M-1)". These efforts have been contracted to MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald Dettwiler
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. is a Richmond, British Columbia-based Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, employing over 3000 people throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, under the MDA brand name....
, a Canadian corporation with a successful history of providing technical space solutions for several NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
projects including the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
The Planetary Society, an international space interest group co-founded by Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, joined Odyssey Moon's efforts in 2007, specifically with public outreach and coordination between public and private organizations.
Colin Pillinger
Colin Pillinger
Colin Trevor Pillinger, CBE, is a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK. He was the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and has done much work studying a group of Martian meteorites.In May 2005 Pillinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.-Early...
, a scientist with a background in studying meteorites, led the European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
's failed Beagle 2
Beagle 2
Beagle 2 was an unsuccessful British landing spacecraft that formed part of the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. All contact with it was lost upon its separation from the Mars Express six days before its scheduled entry into the atmosphere...
Mars lander project in 2003. In 2009 he was in discussion with Odyseey Moon regarding the use of an identical version of Beagle's most powerful instrument on their lander.