Team AngelicvM
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Gerardo Rocha-Haardt Jorge Vidal Mauricio Guerrero |
| Products | Lunar rover |
| Owner | Gerardo Rocha-Haardt |
Number of employees | 34 |
| Parent | AngelicvM Foundation |
Team AngelicvM is a private company based in Chile that plans to deploy a small rover on the Moon. Their rover, called Unity, is one of various rovers that will be carried by the commercial Peregrine lander manufactured by Astrobotic Technology.
History[edit]
Team AngelicvM was created in 2010 in Santiago, Chile,[1] with the purpose to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize.[2] This international competition offered US$20 million for the first privately developed rover to land on the Moon, travel at least 500 meters, and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth.[3] Since no team was able to make a launch attempt to reach the Moon by the 31 March 2018 deadline, the Google Lunar XPRIZE went unclaimed and the competition ended without a winner, but AngelicvM plans to go ahead with the rover's development and launch.[4]
Team AngelicvM is financed by AngelicvM Foundation (Inversiones AngelicvM); its owner and President is Gerardo Rocha-Haardt, who by 2012 has financed about US$3 million.[5] Rocha-Haardt explained that since there is no space agency in Chile, he hopes to inspire and stimulate the private sector's participation in the outer space economy.[6] Rocha-Haardt invited all Chilean universities to participate in the project. They were joined by the Universidad de Concepción and Universidad Austral de Chile, that are developing the rover.[5][6][7]
AngelicvM signed a contract with Astrobotic Technology in 2015 to have their rover carried on board Astrobotic's Peregrine lander,[2] and in July 2017, Astrobotic announced an agreement had been reached with United Launch Alliance for the launch.[8] As of May 2018, Astrobotic's first Peregrine lander mission is reported to have 12 customers,[9] and is planned to be launched in 2020[10] on an Atlas V rocket.[11] The selected landing site is Lacus Mortis.[12] The lander's commercial payload include Team Hakuto's rover.[12]
Unity rover[edit]
The first rover's concept was called Dandelion.[13][14] Its body was spherical of about 10 cm in diameter[5] with a flat top and bottom. It uses two bilateral "legged" wheels for traction and it keeps upright by a pendulum. This light traction concept was inspired on insect legs, and it was considered because that is what all insects evolved for efficient displacement on uneven surfaces.[14] Adding some flexibility to each blade/leg, it imitates the tendon in the insect leg and holds potential energy for better traction.[14] Preliminary tests performed in Chile's Atacama desert were reported to surpass their predicted expectations.[14]
AngelicvM's current rover concept is a 5 kg, four-wheeled rover called Unity.[15][16]
The team has 34 members, all professionals and mostly volunteers. Their transmission to Earth will be a high-definition music video that carries "a message of faith, hope, peace and unity to the World.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Lunar XPrize - Team AngelicvM. Archived 2018-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Accessed: 4 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Team AngelicvM Will Fly with Astrobotic on First Lunar Mission Archived 2018-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Astrobotic Technology Press Release. 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Overview". Google Lunar XPRIZE. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- ^ Updates on GLXP teams from Israel, India and Japan. Phillip Keane, Space Tech. July 18, 2018.
- ^ a b c La silenciosa carrera espacial chilena. Valentina Echeverría, Km Zero. Accessed : 4 August 2018. (in Spanish)
- ^ a b Chile's first lunar rover nears completion Archived 2018-08-05 at the Wayback Machine. Chile's Education, Science and Technology NEWS. 18 December 2012.
- ^ El Team AngelicvM presentó su rover AngelicvM 1. Felipe Campos Cosmo Noticias. 27 June 2013. (in Spanish).
- ^ Astrobotic and United Launch Alliance Announce Mission to the Moon. United Launch Alliance - Press Release. 26 July 2017.
- ^ Former Google Lunar X Prize Teams Focused on Commercial and Government Opportunities. Jeff Foust, Space. 27 May 2018.
- ^ Coli, Michael (19 March 2018). "Astrobiotic Ready to Become Delivery Service to the Moon". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ Ray, Justin (26 July 2017). "Commercial lunar mission signs up with Atlas 5 for launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ^ a b Astrobiotic Ready to Become Delivery Service to the Moon. Michael Coli, Spaceflight Insider. 19 March 2018.
- ^ Angelicvm: Chile hacia la Luna. Felipe Campos, Cosmo Noticias (in Spanish). 29 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d Dandelion rover Archived 2018-08-05 at the Wayback Machine. Robotic & Environmental Algorithms Laboratory (REAL). Accessed: 4 August 2018.
- ^ "Testing Unity in the Mojave Desert". YouTube.
- ^ Astrobotic Adds Another Google Lunar X Prize Team to Its Lander. Jeff Foust, Space News. 27 October 2015.
