Pittsburgh team gets XPrize awards, but contest's future in doubt

Google's Lunar XPrize contest awarded $750,000 Tuesday to a Pittsburgh team from Carnegie Mellon University and Astrobotic, even as the fate of the contest is unclear.

The Milestone Prizes, one for imaging and one for mobility, arrive as Google announced that the $30 million contest to land a rover on the moon has been extended until the end of 2016 . However, the extension and the contest hinge on one of the teams in the competition submitting a launch schedule by Dec. 31, 2015.

Astrobotic is the first team to be awarded Milestone Prizes, although there may be more awarded in January, according to a Google press release. CEO John Thornton said he is pleased with the prizes but would not confirm that the team would have a launch schedule in hand by the deadline. Astrobotic is one of five teams in the running for Milestone Prizes.

Calls to Google Lunar XPrize were not returned.

“Astrobotic will follow a schedule that works for our customers and our own development. If it happens to coincide with XPrize's deadline that is great,” Thornton said in an email.

CMU robotics professor William “Red” Whittaker wouldn't specify a timetable but said getting to a launch date in the Google contest involves several intermediary steps. Astrobotic's lunar rover and proposed launch module have to be tested and ready to travel through space for five days to get to the moon, he said. Testing continues in Pittsburgh and places that might resemble parts of the moon where the rover will travel. The rover and landing module have to be fitted to a rocket that will get them out of the atmosphere, and that process must be tested.

“Once that agreement is in place, it's a hot burn of a lot of resources, momentum and people. It really matters to be prudent about that timing,” he said.

A team of CMU students led by Whittaker developed the team's lunar rover, called Andy.

The prototype has two high-definition stereo cameras mounted on a pan-tilt system that allow it to take panoramic images of the moon, Thornton said. The rover must be able to move 500 meters after landing, according to contest requirements.

Andy's two rear tires are on a rocker system that is predicted to allow it to navigate the rocky terrain of the moon. The front two tires are more fixed, he said.

“It's proving to be an exceptionally capable machine,” Thornton said.

Megha Satyanarayana is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.