Video: Launch of Model SpaceShipOne Rocket

After the success of the Ansari X PRIZE, model rocket company Estes produced a limited edition SpaceShipOne replica, ready-to-fly. We still have a couple unopened ones lying around the office here, but I just stumbled across this video of a launch on YouTube. Sadly, it doesn't have quite as smooth a landing as the real thing, but fun to watch nevertheless.

Google Lunar X PRIZE Featured in The Explorer's Journal

The Explorer's Club, a "professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore," has featured the Google Lunar X PRIZE in it's recent issue of The Explorer's Journal. This issue is devoted to lunar exploration in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo landings. You can download a portion of the issue here.

Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, has contributed an article to this issue, and there is a great feature showing designs and prototypes of all of our Google Lunar X PRIZE teams' vehicles. Other authors in this issue include Apollo Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Bill Anders.

And as it turns out, the Explorer's Club has yet another tie to the X PRIZE Foundation. When SpaceShipOne flew into space in 2004, it carried with it the Explorer's Club flag. This flag was presented to the Foundation in honor of the achievement of the Ansari X PRIZE.

The full Summer 2009 issue doesn't seem to be available for download yet, but if the segment we've posted (with their permission of course) whets your appetite, you should be able to download the full issue eventually--or subscribe to the Journal today--here.

You'll excuse me now, I've just touched something that went into space. I might be a little giddy.

Tales from the Melting Pot: Scott Zeeb to Scaled Composites

One of my favorite things about incentive prizes is the way that they bring talented individuals together and provide a spirit of camaraderie that complements the sense of competition. Since I joined the X PRIZE Foundation four years ago (I can't believe I just passed that anniversary!), I've been pleased to see entreprenuers from different teams come together time and time again to share ideas, tips, and suggestions, even as they each tried to show that their own entry was the best. This collaborative spirit has without question had a "rising tide" effect, floating the metaphorical boats of all of the teams and of the industry in general by leading to more, better, and faster results.

With the friendly way that so many of our teams work with each other, it was only a matter of time until we began to see some real cross-fertilization, with teams merging or hiring each other. We've seen some examples within individual prizes already: for example, Google Lunar X PRIZE team Synergy Moon is a product of a merger between two formerly independent entries, and Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge team Masten Space Systems hired fellow competitor Paragon to build tanks for their rockets.

Now, we've got another example to add to the list. Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge team TrueZer0 just announced that team co-founder and co-leader Scott Zeeb has been offered and has accepted a job at Scaled Composites, the technical team that built SpaceShipOne, the winner of the Ansari X PRIZE. Todd Squires, the other co-founder and co-leader of TrueZer0, writes

[Recently,] we made a small detour to visit to Scaled Composites. I've been a fan of Burt Rutan for some time, and Brooke Owens [a former X PRIZE employee now working with the FAA, helped] us set up a visit. That was an awesome experience. The people at Scaled are every bit as bright and motivated as we expected. They're working on some amazing stuff and were impressively humble, considering what they've achieved. I'd personally like to thank Matt and Ben for taking the time to show us around, and everyone at Scaled for being so open and friendly.

At the end of our visit we got to sit and chat with Burt for quite a long time. How cool was that? After speaking with him, it's easy to see why he's been so successful. He really loves what he's doing. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and his no-nonsense get-out-and-do-it approach to life is obvious.

During our talk, Burt asked if we'd like to move out to Mojave, and work for Scaled. I'm pretty settled in Illinois, and enjoy working as an independent contractor. As undeniably cool as the work would be, tearing up my life and moving to Mojave is not the right choice for me currently. Scott on the other hand, was a little more open to the idea. Recently, he went back for a full-on job interview. Scaled made him an offer, and just a few days ago, he accepted. He'll be moving out there shortly, and starting in early August.

Todd's whole post is worth reading, as it provides some more context.

While we're definitely sad that this move might end up slowing down the incredible progress TrueZer0 is making, we're absolutely thrilled to see Scott end up at Scaled. It's sure to be a good fit, and the world always benefits from having bright folks like Scott dedicate themselves full time to the pursuit of commercial spaceflight.

So, please join us in wishing a hearty congratulations and good luck to Scott, Scaled Composites, and the rest of team TrueZer0!

Scott Zeeb shows team TrueZer0's rocket to judges and NASA Centennial Challenges staffer Andy Petro at the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Photo Credit: X PRIZE Foundation

NASA's LRO Returns its First Images of the Moon

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returned its first images of the lunar surface today. How beautiful, that magnificent desolation...





Visit the LRO homepage to view these images in high resolution.

Friday Funday #FFD: A trip down Memory Lane

It's with quite a bit of sadness that I embark on my final Friday Funday activity (a day early, since I won't be in the office on Friday). It's been an amazing journey, this past year, and I want to take a moment to reflect on it.

Friday Funday began back in August of 2008 as an experiment in what we can do using Twitter. The very first #FFD was a crowdsourced mixtape about the Moon, which I compiled an uploaded to the now defunct (er, well, altered) service Muxtape. Sadly, I didn't record the tracklist before Muxtape went down. We repeated this experiment in a similar way many months later.

But by far my favorite Friday Funday activity was the Google Spreadsheets artwork day. Between 30-50 people helped to build a gigantic space mural, which can still be accessed (thought not edited).

Now it's your turn. What are your favorite Friday Funday #FFD memories? Or maybe just fun Google Lunar X PRIZE experiences. What are you most looking forward to in the future? Leave your thoughts, memories, etc. in the comments.

Evadot Podcasts with Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams

The Evadot Podcast, hosted by Michael Doornbos, has been featuring several Google Lunar X PRIZE teams as well as the Foundation's Will Pomerantz. You can head on over to subscribe to the podcast, or check out the episodes so far using the players below.

Interview with team Frednet


Interview with team Odyssey Moon


Interview with Will Pomerantz of the X PRIZE Foundation