In a unique opportunity, youngsters from across India are being invited to design an experiment that will fly aboard an Indian spacecraft to the Moon. \u2013 @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #TeamIndus #Lab2Moon #GoogleLunarXPRIZE #SpaceTechnology #L2M<\/p>\n
The initiative, Lab2Moon was launched in Bengaluru, June 29, by TeamIndus, a space technology startup, which is among three top contenders and the only Indian team for the Google Lunar XPRIZE.<\/p>\n
The Google Lunar XPRIZE, which is worth $30 million, is an unprecedented challenge intended to inspire engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration.<\/p>\n
As part of this coveted competition, TeamIndus will have to successfully place a robot on the moon’s surface that will move around for at least 500 meters and send back high-definition video and images back to Earth.<\/p>\n
The start up which began as a group of 5 people has grown into a team of 85 over the last 5 years. 15 of the members are retired ISRO scientists.<\/p>\n
“We use their expertise and match it with the knowledge and ideas of a young team. That’s how we are going about the project,” Sheelika Ravishankar, peoples lead at TeamIndus said.<\/p>\n
The initiative, which is going to be the first time a non-government experiment will fly to the moon since 1976, seeks to engage with the people by taking a project created by science enthusiasts proposing an “idea for the sustainability of life on another celestial body.”<\/p>\n
“Through the competition, we crowdsource the best idea of building a sustained life on rest of the solar system,” Ravishankar said.<\/p>\n
Participants between 14 years and 25 years who are interested for the challenge of imagining, designing and building a project can register on L2M.teamindus.in till August 20.<\/p>\n
The ideas can range from investigating how seeds can grow in space through to examining new possibilities in renewable energy.<\/p>\n
The experiment is set to fly aboard the TeamIndus spacecraft to the Moon in the year 2017.<\/p>\n
Teams of up to three members would be required to write a 300 word overview of their project, share drawings and upload a 2-minute video explaining why it should go to the Moon.<\/p>\n
20 best ideas will be shortlisted by a jury comprising eminent personalities from the science and technology background, like K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO. The selected teams will be given a period of 5 months to prepare the prototype, the winner of which is scheduled to be announced in January next year.<\/p>\n
TeamIndus’ unmanned mission to moon has dedicated 250 grams of the total payload of the spacecraft for Lab2moon project.<\/p>\n
“The project has to be 250 grams and the size of a soda can. It will be part of the payload that will go aboard the spacecraft.<\/p>\n
“We have space to take about 20 kg of payload out of which 10 kg is the rover and we have taken out 250 GM for this project,” Ravishankar said.<\/p>\n
The team is looking to see if the remaining payload can be sen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a unique opportunity, youngsters from across India are being invited to design an experiment that will fly aboard an Indian spacecraft to the Moon. \u2013 @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #TeamIndus #Lab2Moon #GoogleLunarXPRIZE #SpaceTechnology #L2M The initiative, Lab2Moon was launched in Bengaluru, June 29, by TeamIndus, a space technology startup, which is among three top contenders and…<\/p>\n