$*0,000,000 Prize - Lunar Lander

[SyntaXmasteR]

Any brains would like to attempt this sick challege? I'm sure there are hundreds of intelligent minds that browse through this forum every day. Take a chance at a $*0,000,000 purse. Any takers?

You can read more about the contest here:
http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/

[Moonbat]

It'll probably cost a couple million to make the lunar thing in the first place... :p

[SyntaXmasteR]

Yeah, but just sit back and fathom working with a team to build, program, & launch this baby into space.

[Moonbat]

That'd be awesome, like a big mission thing. Except when you win/lose. If you win the team becomes a pack of greedy savages. If you lose the team starts putting blame on others.

Yeah, I know. I'm a pessemist.

[SyntaXmasteR]

Its not even about the *****. The ***** is just a cushion for the time you put into the project. I would divide the total winnings by the number of team members giving each the same percent no matter what your job is. A team member is a team member and one member is just as important as the next.

The cool thing about projects like these are that very few people can image this is even possible, but math & science rarely lie. The problem lies in the gab between creativity and math/science. You have to put together many creative minds to sum up all the possible crazy scenarios you might encounter in the different earth/moon conditions. Most people will not even attempt to make this happen so your competition comes in very low numbers.

It really boils down to components:
The earth booster, to propel your drone into space.
Drone builders for earth/moon conditions
Camera crew, Networking crew, Disaster recovery crew
Math/science crew to guide the build, aim the drone, & bring it home safely
and then there is the ***** component. Most do not understand how easy it is for your governments to fund projects such as these. It brings them publicity=*****.

[Moonbat]

I wish I could see it in the same light that you are, seems like a waste of time/*****/effort just to do something that can be done more efficiently by The Man.

It's not like you're even going to discover something, all you're doing is sending a thing up to space to capture images and recordings. No scientific value.

[SyntaXmasteR]

No scientific value

There is a great amount of scientific value, but you must understand the symbolism behind this challenge. You can also watch the second video posted on the site that talks about building satellites on the moon that transfer solar energy to earth in amounts that can run entire cities from a single satellite orbiting earth. They hope to soon use the moon for a launching station because it requires something like *0 times less energy to launch from the moon, and there is no need for rocket propulsion.

[Ezekiel]

(This is just rambling, so ignore if you want.)

Who here thinks we should have a massive base on the moon already? We've been visiting for decades.

Also awesome would be Mars. There are giant craters in which the pressure (and temperature) might be adequate for humans to walk outside in without protection! Of course you couldn't breathe, but you could carry an oxygen mask or something.

Even on the surface, it's usually only about -40C. Some Canadians cope with that daily.

You know, astronauts don't die immediately when they are exposed to space. I remember seeing a movie where an astronaut was falling away from his people and he knew they couldn't save him, so he opened his helmet thing and after a big whoosh, he clearly died.

This wouldn't happen! If you are exposed to a vacuum, you would be conscious for up to a minute. You wouldn't explode or freeze instantly; after about a minute you'd start to asphyxiate and freeze due to evaporative cooling (not quickly though, since there's no air in space).

[Moonbat]

-=[How To Get A Moonbase]=-

-=[Written By Moonbat]=-

*. Get in the Skylab (it's already in space, makes our job easier)
2. Land it on (or crash it into) the Moon
*. Enjoy!

[SyntaXmasteR]

The first thing (evil) that popped into my mind after reading this contest was playing "Capture the flag" but space rover/moon edition. Once your rover reaches the moon, you put it into attack mode. It calculates the position of incoming rovers and fires projectiles in their paths (using *0% less energy than on earth :D ). If a rover has beat you to the moon, you hover covertly over the terrain examining the landscape for other rovers dropping liquified silicon on your enemies. After hardening the silicon mixed with the suns energy absorption would disrupt their circuitry and render them disabled. Muhahaha

[Ezekiel]

This thread makes me lol.

I hope I'm alive when I can say "one first-class ticket to the moon, please". I'm bored of Earth.

[Moonbat]

I think All-NetTools has become a place of thinking beyond computers. We need a Philosophy section! :D

@ SyntaX - I define 'hovering covertly' as being as close to the rover as possible without being on the Moon or being within the visual parameters of the other rover's cameras. From such a distance (well from any distance actually) when you shoot out the silicon, it'll just float away, wouldn't it? You'll actually need more energy than that needed on Earth if you plan on firing liquid silicon at the rover sucessfully.

[SyntaXmasteR]

Newton's laws of motion
*. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by a net force.
2. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.
*. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

We must pretend that this silicon is not acted upon by any other forces during its projectory angle (except the moons gravity). Once the force is applied to the silicon, it would actually continue on forever and ever until acted upon by any other force. The forces you are dealing with are the moons gravity, which is alot weaker than the earths gravity. You calculate the moons gravitational pull into the trajectory angle and BAM! Target hit. I believe earths gravitational pull is *.8 m/s , *2 ft/s , 22 mi/h -

You can figure out the actual weights on the moon by this tool:
http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_gravity.phtml

You can read about Newtons Laws here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion

More Gravitational Numbers
http://school-for-champions.com/science/gravity_universal_equation.htm

Very interesting concepts and a starting point if you want to make the rover team lol.

[Ezekiel]

2. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.

F = ma

I remember that one.


*. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

One of my favourite scientific quotes.


We must pretend that this silicon is not acted upon by any other forces during its projectory angle (except the moons gravity).

There's a ton of other forces acting upon it though. The Moon causes tides here on Earth, so Earth would definitely have a measurable effect on an object on the Moon.

Then there's the solar wind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind).


You calculate the moons gravitational pull into the trajectory angle and BAM! Target hit. I believe earths gravitational pull is *.8 m/s , *2 ft/s , 22 mi/h -

Earth's gravitational pull is actually closer to *.8*m/s, but nobody really uses that.

However, you've made a mistake in your calculation. That is the speed an object would travel at on Earth's surface. Earth's gravitational pull decreases as you move further away from the surface. Even at a higher altitude on Earth there is a measurably lower level of gravity.

The actual speed an object travels at depends on gravity and many other factors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_gravity

Ever heard of Joe Kittinger? He jumped from **,**0m, freefall. The level of gravity would be much lower up there, but the air density was so low that he was able to reach speeds of 6*4mph.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8*/Kittinger-jump.jpg

I think I've seen videos on Youtube.

[Moonbat]

Did he die?

Oh, and I haven't studied Newtonian stuff in years, lol.

[SyntaXmasteR]

Yeah, I saw that video. It was badass.
http://************/watch?v=8*gn2oLeC_U

There are probably a hundred small factors I did not calculate into the equation but I was speaking in more general wanna be scientific terms.

Its like saying you know how to build a computer when you cannot actually make the pieces but you can interconnect each piece to make the machine work.

I would be happy to aim a moonsized rock at the moon and hit it!

[Ezekiel]

Awesome video.

They could have improved the music on his actual jump though -- perhaps My Elastic Eye by The Chemical Brothers. At least that's what I'd have done.

[Ezekiel]

Did he die?

Nah, he survived with only minor injuries, if I remember correctly.


At least that's what I'd have done.

Now I have. The video is here:

http://*****************/watch?v=d0XGEVQP4ZQ