Website ptscientists.com | ||
PTScientists, formerly known as Part-Time Scientists, is a group of volunteer scientists and engineers based in Germany. They became the first German team to officially enter the Google Lunar X-Prize competition on June 24, 2009. Their goal is to reach the moon before the Lunar X-Prize deadline of December 31, 2017.
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Cloud communication network
The COMRAY cloud communication network consists of a globally distributed network of transmitting and receiving stations. This distribution allows for uninterrupted 24/7 communication with the Moon or Mars.
Presentation software
A software tool, "PresenTationS", was presented at the 26th Chaos Communication Congress (26C3) in 2009. "PresenTationS" is being developed and released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The software supports numerous transition effects and graphics formats. Various adjustable parameters make it possible to generate animations with film-like image effects.
History
On August 22–23, 2009, the Part-Time Scientists presented their project at the Open Doors Day of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
On December 28, 2009, the team presented their mission at the 26th annual Chaos Communication Congress. In a two-hour presentation, the team provided a detailed overview of all parts of the project. This was the first time the European-made private lunar rover prototype had been presented to the public.
In March 2017, the group announced that they planned to perform the world's first private moon landing in 2018, using Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicles, designed and manufactured by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. Their landing module is planned to deploy two lunar rovers in the Taurus–Littrow lunar valley, which are then planned to search for the Lunar Roving Vehicle left there by NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan in 1971.