SpaceMETA is a Brazilian Group founded in 2010 to explore aerospace opportunities motivated by Google Lunar XPrize Competition
Contents
As one of the less than 30 active teams around the world (info as of 2012.), and selected to participate in a competition that offers US$30 MM for who first lands on the lunar surface and succeed to realize several special milestones (like send picture and movies to the earth, survive some days there, context some ancient sites from old missions, and walk 500 meters)., in its first mission, SpaceMETA decided to participate bringing rupture ideas to the race, considering to use at minimum level conventional and already used old age space technologies and solutions. SpaceMETA was the last team to be selected by the X Prize Foundation to participate on the GLXP, and the only one selected from Brazil.
Checked on 28 January 2016 by an unrelated observer, the SpaceMETA website is no longer operational. No official announcement of termination is easily found.
History
SpaceMETA was initially sponsored by Intel Corporation which has the first right refusal for a first round of investment on a success case basis.
Founders
SpaceMETA was founded by Sergio Cabral Cavalcanti, a researcher from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Mission overview
SpaceMETA Mission Overview Summary, as presented to the XPrize Committee, has proposed several rupture innovation approach for its mission. Actually the disclosed innovations are related with the following technical approaches:
- Usage of ethanol as rocket fuel
- Launch the vehicle not from the ground but a lifted launch using balloons / auxiliary craft
- Usage of inflatable structures instead, to transport big things that should be armed there (like antennas and solar panels)
- Infinity Motion - SpaceMETA doesn't use conventional energy system to create movement on the moon rover (called Solitaire (x-Frog and x-Blob)), but a NITINOL and Coil based kinetic energy converter called Infinity Motion.
- Send information to the Earth not using electromagnetic waves, but a special Optical Modulation reflecting the solar light
- During the movement of the Lunar Modules on the Surface, usage of the contact/impact process, so imbedded sensors will capture the echoes above the surface
- Geographically, SpaceMETA plans to visit some SETI / Scientific related sites of interest on the Moon