Astronomy:Project M (NASA)

From HandWiki
Simulation of Robonaut 2 on moon for Project M
Robonaut 2

Project M was a proposed NASA project to send a Robonaut to the Moon.[1] This was originally hoped to be achieved in just a thousand days from the official announcement, but has since been shifted into Project Morpheus.[2]

History

NASA projected the project could have cost less than US$200 million. An additional $250 million would have been needed for the launch vehicle. The project could have been accomplished in a thousand days or less once it had been approved. The project would have used a variation of lander developed by Armadillo Aerospace.[1][3] On June 23, 2010, a flight carried a prototype known as the Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment (GENIE). GENIE was developed to demonstrate fully functional, real-time, guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) code in a terrestrial rocket vehicle applicable to landing on the surface of the Moon.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "At NASA, a Quiet Quest to Send a Humanoid Robot to the Moon". New York Times. November 1, 2010. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/science/space/02robot.html?hpw. "The idea, known as Project M, is almost a guerrilla effort within NASA, cooked up a year ago by Stephen J. Altemus, the chief engineer at Johnson. He tapped into discretionary money, pulled in engineers to work on it part time, and horse-traded with companies and other NASA units to undertake preliminary planning and tests." 
  2. Boyle, Alan (2011-07-01). "Inside NASA's 'Skunk Works' lab". MSNBC. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/01/6994777-inside-nasas-skunk-works-lab. "Project Morpheus started out as "Project M," a concept that called for landing a humanoid robot on the moon in 1,000 days. Then reality set in, and the project was redefined." 
  3. "NASA's Madcap Sci-Fi Plan Could Get an Android Moonwalking Within 3 Years". Fast Company. May 19, 2010. http://www.fastcompany.com/1649630/nasa-robonaut-moon-exploration-cheap-mission-rockets-android-lunar-moonshot. 
  4. NASAProjectM. "Project M GENIE Integration and Lander Free Flight". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j95FleDEfo. 

External links