Here’s a challenge – develop a small vehicle to transport and land rovers for the Google Lunar Rover X-Prize.
TLC – the Transport and Land Carrier
Basic Design Goals:
- 400 kg vehicle mass limit
- 20 kg payload to carry
- 1.4 m width restriction
- TLI from 185 km LEO orbit
- 1 – 2 correction burns?
- Soft land on lunar surface
- < 2 m/s terminal velocity
Fully loaded vehicle and payload cannot top 420 kg (launch limit for SpaceX Falcon 1).
Development Challange