Carnegie Mellon University teams up with Astrobotic Technology on Moon Challenge
Carnegie Mellon roboticists, artists and engineers join Astrobotic Technology on an interdisciplinary team competing for the Google Lunar X Prize.
The goals: safely land a robot on the moon; once there, the robot travels 500 meters and sends images and data back to earth.
"I want to do everything there is to be done."
- Judith Resnik (E'70), astronaut & alumna
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade & do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard …"
- President John F. Kennedy
"The child's wonder at the old moon comes back nightly …"
- Carl Sandburg
"The Moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars."
- Arthur C. Clarke
"I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space."
- Stephen Hawking
Synopsis
When CMU Professor — and Astrobotic CEO & Chief Technology Officer — William "Red" Whittaker decided to enter the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, he didn't have to go far to find his team members.
The competition presents an unusual set of interdisciplinary challenges for which Carnegie Mellon University scientists and technologists are uniquely suited.
And we're not stopping there. Carnegie Mellon University artists have joined the team to exceed the goals set by Google and define a new class of artistic endeavor.
We will help accomplish the mission in a way that only we can, by simultaneously advancing science, technology and art.
Team Leaders
William "Red" Whittaker an internationally renowned roboticist, Carnegie Mellon alumnus and a University Professor and faculty member at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.
Lowry Burgess a professor of art, former dean of the College of Fine Arts and distinguished fellow in Carnegie Mellon's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, he is considered a pioneer of the space art movement.
Players
Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science, the first of its kind in the world, remains the world's leader in research, education and innovation in the field.
The STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon, an experimental, cross-disciplinary program within the College of Fine Arts, brings renowned creativity and innovative design to the lunar mission.
Astrobotic Technology, a spinoff of Carnegie Mellon University, pioneers the lunar frontier by providing commercial robotic services.
Support
Help support Carnegie Mellon's efforts. Give to the CMU Lunar X Fund »