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Astrobotic Technology is an American privately held company that is developing space robotics technology for planetary missions. It was founded in 2008 by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates, with the goal of winning the Google Lunar X Prize.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.lunarexplorers.net/node/386 )〕 The company is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of August 2012, the company was partnered with Carnegie Mellon University, International Rectifier, Ansys, AGI, Alcoa, and Caterpillar.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://astrobotic.net/partners/ )〕 ==History== The team articulated an ambitious goal from the start in 2008: they hope to be the first to land their spacecraft "Red Rover" on the Moon, using the lander, named "Artemis Lander".〔 〕 Since its formation, Astrobotic has maintained a spot in the top three rankings for Evadot's third-party Google Lunar X Prize Scorecard. The company's first running prototype of Red Rover was completed the same year, and on July 28, 2008, NASA awarded Astrobotic funding for its "Regolith Moving Methods" proposal.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/jul/HQ_C0848_Lunar_surface_contract_prt.htm )〕 In 2009, Astrobotic began to receive a series of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from NASA totaling over $795,000 to investigate prospecting for lunar resources.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://astrobotic.net/2012/04/23/nasa-contract-to-astrobotic-technology-investigates-prospecting-for-lunar-resources/ )〕 On October 15, 2010, NASA awarded a contract to Astrobotic for Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a total value up to $30.1 million over a period of up to five years, and in December, NASA's $500,000 ILDD project for further Lunar Demonstrations Data was awarded to Astrobotic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/dec/HQ_10-344_ILDD_Selections_prt.htm )〕 , both the descent stage and the lunar rover are now unnamed. Originally named "Red Rover" and "Artemis Lander," respectively,〔 Astrobotic indicated in 2011 that they were reserving naming rights, as well as selection of the planned location for the lunar landing, for their payload customers. "We have to sell a lot of payload to make the economics work, ... the customers will decide where we go."〔 Later, the rover continued to be called "Red Rover" and the lander was now called "Griffin." Astrobotic's "Technologies Enabling Exploration of Skylights, Lava Tubes and Caves," was a phase one selection for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/niac/2011_phase1_selections.html )〕 In April 2011, Astrobotic received a $599,000 two-year contract to develop a scalable gravity offload device for testing rover mobility in simulated lunar gravity under NASA's Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://astrobotic.net/2011/04/21/nasa-awards-contract-for-lunar-gravity-simulation-device/ )〕 In May 2012, David Gump left the position of President of Astrobotic and John Thornton took the reins. On April 30, 2014 NASA announced that Astrobotic Technologies was one of the three companies selected for the Lunar CATALYST initiative. NASA is negotiating a 3-year no-funds-exchanged Space Act Agreement (SAA). The Griffin Lander may be involved. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Astrobotic Technology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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