Ep. 47 - Robots in Space with John Thornton of Astrobotic
In this installment of the Future Grind podcast host Ryan O’Shea discusses the future of space robotics with John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic. Astrobotic is a space robotics company that seeks to make space accessible to the world by using their lunar landers to deliver payloads for companies, governments, universities, and individuals. Originally spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 by robotics pioneer Red Whittaker, Astrobotic is creating affordable planetary access to spark a new era of exploration, science, tourism, and resource utilization. While they haven’t yet launched their lunar landers, Astrobotic technology is currently aboard the International Space Station.
They discuss Astrobotic’s early success in the Google Lunar XPRIZE, the future of space robotics and human spaceflight, and more.
And we have a special announcement - we plan to send this episode of the Future Grind podcast to the Moon on board Astrobotic’s first mission, and we wanted to provide you an opportunity to fly alongside us by sending your own digital files and photos to Moon! Find out more and get involved here - To The Moon
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Show Notes
What is Astrobotic? [2:48]
Backstory and Beginnings [3:22]
Google Lunar XPRIZE [5:00]
Carnegie Mellon Connection [6:14]
$80 Million in NASA Contracts [6:59]
Private Payloads and MoonBox [8:34]
Countdown to Launch & Vulcan [16:24]
The Griffin Lander and Future Launches [19:24]
New Pittsburgh Headquarters [21:29]
Hiring and Open Positions [25:16]
John’s Path to CEO of Astrobotic [26:41]
Rovers and Deployment [28:30]
Landing Site and Lunar Cave Potentials [30:39]
Earth, Mars, and Beyond [33:54]
Custom vs. Off-The-Shelf Components [35:41]
Humans in Space and Aliens [36:10]
Space Law and Roadblocks [40:19]
Rover-As-A-Service and Rental Robots [44:27]
Astrobotic Technology on the Moon and ISS [46:16]
Space Industry Community [49:02]
What the Future Holds [50:25]
Mentioned
Google Lunar XPRIZE (XPRIZE)
Agencia Espacial Mexicana (Mexican Space Agency)
Pocari Sweat
DHL MoonBox
DHL
Astrobotic Mission One Manifest
ULA Vulcan
NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
TeraSwitch
Lacus Mortis (Lake of Death)
Alien Robots theory
International Space Station
Bosch & SoundSee
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