https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NJxFm77wT0

Host: Fraser Cain ( @fcain )
Special Guest: Tonight we are airing Fraser's interview with John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology. John earned his Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, John led the build of Scarab, a NASA concept robot for lunar drilling, and the first robot to carry a prototype of NASA's RESOLVE payload. He also founded Carnegie Mellon's Advanced Composites Lab, a research, training, design, and manufacturing lab specializing in high performance, lightweight composites for robotics.

 

Astrobotic Technology, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute in 2007. Astrobotics is a lunar logistics company that delivers payloads to the Moon by accommodating multiple customers on a single flight. It is a partner with NASA through a Space Act Agreement under the Lunar CATALYST program, and has 22 prior and ongoing NASA contracts. The company has 10 payload delivery deals in place for its first mission and dozens of customer negotiations for upcoming missions.

 

Additionally, Astrobotic is developing advanced space robotics capabilities such as terrain relative navigation, mobile robotics for lunar surface operations, and reliable computing systems for mission-critical applications.

To learn more about Astrobotics and their projects, visit their website at https://www.astrobotic.com/.

Regular Guests:

Dr. Brian Koberlein ( https://briankoberlein.com/ & @BrianKoberlein )

C.C. Petersen ( http://thespacewriter.com/wp/ & @AstroUniverse )

Michael Rodruck ( https://sites.psu.edu/mrodruck/ / @MichaelRodruck )

This week's stories:

- StarLink update.

- SETI at the VLA.

- NGC 4546 studied in detail.

- Flammable ice.

 

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can!

Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

Every bit helps! Thank you!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].