Bangalore's Team Indus is making all the right noises for India globally. It has become one of the five lucky teams to participate in the prestigious Google Lunar X Prize. The Winner of this competition walks away with enormous prize money of 30 million dollars.
Notably, Team Indus is the only Indian entry into Google Lunar X Prize, a global race to reach the moon by 2015. It has been shortlisted to compete for two of the Milestone prizes: the Imaging prize and the Mobility prize.
The shortlisted five teams are required to land a robot on the moon by the end of the next year. Team Indus is working hard round the clock to land to launch a rover on I's work horse Polar Satellite Launch vehicle. An Ultraviolet telescope Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager will be adjunct to this rover. This instrument is being developed by a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), which is being head by Jayant Murthy, who is a senior professor at IIA. The instruments will work as a wide field UV imager to scan the sky in UV wavelength.
Team Indus Google Lunar X Prize Mission Animation Video -
According to the IIA team of researchers working on the project, one of the key challenges would not only to make an instrument which is compact but also to ensure that the instrument is able to function properly in the varying temperatures of the Moon.
The IIA team was able to become a part of this project after defeating several top notch institutions all over the country.
Team Indus has great chances of bagging the prize because of its eclectic team. The founding team consists of people from diverse fields like management, Air Force, engineering and entrepreneurship etc. Their combined passion, knowledge and experiences are almost unbeatable.
Indus Team’s advisory board consists of some of the country’s most celebrated thought leaders from various industries who wholeheartedly believe in the team’s dedication and hardwork.
Team Indus has an aim of leading India to the next generation of aviation technology and space exploration. And while marching towards their aim, they also want to side by side redraw the boundaries of private initiative, unforgettably impact communities and inspire young minds.
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