Planetary Transportation Systems

German aerospace company

"Part-Time Scientists" redirects here; not to be confused with citizen scientist.

Planetary Transportation Systems GmbHCompany type| Private

|

Industry| Aerospace
Founded| 2009
Founder| Robert Böhme
Fate| Active
Headquarters|

Berlin

Germany

Products| Lunar lander
Services| Lunar transportation
Website| pts.space

Planetary Transportation Systems (PTS), formerly known as PTScientists and Part-Time Scientists, is a Berlin-based aerospace company. They developed the robotic lunar lander "ALINA" and seek to land on the Moon with it. They became the first German team to officially enter the Google Lunar X-Prize competition on June 24, 2009,[1] but failed to reach the finals in 2017 for lack of a launch contract.[2] During the summer of 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy, and the ALINA project was put on hold. In July 2021, PTS was selected with ArianeGroup to build ESA's ASTRIS kick-stage.[3]

## PTScientists GmbH

[edit]

PTScientists GmbH is the company representing the team competing at the Google Lunar X-Prize. The company opened offices in Berlin-Mahlsdorf in 2015. It sells payload for the Moon mission to individuals, organizations and companies. The cost for one kilogram of payload is between €700,000 and €800,000.[4] Furthermore, the know-how of the team is available as a consulting service.[5] As of April 2018, the European Space Agency was studying six private companies, including PTScientists, to work on potential ISRU payload delivery to the Moon surface by 2025.[6]

An additional source of income are merchandising products for the Moon mission.[7][8] PTScientists lists several partners and sponsors in their web site.[9]

## History

[edit]

The planned landing site for ALINA is next to the Apollo 17 lander, located at Taurus–Littrow

The PTScientists team formed in June 2009 as "Part-Time Scientists", when ten teams had already entered Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP), which had started in 2007. Later the company PTScientists GmbH (Limited) was founded.

On August 22–23, 2009, the PTScientists presented their project at the Open Doors Day of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.[citation needed]

On December 28, 2009, the team presented their mission at the 26th annual Chaos Communication Congress. In a two-hour presentation, the team provided a detailed overview of all parts of the project. This was the first time the European-made private lunar rover prototype had been presented to the public.[10][11]

Early 2015 the team won awards in the categories Mobility and Vision, and a total of $750,000 in the Milestone Prizes of GLXP.[12]

During the Advertising Festival in Cannes, on June 23, 2015, Audi was announced as a main sponsor and the rover developer.[13][14] As a result of this cooperation, the two identical rovers were named Audi Lunar Quattro during the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.[15]

## Planned demo mission to the Moon

[edit]

ALINA (Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module)

ALINA lander and ALQ rover

Mission type| Robotic lander and 2 rovers
Operator| PTScientists
Website| mission-to-the-moon.com
Mission duration| one lunar day (28 days) maximum
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft| ALINA
Spacecraft type| lunar lander
Manufacturer| PTScientists
Launch mass| 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) [16]
Landing mass| ALINA: ~320 kg (710 lb)
Rovers: 30 kg (66 lb) each
Dry mass| ALINA: 220 kg (490 lb)
Fuel mass: 930 kg (2,050 lb)[16]
Payload mass| ALINA: 100 kg (220 lb) max.
Rovers: 5 kg (11 lb) max. each[16]
Dimensions| ALINA: 2.6 m × 2.2 m × 1.8 m
Rovers:
Power| ALINA:
Rovers: 90 W[16]
Start of mission
Launch date| TBD[17]
Rocket| Ariane 64[17]
Contractor| ArianeGroup[17]
Moon rover
Spacecraft component| Audi Lunar Quattro-1 (ALQ-1) and Audi Lunar Quattro-2 (ALQ-2)
Landing site| Taurus–Littrow
Transponders
Band| X band and S band[16]

In March 2017, the group announced that they planned to perform the world's first private Moon landing[18] with a mission they now simply call "Mission to the Moon". A landing module called Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA) would launch in 2021[17] on an Ariane 64 rocket[17] to the surface of the Moon.

The ALINA lander would deploy two lunar rovers, but none of the three spacecraft are designed to endure the long lunar night.[16] The three spacecraft are technology demonstrators to showcase the lander's capabilities, including landing near the desired landing zone, roving, and real-time communication.

By late 2016, PTScientists had secured agreements to deliver payloads from the U.S., Canada and Sweden,[19] but only one payload (from NASA Ames) has been disclosed.

### ALINA lander

[edit]

ALINA is a lunar lander with a launch mass of 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) and a landing mass of about 320 kg (710 lb).[16] Its main engines are in a cluster of eight, each generating 200 newtons. It also features eight attitude control thrusters generating 10 newtons each.[16] ALINA is built to host three general types of payload, which are rovers, stationary and orbital (deployment of CubeSats), but for its first mission it will deploy two rovers and no satellites.

This mission aims to land 3 to 5 km (1.9 to 3.1 mi) away from the Apollo 17 landing site in the Taurus–Littrow lunar valley,[19] to locate and film from a distance the Lunar Roving Vehicle left there by NASA astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.[18] PTScientists have pledged to preserve this and all other NASA and Soviet lunar landers and rovers as "world heritage" and through their support for For All Moonkind Inc.[20]

### ALQ rovers

[edit]

The Audi Lunar Quattro (ALQ) rovers are being[when?] developed by German automobile manufacturer Audi.[7][21] The prototype rover is called Asimov Jr. R3, while the two flight rovers are named Audi Lunar Quattro (ALQ).[21][22] The rovers feature four-wheel drive tranmision where each wheel is able to pivot 360° for special maneuvers, and their solar panel is able to tilt in the direction of the Sun for best power generation.

The rovers' projected maximum speed is 3.6 km/h (2.2 mph), and they will carry two stereo cameras to acquire 3D images, mounted to a moving head at the front of the vehicle.[19] ALINA lander will communicate with the rovers using technology based on Infineon chips, Nokia, and Vodafone's 4G LTE.[23][7] In turn, the lander will communicate with Earth Control using the European Space Operations Centre (ESTRACK) network.[16]

### Payload

[edit]

Audi Lunar Rover (ALR)

In addition of hardware for a live video broadcast, the lander and rovers will carry commercial or scientific instruments for a fee.[7] The lander, ALINA, has a capacity for 100 kg (220 lb) including the two 30 kg rovers, and each rover has a capacity for 5 kg (11 lb) payload.[16]

During its first mission, the lander is envisaged to carry three customer payloads, including an experiment designed by NASA Ames, called Lunar Plant Growth Experiment (LPX).[24][25] This is an experiment for investigating germination and initial plant growth when subject to the combined effects of lunar gravity and lunar surface radiation.[26] The experiment will try to grow Arabidopsis (a flowering plant), basil, sunflowers, and turnips in a sealed "biosphere" cylinder about 10 cm in diameter with life-support systems.[27] A miniature camera will photograph any growth. Research in such closed ecological systems inform astrobiology and the development of biological life support systems for long duration missions in space stations or space habitats for space farming.[28][29][30]

## ESA lander study

[edit]

In January 2019, ESA contractor Ariane Group announced that it has received a one-year contract from ESA to study a lunar lander concept to mine lunar regolith to extract natural resources. PTScientists were awarded a subcontract and are responsible for the payload delivery portion of the study. The mission would be launched on an Ariane 64 in 2025.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "German Team Part-time-scientists Enters $30 Million Google Lunar X Prize Competition". SpaceRef. June 27, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
2. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (January 22, 2019). "ArianeGroup and PTScientists to study lunar lander mission for ESA". Space News. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
3. ^ admin-arianegroup. "ArianeGroup wins ESA's "ASTRIS" competition". ArianeGroup. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
4. ^ ptscientists.com/products/payload ALINA's payload. Accessed October 15, 2017.
5. ^ ptscientists.com/products/engineering-consultancy Accessed Oktober 15, 2017
6. ^ Giving ESA a helping hand to the Moon. PTScientists News Release. 26 April 2018.
7. ^ a b c d The Mission Archived March 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. PTScientists' lunar mission home page. Accessed 12 July 2018.
8. ^ Imprint Archived June 25, 2018, at the Wayback Machine auf mission-to-the-moon.shop. Accessed Oktober 15, 2017
9. ^ ptscientists.com/partners. Accessed 2016-10-15
10. ^ online, heise (December 28, 2009). "26C3: Wie eine Handvoll Hacker den Mond erobern will". heise online.
11. ^ "Deutsches Team will Mond erobern und 30 Millionen Dollar gewinnen". Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
12. ^ Google Lunar XPrize Milestone Awards Announced Accessed 2016-03-29
13. ^ ptscientists.com Accessed 2016-06-27
14. ^ Mission to the Moon Archived July 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2016-06-27
15. ^ The Verge: Inside Audi's wonderfully improbable project to put a rover on the Moon Accessed 2016-03-29
16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j ALINA: Starter Payload User Guide (2018) Archived January 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. (PDF) PTScientists. 2018. Accessed on 3 January 2019.
17. ^ a b c d e Berlin-based New Space company PTScientists and European space company ArianeGroup agree on far-reaching cooperation for lunar missions. PTScientists' Press Release, published by SpeceRef on 8 May 2019.
18. ^ a b "European rocket scientists pledge to make first private Moon landing in 2018". Daily Telegraph. March 19, 2017.
19. ^ a b c Part Time Scientists reserves rocket to land Audi moon rovers at Apollo 17 site. Collect Space. 29 November 2016.
20. ^ Private space company to return to Apollo 17 landing site – carefully! Spacewatch. 2017.
21. ^ a b 45 years after the last step on the moon, we are ready to take the next one. Archived October 13, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Audi. Accessed: 1 October 2018.
22. ^ PTScientists 'Mission to the Moon' to Take Care Not to Harm Apollo 17 Landing Site. Robert Z. Pearlman, Yahoo News. 7 December 2017.
23. ^ "Vodafone and Nokia to create first 4G network on Moon". www.vodafone.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
24. ^ Mission to the Moon Seeks Middle East Partners In Science and Resource Exploration. Spacewatch - Middle East. July 2017.
25. ^ Calling the Moon: Startup to put cellphone tower on the Moon. Tereza Pultarova, Fox News. 11 August 2017.
26. ^ Lunar Plants LPX Experiment. NASA. Accessed on 5 January 2019.
27. ^ NASA's Next Frontier: Growing Plants On The Moon. Tarun Wadhwa, Forbes. 2013.
28. ^ I. I. Gitelson; G. M. Lisovsky & R. D. MacElroy (2003). Manmade Closed Ecological Systems. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-29998-5.
29. ^ Greenhouses for Mars. Mamta Patel Nagaraja, NASA.
30. ^ "Need Oxygen On Mars? Get It From Bacteria! : SCIENCE". Tech Times. May 14, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* ptscientists.com official PTScientists website
* mission-to-the-moon.com official website of the Mission to the Moon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Planetary Transportation Systems.

* v
* t
* e

Google Lunar X Prize

Organizers|

* Google
* Sundar Pichai
* Larry Page
* Sergey Brin
* X Prize Foundation
* Peter Diamandis

Finalist teams|

* Hakuto
* Moon Express
* SpaceIL
* Synergy Moon
* TeamIndus

Withdrawn teams|

* Advaeros
* AngelicvM
* ARCA
* Astrobotic
* Barcelona Moon Team
* C-Base Open Moon
* Euroluna
* FREDNET
* Independence-X
* JURBAN
* LunaTrex
* Micro-Space
* Mystical Moon
* Next Giant Leap
* Odyssey Moon
* Omega Envoy
* Part-Time Scientists
* Penn State Lunar Lion Team
* Team Puli
* Quantum3
* Rocket City Space Pioneers
* SCSG
* Selenokhod
* SpaceMETA
* STELLAR
* Team Italia
* Team Phoenicia
* Team Plan B
* Team SELENE

Spacecraft|

* ALINA (Part-Time Scientists)
* Beresheet (SpaceIL)
* HHK-1 / ECA (TeamIndus)
* MX-1E (Moon Express)
* Peregrine (Astrobotic)
* SORATO (Hakuto)
* Tesla (Synergy Moon)
* Unity (AngelicvM)

* v
* t
* e

Spacecraft missions to the Moon

Exploration
programs|

* American
* Apollo
* Artemis
* CLPS
* Lunar Orbiter
* Lunar Precursor
* Pioneer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Chinese
* Chang'e
* Indian
* Chandrayaan
* Japanese
* Japanese Lunar Exploration Program
* South Korean
* Korean Lunar Exploration Program
* Russian
* Luna-Glob
* Soviet
* Crewed
* Luna
* Lunokhod
* Zond

Active
missions|

| Orbiters|

* ARTEMIS
* CAPSTONE
* Chandrayaan-2
* Chang'e 5-T1
* Danuri
* Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
* Queqiao 1 and 2
* Tiandu-1
* 2
* ICUBE-Q

|

Landers|

* Chang'e 4

Rovers|

* Yutu-2

Flybys|

* ArgoMoon

Past
missions|

| Crewed landings|

* Apollo 11
* 12
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* (List of Apollo astronauts)

|

Orbiters|

* Apollo 8
* 10
* Artemis I
* Chang'e 1
* 2
* 5
* Chandrayaan-1
* 3
* Clementine
* Explorer 35
* 49
* GRAIL
* Hiten
* LADEE
* Longjiang-2
* Luna 10
* 11
* 12
* 14
* 19
* 22
* Lunar Orbiter 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* Lunar Prospector
* PFS-1
* PFS-2
* SMART-1
* SELENE (Kaguya, Okina, Ouna)
* Lunar Trailblazer

Impactors|

* LCROSS
* Luna 2
* Moon Impact Probe
* Ranger 4
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9

Landers|

* Apollo Lunar Module ×6
* Blue Ghost M1
* Chandrayaan-3
* Chang'e 3
* Chang'e 5
* 6
* Luna 9
* 13
* 16
* 17
* 20
* 21
* 23
* 24
* SLIM
* Surveyor 1
* 3
* 5
* 6
* 7

Rovers|

* Lunar Roving Vehicle
* Apollo 15
* 16
* 17
* Lunokhod 1
* 2
* Yutu
* Pragyan 2
* 3
* LEV-1
* LEV-2 (Sora-Q)
* Jinchan
* Yaoki
* MAPP
* Micro-Nova
* AstroAnt

Sample return|

* Apollo 11
* 12
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* Luna 16
* 20
* 24
* Chang'e 5
* 6

Failed landings|

* Beresheet
* Emirates Lunar Mission
* Hakuto-R M1
* M2
* IM-1
* 2
* Luna 5
* 7
* 8
* 15
* 18
* 25
* OMOTENASHI
* Surveyor 2
* 4
* Vikram
* Peregrine

Flybys|

* 4M
* Apollo 13
* Chang'e 5-T1
* Geotail
* Galileo
* ICE
* Longjiang-1
* Luna 1
* 3
* 4
* 6
* LunaH-Map
* Lunar Flashlight
* Lunar IceCube
* LunIR
* Mariner 10
* NEA Scout
* Nozomi
* Pioneer 4
* Ranger 5
* STEREO
* TESS
* WMAP
* Wind
* Zond 3
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* PAS-22

Planned
missions|

| Artemis|

* II (2026)
* III (2027)
* IV (2028)
* V (2030)
* Lunar Gateway

|

CLPS|

* Blue Moon Pathfinder (2025)
* Griffin M1 (2025)
* IM-3 (2026)
* Blue Ghost M2 (2026)
* M3 (2028)
* IM-4 (TBD)

Luna-Glob|

* 26 (2027)
* 27 (2028)
* 28 (2030)
* 29 (2030s)
* 30 (2030s)
* 31 (2030s)

CLEP|

* Chang'e 7 (2026)
* 8 (2028)

Chandrayaan|

* 4 (2027)
* 5 (LUPEX) (2028)

KLEP|

* Korean lunar lander (2032)

Others|

* ispace M3 (2026)
* Lunar Pathfinder (2026)
* DESTINY+ (2028)
* Cislunar Explorers (2020s)
* CU-E3 (2020s)
* MoonRanger (2020s)
* Argonaut M1 (2031)
* International Lunar Research Station (2030s)

Proposed
missions|

| Robotic|

* ALINA
* Artemis-7
* Beresheet 2
* Blue Moon
* BOLAS
* Garatéa-L
* ISOCHRON
* LunaNet
* Lunar Crater Radio Telescope
* McCandless
* Moon Diver

|

Crewed|

* DSE-Alpha
* Boeing Lunar Lander
* Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander
* Lunar Orbital Station

Cancelled /
concepts|

* Altair
* Baden-Württemberg 1
* #dearMoon project
* European Lunar Explorer
* First Lunar Outpost
* International Lunar Network
* LEO
* LK
* Lunar-A
* Lunar Lander
* Lunar Mission One
* Lunar Observer
* Lunokhod 3
* MoonLITE
* MoonRise
* OrbitBeyond
* Project Harvest Moon
* Prospector
* Resource Prospector
* SELENE-2
* Ukrselena
* XL-1
* VIPER

Related|

* Colonization of the Moon
* Google Lunar X Prize
* List of lunar probes
* List of missions to the Moon
* List of artificial objects on the Moon
* List of species that have landed on the Moon
* Lunar resources
* Apollo 17 Moon mice
* Moon landing conspiracy theories
* Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings
* Apollo 11 anniversaries
* List of crewed lunar landers

* Missions are ordered by launch date. Crewed missions are in italics.

* v
* t
* e

Lunar rovers

Active|

* Yutu-2 (2019–present, on Chang'e 4)

Past|

| Lunokhod|

* Lunokhod 0 (1A)† (1969)
* Lunokhod 1 (1970–1971, on Luna 17)
* Lunokhod 2 (1973, on Luna 21)

|

Apollo|

* Lunar Roving Vehicle (1971, Apollo 15)
* LRV-2 (1972, Apollo 16)
* LRV-3 (1972, Apollo 17)

CLEP|

* Yutu (2013–2016, on Chang'e 3)
* Yidong Xiangji (2024, on Chang'e 6)

Chandrayaan|

* Pragyan† (2019, on Chandrayaan-2)
* Pragyan (2023, on Chandrayaan-3)

Rashid|

* Rashid† (2022–2023, on Hakuto-R Mission 1)

CLPS|

* Iris† (2024, on Peregrine Mission One)
* Colmena × 5† (2024, on Peregrine Mission One)
* Yaoki (2025, on IM-2)
* MAPP (2025, on IM-2)
* AstroAnt (2025, on IM-2)
* Micro-Nova (2025, on IM-2)

JAXA|

* Sora-Q† (2022–2023, on Hakuto-R Mission 1)
* LEV-1 (2024, on SLIM)
* LEV-2 (Sora-Q) (2024, on SLIM)

Ispace Inc.|

* TENACIOUS (2025 on Hakuto-R Mission 2)

Planned|

* Chang'e 7 (Rashid 2) (2026)
* Lunar Terrain Vehicle

Proposed|

* ATHLETE
* Audi Lunar Quattro ×2 (PTScientists)
* Deep Space Systems
* ECA
* HERACLES
* Lunar Cruiser
* Luna-Grunt rover
* LUPEX rover
* Moon Diver
* Moon Express
* OrbitBeyond rover
* Polaris
* Scarab
* Space Exploration Vehicle
* Team Puli

Cancelled|

* Lunokhod 3 (1977)
* MoonRanger (2023)
* Resource Prospector
* VIPER

Related|

* Tank on the Moon (2007 documentary)
* List of missions to the Moon
* Mars rover
* Rover (space exploration)
* List of extraterrestrial rovers

Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned.

* v
* t
* e

Future spaceflights

Crewed|

| 2025|

* Shenzhou 21 (November)
* Soyuz MS-28 (November)

|

2026|

* SpaceX Crew-12
* Artemis II (April)
* Soyuz MS-29 (June)
* Boeing Starliner-1
* Vast-1
* Axiom Mission 5

2027+|

* Soyuz MS-30 (February 2027)
* Gaganyaan-4 (Q1 2027)
* Gaganyaan-5 (2027)
* Artemis III (2027)
* Artemis IV (2028)
* Artemis V (2030)
* Chinese Crewed Lunar Landing Mission (~2030)

Uncrewed|

| 2025|

* Bion-M No.2
* Cygnus NG-22
* Cygnus NG-23 (Q4)
* ESCAPADE
* Gaganyaan-1 (Q4)
* Garatéa-L
* GOSAT-GW
* IMAP / SWFO-L1 (September)
* HTV-X1 (September)
* IM-3 (October)
* LOXSAT1
* MetOp-SG Series A
* MetOp-SG Series B
* PETREL
* Progress MS-32 (August)
* Progress MS-33 (October)
* SMILE (Q3)
* SPARCS
* SSC Demo-1

|

2026|

* ALTIUS / FLEX
* Chang'e 7 / Rashid 2
* Gaganyaan-2
* Gaganyaan-3
* ispace M3
* MMX
* MULA
* Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (2026–2027)
* Xuntian
* PLATO
* ULTRASAT

2027|

* Chandrayaan-4
* FORUM
* Luna 26
* NEO Surveyor (September)
* PPE / HALO
* Space Rider
* Superbird-9

2028|

* Chang'e 8
* DESTINY+
* Dragonfly
* JASMINE
* Luna 27
* LUPEX
* MBR Explorer
* MSR
* Rosalind Franklin rover
* SAOCOM-2A
* Solar-C EUVST
* Tianwen-3
* Venus Orbiter Mission

2029|

* ARIEL / Comet Interceptor
* Harmony
* Tianwen-4
* Solar Polar Orbit Observatory

2030+|

* ISS Deorbit Vehicle (2030)
* Luna 28 (2030)
* SAOCOM-2B (2030)
* Spektr-UV (2030)
* Spektr-M (2030+)
* EnVision (2031)
* Venera-D (2031)
* VERITAS (2031)
* DAVINCI (2031–2032)
* LiteBIRD (2032)
* Athena (2035)
* LISA (2035)

TBA|

* DISHA
* Janus
* MOM 2
* TEREX-1 (mid 2020s)
* Uranus Orbiter and Probe
* Habitable Worlds Observatory

* List of proposed missions to the Moon
* List of proposed space observatories
* List of proposed Solar System probes

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