Astrobotic Technology Inc. is a spin-off from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Founded in 2008, it will operate a series of robotic exploration and development machines on the Moon, Mars and beyond serving space agencies, researchers and the media/marketing industries.
Key accomplishments:
- Three prototype Moon rovers have been designed and tested
- The primary structure of the lander has been designed and tested
- A Moon launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 is under contract
- NASA has awarded Astrobotic Technology six lunar contracts totaling more than $11 million
- Several corporations have become sponsors
The company’s primary service is the delivery of substantial payloads to the lunar surface. A payload capability of 240 pounds is eight to fifteen times larger than that of competitors. The early payloads are science instruments or space agency exploration gear that needs advance testing in the lunar environment. Astrobotic rovers also gather data and generate HD 3D video for media buyers.
The technical prowess of the company flows from the robotic breakthroughs created by its founder, Dr. William “Red” Whittaker of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. His machines first made headlines when they cleaned up the Pennsylvania nuclear plant accident at Three Mile Island. Subsequent robots have walked into active volcanoes to take air samples at the caldera, correctly distinguished meteorites from ordinary rocks on the Antarctic ice, and discovered fossils while cruising the Atacama desert in Chile. Other initiatives created autonomous mine-hauling trucks for Caterpillar and harvesting machines that can operate without a human in control.
The Team
The leadership of Astrobotic Technology combines top robotic technologists, space and defense mission experts, and leaders in commercial space enterprise.
CEO and Chief Technical Officer Dr. William “Red” Whittaker is a leading world expert on building robots with the intelligence to select their own path through unstructured environments. He won the 2007 Urban Challenge (sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) with an SUV able to handle city traffic without a driver at the wheel and currently is executing a NASA research contract for a future lunar drilling robot. Dr. Whittaker is successful at meeting government data needs, having won more than 80 contracts from NASA, the U.S. Energy Dept. and the Defense Dept.
President David Gump led companies that marketed lunar rovers to major networks, corporate sponsors and space agencies. Sponsorship events include producing the first television commercial filmed on board the International Space Station on behalf of RadioShack and providing the first funding for *NSYNC singer Lance Bass’ effort to visit the Station. At Transformational Space Corp., he executed a $6 million NASA contract to advise the agency on how to structure its Moon-Mars program.
John Thornton is Astrobotic’s Chief Engineer, and also is Senior Research Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. In 2010, John founded the RI’s Advanced Composites Lab, a research, training, design, and manufacturing lab specializing in high performance lightweight composites for robotics. John earlier led the development of the robot Scarab, a NASA concept robot for lunar drilling that has since taken on $1.5 million of follow-on contracts.
Steven Huber is Lead Structures & Mechanisms Engineer at Astrobotic Technology. He has extensive experience designing robotic systems for planetary, lunar, and space environments. Steve led the design, analysis, build, and test of Astrobotic’s flight structure for its lunar lander. Additionally, he managed the development of a system definition document detailing the design of a robotic mission to the moon. Steve graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in April 2009 with a M.S. in Robotics. His master’s thesis, “Conjoined Lander-Rovers for Planetary Exploration,” details the development of the configuration, morphology, mechanisms, structure, and avionics of a concept spacecraft.
Jason Calaiaro is Lead Engineer for propulsion and IT and also directs its Scalable Gravity Offload Device initiative, which recently won a Phase 2 STTR contract from NASA. In 2008, Jason developed testing equipment for the Explorer II, a pipeline inspection robot which won a “Top 100” award from R&D Magazine for being one of the year’s most original and innovative technological developments.
Jason also mentors Carnegie Mellon University students participating in the Moon expedition initiative, and develops structure and mechanisms for both lander and rover. He also develops software for robots and is currently developing algorithms to optically identify hazards on unknown lunar terrain.
Jason earned his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in Robotics, both from Carnegie Mellon University.
Kevin Peterson is Lead Engineer for Software, Avionics, Guidance and Control. He has fielded a dozen autonomous systems including unexploded ordnance survey, high-speed desert and urban driving, construction and naval systems. Kevin was the technical lead for Carnegie Mellon’s DARPA Grand Challenge teams, and his TugBot systems have surveyed more terrain than any other autonomous system in the world. His awards include first place in the DARPA Urban Challenge, second and third places in the DARPA Grand Challenge, and the Boeing Red Phantom Award. Kevin has an M.S. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, also from Carnegie Mellon.
Board of Directors
Paul C. O’Brien, Chairman
Paul C. O’Brien of Boston brings more than 40 years experience in the telecommunications and information technology industry with an extensive background in information systems, project management, technical marketing. Mr. O’Brien is the president of the O’Brien Group, a technology investment and consulting firm. He also serves as the president of Pan-Asia Development, an investment firm pursuing opportunities in Asia.
Mr. O’Brien is the former CEO and chairman of the board of New England Telephone after having served as executive vice president at New York Telephone. Earlier in his career he worked for GE and served in the US Air Force. Mr. O’Brien currently sits on a variety of boards of both private and public companies. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Manhattan College and an MBA from New York University. He has received three honorary doctorates.
William F. Readdy
Mr. Readdy of McLean, Va., is founder and managing partner of Discovery Partners International, specializing in global space development and aerospace program management. He has three decades of experience across a broad range of aerospace specialties. He previously served as the NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations, an astronaut, a Naval aviator and a test pilot.
As a veteran pilot astronaut, Mr. Readdy made three space flights, STS-42 (January 22-30, 1992), STS-51 (September 12-22, 1993) and STS-79 (September 16-26, 1996).
At NASA, his assignments included serving as the agency’s director of operations at Star City, Russia, where astronauts and cosmonauts train for launch aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles. He served at NASA as Associate Administrator for Space Operations with more than $6 billion budget authority, and oversight for the Kennedy, Johnson, Marshall and Stennis Space Centers as well as programmatic oversight for International Space Station (ISS), Space Shuttle, Space Communications and Space Launch Vehicles. Mr. Readdy is the recipient of the Presidential Rank award, two NASA Distinguished Service medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross and holds the rank of Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He is also an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics.
Readdy serves on the board of directors of Spacehab/Astrotech, Corp. and also serves as chairman of the board of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.
Vishwas Karve
Mr. Karve is Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, for International Rectifier Corp., an investor in Astrobotic Technology. IR is a world leader in advanced power management technology, from digital, analog and mixed-signal ICs to advanced circuit devices, power systems and components. The world’s leading manufacturers of computers, appliances, automobiles, consumer electronics and defense systems rely on IR technology to drive the performance and efficiency of their products.
Other Board Members
Dr. Whittaker and Mr. Gump also are Members of the Board.
Advisory Board Members
Eric C. Anderson
Mr. Anderson is the founder and CEO of Space Adventures Ltd., the only company to have sent private clients to the International Space Station. Space Adventures also provides zero-gravity experiences on airplane flights, and is offering its clients the opportunity to fly around the Moon and back. Mr. Anderson also is chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
Dr. Khalid Al-Ali
Dr. Al-Ali is Executive Director of the Office of NASA Partnerships, as well as a fellow t the OPUSNOVUM Foundation. A native of Qatar, he previously was principal nvestigator, project lead, and program visionary for key projects funded by the NASA Ames Research Center and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) at Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley campus in Moffett Field, CA.
John Kohut
Mr. Kohut has led major defense acquisitions of multinational command and control systems, fighter aircraft and weapons programs. He has managed a staff of 140 directing multiple corporations world-wide, in the process transforming a failing telecommunication development into an operational success. While at the Defense Dept., he oversaw financial management of a $1.8 billion plan for five nations. At Raytheon, he developed system concepts and business strategies for space exploration, national security space applications, and space commerce.
Paul F. Pelosi Jr.
Mr. Pelosi has more than 15 years experience in advising emerging and Fortune 500 companies in the areas of finance, infrastructure, sustainability and public policy. Mr. Pelosi serves as an advisor to several institutions including NASA Ames Research Center and AirPatrol Corporation on a variety of infrastructure projects to promote both sustainable development and security.
