In ten years, you could fly to the moon aboard a 3D printed rocket for only $10,000
Moon Express, the brainchild of billionaire Naveen Jain, has announced its first unmanned mission to the Moon will commence in 2017. Next year’s rocket mission will cost a whopping $5 million USD, but due to the Silicon Valley-based company’s use of additive manufacturing, Jain predicts the same mission will cost a jaw-dropping $10,000 in a decade. In other words, by 2026 we may be able to buy a return trip to the moon for only ten grand. And thanks to Moon Express’ partnership with the New Zealand-based Rocket Lab, we can expect that lunar rocket to be made up almost exclusively of 3D printed parts.
“We are now free to set sail as explorers to Earth’s eighth continent, the Moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand Earth’s economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity,” Moon Express tells us in a press release.
To refresh your memory, back in 2015 we saw the New Zealand company Rocket Lab unveil a rocket with an engine made almost entirely of 3D printed components. Named after the Kiwi physicist Ernest Rutherford, the Rutherford’s engine chamber, injector, turbopumps and main propellant halves were all produced using a unique additive manufacturing method known as electron beam melting (similar to selective laser sintering, or SLS). Coupled with the fact that the Rutherford is also the world’s first battery-powered rocket engine, Rocket Lab’s pioneering use of 3D printed materials means that the entire system costs an estimated 95% less than previously seen, opening the possibility of lunar voyages for anyone who can afford it.
Last year, the Silicon Valley-based Moon Express jumped on that opportunity, signing a deal with Rocket Lab for three lunar missions with their robotic, mostly 3D printed spacecraft.
It was only this past August, however, that the partnership got the official go-ahead from the US Government. Following a series of meetings with the FAA, the White House, the State Department, and NASA, Moon Express has now been authorized to travel beyond Earth’s orbit and land on the Moon in 2017.
The breakthrough maiden voyage will send the robotic spacecraft onto the Moon’s surface, “beginning a new era of ongoing commercial lunar exploration and discovery, unlocking the immense potential of the Moon’s valuable resources,” Moon Express says.
Moon Express co-founder Naveen Jain hopes these missions will teach humanity “to stand outside our planetary system and to learn how to live somewhere else.”
In other words, the interests of the Silicon Valley-based company run much deeper than just the lunar surface. “The recent discovery of water on the moon is an economic game changer for humanity’s future. Water is the oil of the solar system, and the moon has become a gas station in the sky,” says CEO Bob Richards.
“The sky is not the limit for Moon Express — it is the launchpad,” Jain states. “Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children. In the immediate future, we envision bringing precious resources, metals, and Moon rocks back to Earth.”
The company’s drastic visions still have a long way to go until fruition. But with the first mission chartered already for next year, Moon Express is optimistic for the future. If successful, that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for additive manufacturing.
Designed specifically for use in urban areas where space is limited and safety is a concern, AL_A’s stackable Pitch/Pitch sports fields turn athletic endeavors into a community event. The clear sided structures provide views for passersby, and for spectators, covered walkways around the pitches provide up-close enjoyment of the action. The pitches can be configured for different sports, including football, basketball and hockey, and for different sized teams starting with three-a-side.
Integrated lighting and stairwells, as well as the lightweight carbon fiber material, mean the pitches can be constructed and deconstructed quickly and easily. The design team envisions Pitch/Pitch structures to be used for time-limited events or for much longer, depending on the space available. They can also be used for other activities as well.
Sport connects people and creates community and new materials and designs are helping to make it more accessible. A shipping container that contains everything needed to build a community center and sports field is now available. And for friends wanting to watch a game together, a new virtual reality platform creates a stadium everyone can gather in. What other community services could be delivered in similar modular style?
A SpringWise sourced innovation
Global technology distribution giant, Ingram Micro, is now under the control of HNA Group, following the completion of the Chinese conglomerate’s $US6 billion acquisition of the US-based company.
The companies announced on 6 December that they had completed the transaction, seeing publicly-traded HNA Group subsidiary, Tianjin Tianhai Investment Company, take control of Ingram Micro.
The closure of the deal, worth $38.90 per share with an equity value of approximately $US6 billion, was first announced in February, and comes after a review of Ingram Micro’s finances by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
On 2 December, Ingram Micro announced that it had cleared their final hurdle to the completion of its acquisition by Tianjin Tianhai, with China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange approving the deal.
"The closing of this transaction represents a significant milestone on Ingram Micro's path to growing our business and providing a full spectrum of global technology and supply chain services to businesses around the world," Ingram Micro CEO, Alain Monié, said.
"We are delighted to move forward with this partnership with HNA Group and excited by the opportunity to accelerate the development and delivery of an even stronger value proposition for Ingram Micro's vendors and customers globally."
According to HNA Group vice chairman and CEO, Adam Tan, Ingram Micro, with its supply chain management experience and technology solutions, “exemplifies” HNA Group's strategy of investing in companies with strong positions in growing markets in the company’s core areas of focus.
“Working together, we believe there are significant opportunities to continue to expand Ingram Micro's delivery platform and portfolio of solutions offerings into high growth regions and provide customers across a wide range of industries with greater access to new market opportunities,” said Tan.
“Today marks a significant step forward in HNA Group's efforts to create a global, one-stop provider of logistics and supply chain solutions and services," he said.
While Ingram Micro will remain headquartered in Irvine, California, following the completion of the deal, and continue to be led by Monié, the completion of the transaction sees Ingram Micro cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
It is understood that, with the acquisition finalised, Ingram Micro’s chief financial officer, William Humes, is expected to leave the company, to be replaced by executive vice president of finance, Gina Mastantuono.
At the same time, the company’s executive vice president, secretary, and general counsel, Larry Boyd, is also set to step away, leaving vice president and associate general counsel, Augusto Aragone Coppola, as a replacement.
The company had previously told its associates that HNA Group had assured that the merger should have no impact on its day-to-day operations.
‘A significant part of HNA Group’s attraction to Ingram Micro is our exceptional associates, including our management teams," Ingram Micro said earlier in the year.
"HNA Group has assured us that it is committed to maintain our associates, management and operations, including Ingram Micro’s offices, warehouses and other facilities."
The company also said that it expected, “very few, if any,” Ingram Micro positions to be impacted as a result of the acquisition.
“HNA Group recognises that the assets of Ingram Micro’s business are our associates and our trusted relationships with our vendor and customer partners,” the company said.
“Ingram Micro expects to continue to operate in the same manner with our management and associate teams in place across our countries and lines of business, serving our vendor and customer partners as usual."
Likewise, the company assured its staff that the deal was unlikely to result in the closure or consolidation of Ingram Micro offices, facilities, or warehouses, and that there would be no change in how it conducts business, operationally, around the world.
The local channel community has already expressed mixed feelings about the deal, with Arrow ECS ANZ CEO, Nick Verykios, previously citing issues concerning vendors and trade in China.
“It's going to be a political issue as well," he told ARN in February. "It's going to be awesome watching all this. Who knows what's going to happen."
Meanwhile, Dicker Data CEO and chairman, David Dicker, took the long view, simply stating that it would be “very interesting to see how it plays out in the next year or so”.
Ingram Micro’s new owner, HNA Group, is a Hainan-based global conglomerate with an industrial model structured based around aviation, tourism, transportation, logistics, and financial services.
It has in excess of $90 billion in assets with significant operations in countries including China, the United States, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, Norway, France, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Ghana, Belgium and Netherlands.
Hasmate are a leading Health And Safety Management Software Provider, having developed a tool to manage health and safety, chemical management, human resources and training records, ISO 9001 records and more. Since 2002, Gordon and Jan Anderson have refined HASMATE into a robust software application, using real world experience and development.
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Contact: Founders Gordon and Jan Anderson are the ones to contact. Tel: +64 6 842 2499Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Web: www.hasmate.co.nz |
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242