PIMPAMA & BEYOND
Coast space company signs deal with NASA to help extract water from Mars
A GOLD Coast company has signed a deal with NASA to put an experimental rover on Mars by 2024. In an Australian first, Pimpama-based Gilmour Space Technologies will work with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to design and build a prototype rover at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, which would be able to extract water from the red planet.
“Extracting water from the surface of Mars is super necessary for manned missions and Space X is counting on this sort of thing for their missions,” said company chief executive and founder Adam Gilmour. Scientists believe vast deposits of water are trapped within the planet’s ice caps.
A GOLD Coast company has signed a deal with NASA to build an experimental rover and put it on the surface of Mars by 2024.
In an Australian first, Gilmour Space Technologies has entered a Space Act Agreement with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration for research, technology development and educational initiatives.
Under the agreement, the company will work with NASA to design and build a prototype rover at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, which would be able to extract water from the red planet.
Company chief executive and founder Adam Gilmour told the Gold Coast Bulletin from Singapore that a rover
was just one of several projects he wanted to develop with the organisation that put man on the moon.
“In a nutshell it is a working agreement which enables us to do a lot of different development projects with them,” he said. “We have an umbrella agreement which covers technology, life support systems, propulsion, rocket launches and deepspace missions.
“(A prototype Mars
rover) is the first thing we are going to work with NASA on. Extracting water from the surface of Mars is super necessary for manned missions and Space X is counting on this sort of thing for their missions.”
Water on Mars could be used to sustain oxygen for a mission as well as fuel to allow for lift-off from the surface for a return trip.
Mr Gilmour and his brother James presented
their work to NASA executives in the US in 2016.
He said NASA had expressed an interest in developing a Mars rover.
Following this meeting they developed an initial prototype and are now developing a second craft with the University of NSW.
The initial prototype was the size of a microwave. The real one will be closer in size to a ride-on mower.
Despite the new deal, Mr Gilmour said his company’s focus remained on rocket launches and he hoped to use NASA’s facilities at Kennedy Space Center to advance their testing.
“The door is also open to further work including satellite launches,” he said.
Last month, the company conducted two tests of its first full-scale orbital engine.
The tests, which went to plan, sets the stage for the launch of the first commercial-class rockets into suborbital space by 2019, and low Earth orbit by 2020.
“This agreement means we use NASA assets at a cheaper price in the future.
“We are excited because we want to work with NASA to launch satellites and this is a good start to get that going.”
ADAM and James Gilmour have been reaching for the stars for five years, trying to turn their space technology business into a global player.
Today, that quest enters a new frontier when the brothers announce they have signed a deal with NASA to have an experimental rover on Mars by 2024.
A major focus for the rover will be the extraction of water, which clearly would be a game changer in the human race’s bid to set up civilisation on the red planet.
The Gold Coast is in line for enormous gains for deals of this magnitude.
Entrepreneurs such as the Gilmours are pioneering a new wave of business previously never thought of.
The Gold Coast is a tourism mecca; pristine beaches, flash apartments, high-end entertainment and clean living that will forever be a pillar of the city’s economy. But the Glitter Strip is well on the way to a world-class reputation for its deeds in the health, education and technology sectors.
Last year, Professor Alan Mackay-Sim was named Australian of the Year for his work in the regeneration and repair of the nervous system, giving hope to thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide.
The groundbreaking work by him and a Griffith University team was instrumental in a successful operation led by a British professor to restore mobility for a quadriplegic man, who was able to take steps, pedal a specially designed bike and reported a return of feeling in his legs and sexual function.
In other Gold Coast labs, medical experts are leading the way to find cures to the world’s deadliest diseases.
Aside from changing people’s lives, the state-of-the-art work across all the sectors will act as a magnet for international corporations which once may have considered the city a holiday haven.
Their presence will provide new cash flows and jobs, and spur further advancements. Like the Gilmours, it is creating a new world.