Deliverables and criteria

Letter of intent

Teams participating in the challenge are asked to submit a letter of intent by 14 October 2015. Please complete the attached Letter of Intent and submit it via email. This letter must identify all members of the team including name, nationality, University and educational field. In addition, a brief description of the team's approach to forming the team is required. Note that the jury appreciates creativity in forming intercontinental teams and highly values the effort spent on international cooperation and teamwork.

Missed the deadline for the Letter of Intent? Please contact us via email.

Download Letter-of-Intent template

 

Deliverables

In the frame of HERACLES, teams are challenged to deliver the following.

  • Technical report which presents an operational concept for HERACLES. More specifically, the concept design must sketch potential scenarios for operations on the lunar surface. Take into account the HERACLES elements as they are presented in the kick-off lecture and use these elements for describing operations on the Moon, yet do not limit your design to the provided elements. For example, what will the rover be doing? What type of samples will be extracted, and which tools are used? How can research be performed on the lunar surface most efficiently? Note that the HERACLES elements are a baseline for your design, but feel free to add and adjust parts of the design to fulfil your scenario. Define the operational site on the lunar surface, and present its geographical characteristics and unique assets for scientific knowledge gain.
     
  • Simulation illustrating the operational activities on the lunar surface and its vicinity. You have a free choice of visualisation methods and tools, for example CATIA, Kerbal Space Program, Blender or Celestia. The duration of the simulation must be in the order of 3-5 minutes.

 

The 3 best teams will be selected after the first round, and asked to deliver the following as preparation for their visit to the Moon 2020-2030 Symposium at ESA/ESTEC. Note that these deliverables are only required in case the team makes the finals.

  • PowerPoint presentation of the design, including the simulation. The selected teams will be informed about further details.
     
  • Poster presenting the uniqueness of your design.

 

Criteria

Please take into account the following criteria for your deliverables. Designs are judged based on the following characteristics:

 

Content

  • The interaction between the crew and automated system, also known as human-robotic partnership, is very clear in the operational concept.
     
  • The concept is based in the frame of HERACLES, yet not limited to it.
     
  • Creative contribution to future human spaceflight operations.
     
  • The design contains inspirational context for future space exploration.
     
  • The illustrative simulation visualizes the main activities of the end-to-end mission(s), with the focus on the lunar surface operations.
     
  • All references must be documented in a reference list and included in the technical report.
     
  • The technical report is limited to 30 pages, including cover page, excluding Reference list and Appendix.

 

Organisational

  • Each participating team must consist of members from at least two continents.
     
  • In case the team consists of more than 10 members, please send us an email before handing in a Letter of Intent.
     
  • Be creative in forming the team.
     

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