The team is working hard on our first test rover, the not-so-catchy named Iteration 2, to mature the mechanical, electrical and software design. After a few indoor tests and public appearances – including the “Brigde of the Future” and “Researchers' Night” events –, the rover was delivered to the former bauxite mine at Gánt. The site now serves as a museum and a geological park, and was used in the Hunveyor educational space probe experiments as an analogue to Mars, so it was a good candidate for field tests. For the first test run, we picked a hardpan covered with gravel and some sand.

Team Puli Space launches a fundraising campaign for getting the remaining  special cameras for the shiny new I2 rover. Targeted at our german speaking fans, every cent helps, so get on over to the fundraising page, and help us make this happen:

http://de.indiegogo.com/puliauge

Development of our new I2 rover is in full swing. Our engineers and software developers are working round the clock to finish the current design, as challenging field tests are scheduled to take place in October, and early next year I2 even has to tackle the Moroccan desert. The project is proceeding as planned, except for one thing: the eyes. The team needs your help to obtain several more special cameras with which the rover will analyze its surroundings and plan its own route. We have started a fundraising campaign aimed at the German speaking audience to collect the required 3 000 USD, so if you think our mission is worth it, then now is the time to donate. Every cent helps! Follow the link above for more details.

According to a recent news release, China plans to land its first unmanned probe on the Moon in the second half of 2013. Chang'e 3, named after the Chinese goddes of the Moon, will contain a lander and a rover unit, and is planned to accomplish China's first soft landing on Earth's companion. The previous two probes in this series completed their tasks successfully in lunar orbit, paving the way for future missions.

BREAKING NEWS: HungaroBots made it, they have been selected for Phase II! Congratulations!

Registration for the 2012 MoonBots competition is now closed: 147 teams entered from 22 countries, and three Hungarian teams are among them! Two of the teams is affiliated with Puli Space: HungaroBots, from Sopron, is mentored by us, and Hungarian Mooncraft Makers from Kecskemét has connections to us too. The third team is Martians – the new generation from Szentendre.

Our team participated in a very successful panel discussion about the future of commercial spaceflight, organised by the Common Sense Society. The three panelists – Dr. Tibor Pacher, founder and team leader of Puli Space, László Molnár, author of the Cydonia blog and Puli team member and Dr. András Gschwindt from the Masat project – shared their respective views about this wide topic.