Shaun Riddell is "over the moon" — figuratively, if not quite yet literally — since his Langley, B.C., firm was named among three companies hired by the Canadian Space Agency to lay the groundwork for human and robotic missions to the lunar surface.
Riddell, the CEO of SpaceDirt, says he was "blown away" by the awarding of the $500,000 contract, given the competition for the national grant.
SpaceDirt makes technology for autonomous robotic resource development on Earth, aimed at predicting where to drill and making discovery faster, safer, and more cost-effective in extreme environments.
Riddell says the long-term vision for the company's robots is to be the "dump trucks" of the moon, while the current project will draw a road map on how "Canada will contribute to the overall mission of developing resources on the moon."
The Canadian Space Agency says over the next 10 months SpaceDirt, Volta Space Technologies and Canadian Strategic Missions Corp. will assess what's needed to generate and distribute power on the moon's surface and manage lunar soil.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Shaun Riddell
