NASA and its partner, the Spaceward Foundation, today announced prizes
totaling $400,000 for four prize competitions, the first under the agency’s
Centennial Challenges program.
NASA’s Centennial Challenges promotes technical innovation through a novel
program of prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation’s ingenuity to
make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration and NASA
goals. The first two competitions will focus on the development of lightweight
yet strong tether materials (Tether Challenge) and wireless power transmission
technologies (Beam Power Challenge).
“For more than 200 years, prizes have played a key role in spurring new
achievements in science, technology, engineering and exploration,” said NASA’s
Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Craig
Steidle. “Centennial Challenges will use prizes to help make the Vision for Space
Exploration a reality,” he added.
“This is an exciting start for the Centennial Challenges program,” said Brant
Sponberg, program manager for Centennial Challenges. “The innovations from these
competitions will help support advances in aerospace materials and structures,
new approaches to robotic and human planetary surface operations, and even
futuristic concepts like space elevators and solar power satellites,” he said.
The Tether Challenge centers on the creation of a material that combines light
weight and incredible strength. Under this challenge, teams will develop high
strength materials that will be stretched in a head-to-head competition to see
which tether is strongest.
The Beam Power challenge focuses on the development of wireless power
technologies for a wide range of exploration purposes, such as human lunar
exploration and long-duration Mars reconnaissance. In this challenge, teams will
develop wireless power transmission systems, including transmitters and
receivers, to power robotic climbers to lift the greatest weight possible to the
top of a 50-meter cable in under three minutes.
The winners of each initial 2005 challenge will receive $50,000. A second set of
Tether and Beam Power challenges in 2006 are more technically challenging. Each
challenge will award purses of $100,000, $40,000, and $10,000 for first, second,
and third place.
“We are thrilled with our partnership with NASA and we’re excited to take the
Tether and Beam Power challenges to the next level,” said Meekk Shelef, president
of the Spaceward Foundation.
The Centennial Challenges program is managed by NASA’s Exploration Systems
Mission Directorate. The Spaceward Foundation is a public-funds non-profit
organization dedicated to furthering the cause of space access in educational
curriculums and the public.
For more information about the Challenges on the Internet, visit:
http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:
