NASA Announces Five Centennial Challenges Competitions Open for Registration

NASA announced Tuesday the opening of team registration for five Centennial Challenges prize competitions with cash prizes totaling more than $1 million.

Teams from industry, academia, and the public may formally begin their participation by contacting NASA’s collaborator, or allied organization, responsible for administering each competition. The prize competitions and allied organizations that are accepting team registrations are:

• Astronaut Glove Challenge, administered by Volanz Aerospace/Spaceflight America with a total prize value of $250,000.
• Beam Power Challenge, administered by the Spaceward Foundation as part of the annual Space Elevator Games with a total prize value of $200,000.
• Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge, administered by the California Space Education & Workforce Institute with a total prize value of $250,000.
• MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) Challenge, administered by the Florida Space Research Institute with a total prize value of $250,000.
• Tether Challenge, administered by the Spaceward Foundation as part of the annual Space Elevator Games with a total prize value of $200,000.

Instructions and deadlines for registration are found on each of the allied organization’s Web sites, listed at the end of the release.

A kick-off conference for the Astronaut Glove Challenge will be held at the New England Air Museum, Windsor Lock, Conn., on April 24, 2006. Individuals and teams interested in competing for the Astronaut Glove Challenge are invited to attend.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program promotes technical innovation through novel prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation’s ingenuity to make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration — the plan to return humans to the moon, paving the way for journeys to Mars and beyond. The five prize competitions push the state-of-the-art in a wide range of capabilities and technologies.

“The Centennial Challenges program and our allied organizations are opening the starting gate for five competitions,” said program manager Brant Sponberg. “We welcome new teams to the Challenges ? they are the lifeblood of the program and bring great excitement and innovation.”

The Exploration Systems Mission Directorate manages the program. For more information about the Centennial Challenges Program and the five challenges on the Web, visit:

• http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov
• http://www.astronaut-glove.us/
• http://www.elevator2010.org/site/competitionClimber2006.html
• http://www.fsri.org/space_research_Moon_ROx.htm
• http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/regolith/
• http://www.elevator2010.org/site/competitionTether2006.html