Centennial Challenge editorial

Space News (December 4, 2006 issue) has a near full-page editorial written by Rick Tumlinson on the Centennial Challenges problem in the Senate. The article is titled "Centennial Challenges - Don't Let Them Die". It describes the excitement at the 2006 X Prize Cup challenges, and compares them to other prizes that weren't won in the first year but eventually were. A key paragraph: "The cost of the Lunar Lander Challenge is less than the cost of many NASA paper studies. And the return for this tiny pittance includes: new ideas that can be applied to our return to the Moon and the exploration of Mars; inspiration for a tired and dispirited space community; the excitement of competition; the drawing in of new talent to the field of space; and the inspiration of thousands of young minds to study math, science and engineering." More on the Challenges in the next post ...