2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge Rules; Transforming Space Conference

The California Space Authority hopes to release the official rules for the 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge on the week of November 5 (that's next week). There's a note about the Transforming Space conference, which the California Space Authority is also hosting, but it's not clear to me, even though the conference is November 5-8, if the rules will be presented at that conference.

While I'm posting about the Transforming Space conference, I'll note that there are some space prizes and awards featured there:

The conference holds the 2007 California Space Authority SpotBeam Awards Dinner. The link takes you to the diverse set of awards, which includes winners from across the space industry, with an emphasis on California.

One of the speakers at the conference is Congressman Ken Calvert. The link I gave is to his "Space Issues" page. Not every Congressperson has a "Space" section in their "Issues" page. Here's an excerpt from that page dealing with space prizes:

I also believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of America. The recent efforts surrounding the awarding of the Ansari X Prize to the American team led by Burt Rutan of California indicates a strong drive among private citizens to reach into space. I will support incentives to stimulate creativity and new initiatives in the space industry. Clearly, it is no longer impossible to imagine a time when some of us will have the opportunity to travel into space as tourists. NASA’s early pioneers have laid the foundation for the future of space travel for all.

Check the "Ads for Centennial Challenges" tag below to see some discussions on Calvert's somewhat controversial (at least in the discussions) proposal for NASA ads to help fund the NASA Centennial Challenges program.

Dr. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X PRIZE Foundation, is also on the speaker list.

Finally, Ken Davidian will represent the NASA Centennial Challenges during a keynote address.