SBIRS and STTRS; Masten Job; Sample of Google Lunar X PRIZE Updates

@SoldTheMoon NASA awarded Astrobotic two SBIR/STTR contracts today, to study excavation robots and lunar gravity simulations. http://tinyurl.com/ylybmem

Here's the list of SBIR awards from NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program 2009 Phase 1 Proposals Selected for Negotiation of Contracts

There are a lot that sound interesting; I'll just pick a few with a prize spin (either the organization is involved with prizes, the subject matter is related to some prominent space prizes, or both):

Astrobotic Technology, Inc.: Lightweight Robotic Excavation
Grainflow Dynamics, Inc.: Low-Gravity Mimicking Simulants and Evaluation of Simulant Flow
Los Gatos Research: Novel Instrumentation for Lunar Regolith Oxygen Production Facilities
Micro-Space, Inc.: Automatic Solar and Celestial Navigation on the Moon and Mars
Paragon Space Development Corporation: Contaminant Robust System for Oxygen Production from Lunar Regolith
Pioneer Astronautics: Lunar Organic Waste Reformer
Plasma Processes, Inc.: Mass Production of Mature Lunar Regolith Simulant
Ventions, LLC: Regeneratively-Cooled, Turbopump-Fed, LOX/Methane Lunar Ascent Engines

On the STTR side, we have NASA 2009 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Phase 1 Award Selections

Here are some STTR examples:

Astrobotic Technology, Inc.: Scalable Gravity Offload System
Orion Propulsion, Inc.: Carbon Nano-Composite Ablative Rocket Nozzles
ProtoInnovations, LLC (CMU): Reliable Autonomous Surface Mobility (RASM) in Support of Human Exploration

@synergymoon First preparations for Orbital SkyDive..... :) Neb http://bit.ly/07U9pvp

@selenokhod I uploaded a YouTube video -- Selenokhod at Memorial Museum of Cosmonatics, Russian TV cnannel NTV http://bit.ly/07CpWC6

@TeamFREDNET Tomorrow we'll have an internal demo of our Lego Mindstorm setup (http://bit.ly/8d4qEy). Public demo to follow soon.

@colinake I'll miss the people at GTRI, but I'm excited to say I'm taking a full-time gig with @MastenSpace 2 weeks from today! Pumped, I say!

@ConradAwards Next live Web chat 12/1 Laura Schoppe on Protecting your Research Project for Commercialization, 3-4 PST http://www.conradawards.org/