Another Centennial Challenges Update: Night Rover Allied Org, Green Flight Challenge Next Week, Radical Benefit, LaserMotive Week, More

NASA has picked the Cleantech Open as the Allied Organization to run the $1.5M Night Rover Centennial Challenge to collect solar energy and store it long enough to do productive work during the lunar night.

NASA and The Cleantech Open Partner in Robotics Challenge - NASA

Here's their Night Rover Challenge website.  You will see there that Joshua Neubert, who was the Executive Director of the Conrad Foundation, is on the management team.

Challenge.gov also has a Night Rover Challenge page.

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Get ready for the NASA Green Flight Challenge run by the CAFE Foundation, and the subsequent Google Green Flight Challenge Expo at NASA Ames:

NASA is Painting the Skies Green Over Santa Rosa - NASA - It will be held at the Sonoma County Airport there.

NASA competition could lead to air taxis anyone can afford - Al.com

NASA, CAFE Foundation Host Google Green Flight Challenge Expo - NASA

Here's the Green Flight Challenge fact sheet. (PDF)

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It isn't strictly a Centennial Challenge, but I think of it as a product of the Regolith Excavation Challenge:

NASA 2012 Lunabotics Competition Open For Registration - NASA - The Lunabotics Mining Competition will be held May 21-26 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

NASA's Digital Learning Network will hold a webcast about the Lunabotics competition on September 27, 4:00 ET.

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The X PRIZE Foundation, which ran the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, will hold a Radical Benefit for Humanity on October 20.

Briefs: Speed Up update; Will Watson interview; Space regulation discussion panel - RLV News - SpeedUp was one of the Lunar Lander Challenge competitors.  SpeedUp is now Ready for Tether Testing.

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The first winner of the Beam Power Centennial Challenge, LaserMotive, is in the news a lot lately:

Space Angels Network Invests in Wireless Power Beaming Company: LaserMotive, Inc. (PDF) - Space Angels Network

Lasermotive is in NASA power beaming project - RLV News

Could laser propulsion open up space? - Next Big Future has an interview with LaserMotive's Jordin Kare.

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It would be nice to get some discussion going at this NASASpaceflight.com forum post on the 2nd Nanosat Launcher Challenge Seminar.