NASA Centennial Challenge Updates: Sample Return, Nanosat, Green Flight, Tether, More

A lot has been happening related to NASA Centennial Challenges in the last few weeks, so here's an update that focuses mainly on them.

Some teams are anxious to learn more about the rules and team agreement for the Sample Return Robot Challenge:

Update on Challenge

Status Update - Sample Return Robot Challenge

As you can see, starting a major prize competition can be quite a challenge in itself.

Team Phoenicia to hold 2nd Nanosat launcher seminar - RLV News - From the Team Phoenicia post: 

This will be upgraded to a two day event based on the feedback that we have received. Food and drink will be provided. There will be speakers in the vein of last time, but additionally all potential teams that wish to present will be able to do so on a first come, first serve basis until the slots are filled. Potential suppliers for the teams will also be given time to present as well.

Tech Could Beam Power to Drones - Lasers could power drones in flight and remove the need for gas deliveries to army bases. - Discovery News covers LaserMotive, the winner of the most recent Beam Power Centennial Challenge.

Also check out the recent tweets from @LaserMotive at the Unmanned Systems North America 2011 conference.  The conference had some other prize events, including a student competition pavilion, a photo contest, awards, and the following X PRIZE hint:

@AUVSI: Diamandis: will announce $10M purse James Cook X Prize next month for AUV that can circumnavigate the globe collecting certain data.

Move Over DARPA: X Prize is Here - National Defense Magazine - This covers the Peter Diamandis talk at the conference.  It includes a bit more information about potential prizes, including the James Cook X Challenge for a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle with a sensor suite and an Autonomous Auto X PRIZE that would pick up where the DARPA Challenges left off.

Getting back to the Centennial Challenges, here's some news about the Green Flight Challenge:

Google to Sponsor Green Flight Challenge - CAFE Foundation Blog: 

CAFE (Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency) will conduct the event from September 25 through October 2, 2011 at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport. ... All competing aircraft will be shown to the public at the Google Green Flight Challenge Exposition hosted by NASA at Moffett Field–NASA Ames Research Center, from 9 AM to 4 PM on October 3, 2011. ... In addition to the main prizes for highest scores, the competition includes a bio-fuel prize and plans for a special Lindbergh Prize for Quietest aircraft, to be presented by Erik Lindbergh, grandson of the renowned winner of aviation’s Orteig Prize, Charles Lindbergh.

In addition to the Centennial Challenge news, the CAFE Foundation also has an announcement from Oshkosh 2011: PC-Aero Wins Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Vision Award

The Tether Strength Competition was held at the Space Elevator Conference a few days ago:

Space Elevator: Going Down? - Seattle Weekly
The 2011 Strong Tether Competition - The Space Elevator Blog

Many competitors in past Centennial Challenges continue their contributions.  The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is a great example of this:

Thoughts on small sat and cube sat market size. - Unreasonable Rocket

Team Prometheus on Carmack 100kft Micro Prize - Team Prometheus: 

Team Prometheus officially entered the Carmak Micro Challenge today.  Our launch date is set for March 10th 2012.  That's the date for our Space Shot.  Going to be crazy here for a while!

Masten Space Systems Wins NASA Suborbital Flight Contract
Masten Space Systems Announces Management Additions - Masten Space Systems

'Sticky Boom' made for space dockings - Boulder County Business Report on the 2011 Heinlein NewSpace Business Plan Competition win by Altius Space Machines
Biz Plan Pitch Video - Altius Space Machines

Prize Roundup: Prize Report, Electric Aircraft, LLC Pad, GLXP Panel, FAA Prize, Nanosat Launch Partner, More

The 2011 CAFE Foundation Electric Aircraft Symposium - CAFE Foundation - One of the presentations on the preliminary program is for 

Larry Ford, Vice President, CAFE Foundation, DEBUT: The Amazing Aircraft of the 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge

The X PRIZE Foundation lists several open job opportunities, including one for the Senior Director, Google Lunar X PRIZE.

NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Award - NASA Watch

Managing Innovation Prizes in Government - IBM Center for The Business of Government

Spurring Innovation via Contests and Prizes - Governing.com

Air Force Launches Open Innovation Pavilion - Open Government Initiative (The White House)

FAA Seeks Funding for New Space Prize - Space News

Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge partner needed - RLV News

The robots in Google's race to the moon - New Scientist

@LunarPioneer: LROC announces The Moon and Me K-12 Art Challenge #LPSC42 http://bit.ly/hPn3xa

@ISDC: We're featuring a panel with Google Lunar X Prize teams for our Saturday plenary...

@ikluft: Photo by @Rocket_Flyer of weeds growing in Lunar Lander Challenge launch/landing pad in #Mojave http://twitpic.com/47jh23

@sedsusa: The SEDS 2011 High-Powered Rocketry Competition is under way! Contact info and full rules and details can be found at http://bit.ly/gAMsb1

Also see SEDS 2011 High-Powered Rocketry Competition.

@TeamPrometheus: Here is the kickstart link! Wish us luck and pledge if you can! If we dont make our goal we get nothing and you... http://fb.me/WsSvcZNN

Prize Roundup: Altius Milestone, Student Astronomy, Prometheus Sponsors, Virtual Worlds, Asteroid Competition Hints, More

@RobinSnelson: Vote to give this idea 50K: Rebuild an astronomy observatory for student and community education. #pepsirefresh http://pep.si/bXRWIT

@rocketrepreneur: NASA Authorization Bill passes, Altius signs its first contract, and I had a good time meeting with LM and ULA friends today. Good day.

@TeamPrometheus: Has added DIY Drones to the sponsor list! Thanks, Chris. http://fb.me/G3yQ3xDK

Has added Big Red Bee to the sponsor list! Thanks, Greg. http://fb.me/F5q6hbv4

Has added Featherweight Altimeters to the list of sponsors! Thanks, Adrian. http://fb.me/GNGGlr5K

@unrocket: Machine to round then brake cylinder hone. http://plixi.com/p/47588504

Low melting temp metal to fixture odd shape parts in the mill. Cleaning up weld scale on sealing surface. http://plixi.com/p/47568220

Green Flight Challenge: Elektra One Progress - CAFE Foundation Blog

If you can't get to other worlds using spacecraft yet, try the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge.

British Entreprenuer Julian Ranger Backs Astrobotic in Google Lunar X Prize - Parabolic Arc

Follow this link to see some more hints about the Planetary Society's planned HUMAN MISSION TO AN ASTEROID COMPETITION.

WSJ tech prizes now and in future - RLV News

Prize Roundup: Steps to Green Flight, Penn Manor, Oil Cleanup, NewSpace Awards, More

Green Flight Challenge: Six Steps to Synergy - CAFE Foundation Blog

CAFE News: Become a Part of Aviation History – Help Fund the Green Flight Challenge - CAFE Foundation Blog

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #27 - Luna C/I: Moon Colonization and Integration

Penn Manor Rocket Team Beats the World! - Penn Points - The Student News Magazine of PMHS
U.S. Team Wins International Youth Rocketry Challenge - Raytheon

X Prize Contest Coming For Oil Clean Up - EarthTechling
X Prize Foundation to Announce Multi-Million Dollar Incentive Competition to Clean Up Oil - MarketWire:

Who: X PRIZE Foundation
What: Press Conference to Launch the Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE
When: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Where: National Press Club - Holeman Lounge
529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20545
Time: 1:00 PM (ET); Noon (CT); 10:00 AM (PT)

Armadillo posts 2010 Space Access Society video in HD - RLV News

Power-Beaming competition postponed… - The Space Elevator Blog - They anticipate a date somewhere in the March-April 2011 timeframe. The Tether Challenge is still on for the Space Elevator Conference this August 13-15, and so are the Artsutanov and Pearson research paper prizes. Speaking of that conference:
Watch this space… - The Space Elevator Blog:
Coming very soon - a special announcement about the upcoming Space Elevator Conference.

Here are a few tweets from Jeff Foust about awards at the NewSpace 2010 conference:

@jeff_foust: @dmasten recalls being asked what his conpany's ultimate goal is when accepting his #newspace2010 award. "Solar system domination."

Duncan Jones, director of "Moon", accepts his award at #newspace2010: http://yfrog.com/b5mufhj

Congrats to @spacevidcast for the Best Presentation of Space award at #newspace2010!

Art Dula gets the Pioneer of NewSpace award. "How the heck am I supposed to get this into my suitcase?" #newspace2010

Lori Garver's acceptance video at #newspace2010: http://yfrog.com/2obaxyj

Miles O'Brien on the big screen accepting his award: #newspace2010 http://yfrog.com/5mu9dxj

Weekend Prize Roundup: FAR Results, Electric Aircraft Prizes, UROC contests, more

@alias_amanda: Successful tethered test with @unrocket's Blue vehicle. They are moving to another pad for a higher flight (1200 ft?)

http://twitpic.com/19vxac - There was an in-flight abort at 100+ ft. Vehicle fell to ground.

@wikkit: Super boring rocket video. I know you're all sick of them. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKfnhjdE2wY&fmt=22

@mattcannella: http://twitpic.com/19xq2x - Great Pic our rocket Xombie (@MastenSpace), & the @unrocket blue-ball rocket on the same pad! Bummer day for blu

@ad_astra2: RT @Xconomy Lindbergh Grandson Launches Incentive Prizes for Advances in Electric Aircraft and Green Aviation http://xconomy.com/?p=69372

Here's an excerpt:

The four LEAP awards, which have yet to be funded, will be awarded annually at the EAA’s annual AirVenture “fly-in,” the popular air show held each July in Oshkosh, WI. ...

Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) - Space for All

I should also mention some items on the CAFE Foundation, another organization with ties to EAA and electric/green aviation:

Eco-Marathon an Echo of the Green Flight Challenge - CAFE Foundation Blog - This relatively new blog has quite a few other posts, too.

The 2010 CAFE Foundation Electric Aircraft Symposium - CAFE Foundation - The dates are April 23-24.

TeamPrometheus: Gimbal control module! Very simple and effective! http://bit.ly/aR2EcT

Space Policy Essay Competition - Space for All

NorthWest Entrepreneur Network Panel Features Tom - LaserMotive

WPI By the Numbers - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

New meeting - DeSoto: ESA´s CanSat competition.

January 2010 Meeting Minutes - UROC.org - The Utah Rocket Club minutes cover Utah TARC entries and the club's Pioneer contest. They will also be involved with NARAM 52 in Pueblo, CO, and hope to help with rocket contests there, too.

Prize Tweet Collection and Some Speculation

@doug_comstock - NASA Year in Review 2009, 15 highlights include IPP's Spinoffs and Prize winning rockets! Vote for your favorite: http://tinyurl.com/NASA09

@ad_astra2 - Yay X PRIZE Lab students!] RT @MITNews: How to spur energy storage innovations (an X-prize maybe?): http://tinyurl.com/ydnc3ak

@fineri - http://twitpic.com/t9mj5 - Suborbital rocket design, many a long night spent on solidworks! good to start building.

@makerfaire - Maker Faire gets sustainability award nomination: We just found out that Maker Faire Bay Area has been nominated ... http://bit.ly/5aHfnE

@AirshipZ - NASA Green Aviation Workshop Report Published ~ Airship Z-Prize project included on page 18 http://ow.ly/LJnI

@lunaci - Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #4 is up! http://is.gd/5tfkc Merry GLXP-mas :)

@unrocket - Going out to far to watch rockets and for xmas bbq and to pick up blue ball.

@lksurley - X PRIZE and Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge mentioned in NASA Year in Review AND Discover lists X PRIZE in Top 100 Stories of 2009.

@soldthemoon - The Science Insider about Obama's decision also says landers and habs go to intl. partners - would reduce NASA interest in GLXP services.

That last one is fun to speculate about. Here's my take on it. The Augustine Committee final report suggested using commercial services such as derivatives of Google Lunar X PRIZE and Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge capabilities in the Flexible Path for some lunar lander components when commercial capabilities have matured enough to enable such components. I could see several scenarios related to the above tweet:

• NASA is seriously interested in lunar surface work, and is just bringing in international participation to allow more overall achievements in deep space and on the lunar surface. In this case lunar robotics derived from the Google Lunar X PRIZE would still be of great interest to NASA. Also, international partners could still encourage commercial participation in the international landers.
• NASA is not interested in lunar surface work, and just wants to check off a few boxes (Earth-Moon Lagrange Points, lunar orbit, lunar surface) on the Flexible Path on its way to more distant destinations. International partners are interested in the lunar surface. In this case lunar robotics derived from the Google Lunar X PRIZE wouldn't be of as much interest to NASA. However, commercial lunar robotics and commercial lunar lander components would be of interest to the international partners building the landers and habs. It's important to remember that the Google Lunar X PRIZE is an international competition.
• NASA is not interested in lunar surface work, and neither are the international partners - or at least not enough to develop astronaut lunar landers. In this case, there is no opportunity for commercial participation in the astronaut lunar lander since it wouldn't be built. However, there still could be enough interest in the lunar surface in NASA and/or in international partner agencies to result in space agency interest in commercial lunar surface robotics, since this would presumably be considerably cheaper than astronaut landers. The work from these robots could result in later increased interest in astronauts on the Moon from the space agencies.
• NASA is interested in sharing costs with international partners, and is seriously interested in the lunar surface, but the partners aren't interested in the lunar lander role. In this case, we are back to the Augustine Committee Flexible Path recommendation with NASA lunar landers involving commercial components.

Prize Roundup: Masten Achievement, Another Beam Power Qualifier?, Regolith Challenge Closer, More

Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge

I'm sure everyone knows the news about Masten Space Systems qualifying for the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 1 2nd place prize. That's a major milestone that certainly deserves a detailed post all by itself - but that's already been done:

Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge 2009 Resources - Reports, photos, videos and more - RLV News - This valuable resource covers all of the competition events so far, and I'm sure it will cover the next ones as they happen. There's a section on "Oct. 7, 2009 - Wednesday - Masten Space Systems - Level I Mojave Spaceport" that has all of the details and links on yesterday's achievement.

@wikkit - Harlock posted his really great videos of the flights: http://is.gd/45DXI http://is.gd/45DYb The plume looks fantastic with a good camera.

http://is.gd/43vLf - video I shot handheld of the second flight. Kind of dorky, but captures the mood better than tripod video.

The ending of Ben's video after the landing is great.

@mastenspace - RT @Spacevidcast: LIVE tonight: @MMealling talking about #NGLLC & free for all call-ins talking about LCROSS! http://www.spacevidcast.com

Regolith Excavation Challenge

MDI men shoot for the moon dirt - Village Soup has a well-written article about one of this year's Regolith Excavation Challenge teams:

Peter Homer of Southwest Harbor, the 2007 winner of NASA’s Astronaut Glove Challenge, has teamed up with Ben Baxter, owner of Marine Machines in Town Hill, to build a robotic machine to excavate simulated lunar soil for NASA’s 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge. The top prize is $500,000.

@grncheese - Regolith Challenge team roster http://bit.ly/1eCun

MOON DIGGING COMPETITORS LINE UP (PDF) - California Space Authority lists all 23 teams (this is also linked by Green Cheese Solutions above).

@paulsrobotics - just brought a new sponsor on board for the Regolith Excavation Robot - the AIAA of New England! Check out the... http://bit.ly/2hb6c7

Why haven't we seen pics of your lunar regolith excavator? http://yfrog.com/16kybyj

15 min into run... http://yfrog.com/5hjj1ij

1 foot distance of driving and digging regolith JSC1-A http://yfrog.com/5mkb2oj

@regolith_chal - Doing our airborne particulate monitoring today.

Google Lunar X PRIZE

Students Reach For The Moon - UD Student Group, UDart, Develops Rocket Technology, Tests With Fuels Provided By Wright Patterson Air Force Base - Flyer News (University of Dayton Student Newspaper) - This covers UDART, a student club that is working with Google Lunar X PRIZE team LunaTrex.

@openmoon - c-rove´s spoke optimization finished - installation this evening

@OmegaEnvoy - Awesome story on FOX 35 News today on the Omega Envoy Project, have a look: http://bit.ly/1SYMqJ #GLXP

@Team_Selenokhod - The mockup of Selenokhod rover will be unveiled on Moscow State University (MSU) Festival of Science www.festivalnauki.ru Stay tuned!

Beam Power/Climber Challenge

Another possible contender emerges… - The Space Elevator Blog describes the National Space Society team's upcoming qualification attempt:

Next Monday and Tuesday, October 12th and 13th, the team from NSS will be at the TRUMPF facility in Plymouth, Michigan, testing and validating their Climber and power-control system. Personnel from both Spaceward and NASA-Dryden will be there too, along with yours truly.

And then there were four. Well maybe. - Space Elevator Games

Aviation Prizes

Current List of GFC Teams - CAFE Foundation - I count 30 teams at the moment.

Z-Prize at NCDC “One Mind, One Heart, One Corridor” - Airship Z-Prize

Other Prizes

Cheap Contest Series? - Guest blogger John Hare at Selenian Boondocks is considering a series of "cheap contests" to follow up on the recent one there:

I am looking for real world ways of confirming or busting some of my concepts within my budget. ... I’m looking for feedback on if this series can and should be started.

@nasaprize - Just completed an interview with Bloomberg TV on NASA's involvement in incentive prizes

ESMD Space Grant 2010 Research Paper Competition - NASA Exploration System Mission Directorate - There are 4 $3,500 scholarship prizes for the 4 topics:

Ground Operations
Lunar and Planetary Surface Systems
Propulsion
Spacecraft

Energy/Environment Prize Roundup: Automotive, Plane, Airship, Biofuels, NASA Centennial Challenges

Future NASA Centennial Challenges

As I mentioned in an earlier post, NASA Centennial Challenges is looking for Ideas for New NASA Prize Challenges. One of the "Criteria for Selecting New Prizes" noted on the NASA Centennial Challenges site is "Links between NASA Needs and National and Global Needs". Three of the six examples listed in this section strike me as particularly relevant to the subject of this post, energy and environment:

• Energy - Alternative sources, transmission, storage and conservation
• Food and Water Supplies, Life Support, Recycling, Hazard Remediation
• Climate Change, Earth Science, Space Weather

Many of the specific "Prize Challenge Ideas" listed on the same page also seem relevant to energy and environment innovation prizes, including the following:

• Electric aircraft - increasing range and speed
• Improved safety and efficiency of aviation systems
• Lunar greenhouse
• Closed loop life support
• Efficient clothes washing machine for space station
• Lunar Night power source and/or power storage
• Recycling of materials
• Solar power systems (size, mass, performance, cost)
• Power beaming - solar rover or airship
• Space solar power demo
• Power beaming to the lunar surface from space-based solar power systems
• New applications for Earth observation data
• Improved wind power systems (aeronautical technology, Earth or Mars application)
• Closed loop life support systems and resource recycling
• NASA Technologies to Meet Human Needs

All else being equal, it makes a lot of sense to me to go after innovations that help solve multiple problems at the same time, such as space technology improvements that also are improvements in energy, environment, or other important domains.

Progressive Automotive X PRIZE

Now Only 90 Official Teams Listed - X PRIZE Cars

Kinetic Vehicles MAX Withdraws from Automotive X Prize - X PRIZE Cars

Calculating MPGe - Progressive Automotive X PRIZE

An Update on Design Judging - Progressive Automotive X PRIZE

MIT

TTXGP: Isle of Man electric motorcycle race - MIT? - MIT Electric Vehicle Team Blog

The Electric Acid Test - On the Isle of Man, the beginnings of a marketable electric motorcycle. - MIT Review

One Gallon Challenge: 164 MPGe - MIT Electric Vehicle Team Blog

One Gallon Challenge: alt-fuel "race" cars get up to 164 MPGe - AutoBlogGreen (link from the MIT team blog post above)

One Gallon Challenge - Boston GreenFest 2009

Gallons in an electric car? - MIT Electric Vehicle Team Blog

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from One Gallon Challenge - MIT Electric Vehicle Team Blog

Prize Capital/Biofuels Prize

Eyes on the prize - David Strom’s Web Informant

The California Algae Fuel Prize (PDF) (draft/working copy) - Prize Capital - The concept includes a prize for the most fuel per acre (including farm and facility area) as well as a series of races with prizes. It also includes an advanced market commitment (10M gallons).

Algae Fuel Prize Workshop (PDF) - Prize Capital

The Algae Fuel Prize Draft V11 (PDF) - Prize Capital

CAFE Foundation

The The 2009 CAFE Foundation Electric Aircraft Symposium presentations includes this one on what is now called the 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge: The AGP: Aviation’s Green Prize—The Flight Competition for 100 MPG Aircraft: Brien Seeley M.D. President, CAFE Foundation. It includes some ideas for the challenge in later years, too.

The Green Flight Challenge has been getting a lot of media coverage.

PADA Awards at AirVenture 2009 - 2009: Burt Rutan

Airships

Unmanned German sperm dirigible ‘to fly within days’ - Airship Z Prize - No, this isn't from an Austin Powers movie.

Win a pair of tickets to ride in world’s largest airship OC (Orange County) Register (link from Airship Z Prize site):

The tickets will go to the person who best answers the following question: “If you could fly over anything you wanted to in the world in Eureka, what would it be?” ... The flight will travel over Orange County, from Long Beach.

Prize Roundup - May 14, 2009

I may add to this morning roundup post later today.

Here's the CAFE Foundation blog. They run the Aviation Centennial Challenges for NASA. I linked to a post on this blog earlier, but I wasn't able to actually connect to it and check it at the time.

The most recent CAFE Foundation and PAV News item is on the NASA Ames Workshop (I assume the same one Pete Worden twittered about) covering environmentally-friendly aviation technology. CAFE discussed their Aviation Green Prize.

Briefs: Team Italia in GLXP; TEMPO3 test from balloon - RLV News

Batteries survive cryogenic freezing. - Astrobotic at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams site - One of the areas of this prize that I find the most interesting is the full lunar day/night bonus prize, but I haven't seen much news about it. The technology shown in the video and text at this post may help.

Dean McLaughlin's novella “Tenbrook of Mars” wins Analog magazine AnLab Award - Marooned - Science Fiction books on Mars

The latest from the KC Space Pirates - Space Elevator Blog

A few more prizes - Conservation International on The Great Turtle Race

MIT IDEAS 2009 Winners ~ Eight Promising Protos - Maximizing Progress
MIT Imaging Ventures ~ 2009 Finale Proposals - Maximizing Progress
SolSource ~ Novel Solar Cooker Wins St Andrews - Maximizing Progress on the $75,000 St Andrews Prize for the Environment
MIT $100K Finale 2009 ~ 20 Years of Venturing! - Maximizing Progress

Winners of Panoramio Contest of December 2008 - Panoramio Blog - The picture for the post is one of the honorable mention ones. I didn't have trouble picking the space theme picture this time, although one of the others sure has an "other-worldly" feel to it. As usual, check them out in Google Earth or Google Maps (the site makes it easy to do this).

Pomerantz: RT @jeff_foust: Odyssey Moon's lunar greenhouse gets mentioned in a trade pub for the produce industry (!): http://is.gd/zVrp

PeterDiamandis: just landed in SFO... long day, Detroit and Dallas. visited Carmack @ Armadillo

i_2_i: @PeterDiamandis is blogging about i2i at http://blog.innocentive.com/ @innoCentive #i2i

Bob_Richards: At The Planetary Society. Thinking of Carl sitting at the table where we talked of many possibilities http://twitpic.com/55y99

More fun hair hijinks at Masten, I assume in celebration of their milestone tethered flight:

colinake: Orsen is cutting @rocketplumber's hair... Here's an intermediate step. http://twitpic.com/56au4

jeff_foust: In addition to their normal tasks, the ISS crew is going to be involved in the Eurovision music contest: http://is.gd/zRzY

Doug_Comstock: http://twitpic.com/4zn1l - Jackson getting his savings bond for winning the essay contest. Just a few minutes to launch!

Prize Roundup - May 4, 2009

Here are some recent Twitter posts:

NASAPrize:

Plans approved for 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge. Open period from July 1 through October 31. Open location.

You can comment on the Green Aviation Challenge rules at http://tinyurl.com/ck2qjw (go to Appendix A)

(Note: The CAFE Foundation site seems to be down at the moment, so I can't confirm the previous link).

Pomerantz:

I've got an article up on the Huffington Post about the @FIRST09 Robotics finals. Please check it out & spread the word! http://bit.ly/4k7FI

PeterDiamandis:

Taking the redeye to NYC tonight for 3 days of meetings. Giving keynote address at American Farm School... "space, tech and farming...

Here's a brief writeup of the anticipated talk tonight (on page 9): The Sower Issue 163 (PDF)

Holding a two-day X PRIZE Board of Trustees meeting ... Great group of Board members... Jim Gianopulos, Ratan Tata, Pat Soon-Shiong, Arianna Huffington, Ansari Family, Richard Garriott, Adeo Ressi ... Eric Anderson, Bob Weiss, Gregg Maryniak, Larry Page, Diane Murphy, Gil Elbaz, Craig Venter, Jack Bader.

richardbranson: (apparently a follower of NASA_Ames_Web twitter)

Heat, a little space dust and a 3rd win! http://tinyurl.com/cuwzpm

From that blog post:

Eagle-eyed supporters may have noticed we changed the logos a little for this race and the cars sported the Virgin Galactic brand. We have some of the space team in the Gulf talking about our venture to prospective astronauts.

Indeed the GP win was not the only sucess of the weekend - Galactic signed up both Rubens Barrichello and Niki Lauda to be astronauts. While Niki actually wants to learn to fly the spaceship himself.

gtwhitesides:

Heading over to catch the end of the 2009 Arthur C. Clarke awards at the Cosmos Club.

(Note: That tweet was a couple weeks ago.)

Bob_Richards:

Google co-founder Sergey Brin blogs about importance of genetic mapping and @23andMe http://too.blogspot.com/

In the non-Twitter world:

Armadillo engine picts - RLV News

Priory keeps science a priority - Star Bulletin

Plantation teens get head start on rocketry careers - SunSentinel.com

Pittsburgh-Based Astrobotic Technology and CMU Shooting for Moon-Landing Prize - Global Pittsburgh blogspot

Prize Roundup - May 2, 2009

Pete Worden twitters about the CAFE Green Aviation Prize and a related workshop held at NASA Ames:

Busy Sunday (typical NASA Ames workday) 2nd day Green aviation workshop plus planning mtg for cool lo-cost planetary mission

Note NASA- CAFE green aviation prize unveiled yesterday in SF Bay area. Can electric aircraft re-vitalize Geberal Aviation - I think yes

Cool idea from green aviation workshop from 1940 - sailing airships using undersea hydroplane tethered to airship for tacking - neat!

At Green Aviation weekend workshop at NASA Ames. Very hard goal to reduce carbon in aviation. Major new job for NASA!

Here are other recent comments I found to be of interest:

Last nights NASA Town Hall forum - interesting. Big argument about science mission costs. Small and cheap is my view. Others disagree :-(

Ps - Pharmasat is Ames second nanosat (8kg) built in concert with students at Santa Clara Univ. Low cost - $ few millions - not $ billions!

Unreasonable update - RLV News

Here's an update from the Regolith Excavation Challenge twitter:

Rules FAQ has been posted: http://regolith.csewi.org/faq

Anousheh Ansari Wins First Annual NCWIT Symons Innovator Award - MarketWatch

Links: Ocean Now, Michigan Earth Day, Goldman Prize, Convention Center, Queen Mary - Google Earth Blog - Here's the part about the Goldman Prize:

Goldman Environmental Prize - Google has helped produce a multimedia GE 5 Tour which highlights the works of the winners of this year's Goldman Environmental Prize. One winner from each continent receives $150,000 each. The GE Tour is an excellent way to illustrate the location of the winners and the places they are working to help address environmental concerns. Check it out here directly in GE , or go to the Goldman Prize site to watch it in the GE plugin.

NASA Space Launch Initiative 2009 - RLV News

More CAFE Aviation Green Prize Details

Here are the latest 2 notices from the CAFE Foundation on the CAFE Aviation Green Prize:

CAFE and NASA Plan Aviation Green Prize
Public Comment Period To Begin Soon
April 22, 2009
The CAFE Foundation is delighted to announce that a draft .pdf copy of the next NASA Centennial Challenge in Aeronautics, the Aviation Green Prize, has received a go-ahead from NASA to seek public comments. In order to allow sufficient time for teams to design and build their vehicles, this flight competition for aircraft capable of 200+ seat-miles per gallon is scheduled for mid July, 2011. The document is available now [pdf 1.9 MB]. Public comment will be invited here in a short time.

CAFE posts FAA Guidelines for Field of View
Key guide document for Aviation Green Prize posted
April 22, 2009
To qualify for the Aviation Green Prize, all teams must fulfill the guidelines for Field of View for pilot and co-pilot as described in FAA.AC25.773-1 [pdf, 410 kb].

Here are some excerpts from the draft rules:

CAFE has arranged for the following total prize purse to be funded by a collection of one or more private or government organizations (“FUNDERS”):

$1,653,000 for the CAFE Aviation Green Prize flight competition in 2011
...
An "Early Bird" discounted registration fee of $4000 will be accepted
...
The 2011 CHALLENGE will demonstrate new technologies for small aircraft that are potentially applicable to a wide range of future aviation missions including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Air-Taxi operations, homeland security surveillance, personal transportation, etc. For 2011, a maximum of 12 competitors will be accepted into the CHALLENGE.
...
Race 1 is for best Passenger-MPGe. Race 2 is for best Speed. Minimums of 100 mph and 200-passenger MPGe must be met in both races.

More Prize News Via Twitter

NASAPrize - at Electric Aircraft Symposium sponsored by CAFE Foundation

NASAPrize - Preliiminary announcement of Green Aviation Prize just made at Elect Aircraft Symposium event will be in July 2011

NASAPrize - yesterday met with CSA about Regolith Excavation and Spaceward on Power Beaming

glxp - New #GLXP Team Blog Please Open Your Lunar Hymnals to Page 79... ttp://bit.ly/urHCL (on an Odyssey Moon talk)

progautoxp - Progressive Automotive X PRIZE compared to P.T. Barnum circus. http://bit.ly/b6JrD (Note: The recent updates on the X PRIZE Foundation news scroller include this article and a couple other ones on the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE).

FIRSTAtlanta09 - http://tinyurl.com/d6la89 - FIRST makes ScientificAmerican blog

FIRSTAtlanta09 - http://tinyurl.com/cjt9l9 - FIRST in Popular Mechanics online

FIRSTAtlanta09 - Participate in Molecular Frontiers Prize by 5/6;win ipods go to http://www.molecularfrontie...

Philanthropy - Philanthropist to Create New Prize for Energy Innovation http://tinyurl.com/cn82zk -

Thomas Siebel ... said today he plans to establish a $20-million prize to encourage the creation of affordable energy-efficient homes. ... Mr. Siebel said he plans to officially announce the prizes this fall. The awards will be given out in three phases: first, for the development of ways to reduce to zero the energy footprint of homes; second, for the design of houses that use that technology; and third, for the construction of the 10 types of homes that show the most promise. The home that performs the best, he said, will be awarded $10-million. Mr. Siebel said he would support the construction of a 100-home energy-free community based on the winning designs on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana.

mysocialimpact - Finalists announced in the Dell Social Innovation Competition! http://tinyurl.com/dlkru5

2009 Electric Aircraft Symposium and Aviation Green Prize

The CAFE Foundation's 2009 Electric Aircraft Symposium is scheduled for this Friday. This includes the following talks:

3:10 PM The AGP: Aviation’s Green Prize—The Flight Competition for 100 MPG Aircraft, Brien Seeley M.D. President CAFE Foundation
3:40 PM My Dream Team in the AGP, Ron Gremban, Technical Director, CalCars

You can see some hints about Ron Gremban's talk at CalCars.

The Aviation Green Prize - The Aviation Green Prize: NASA's $1 Million Prize for Ultra-Safe 100-MPG Personal Commuter Aircraft - This is a presentation at the Commonwealth Club by Brien Seeley on May 27, 2009.

Electric Aircraft Symposium will take-off April 24 - AutoBlogGreen

CAFE Library

Goldschmied Propulsion Papers Now Available - CAFE Foundation and PAV News -

The CAFE Foundation is very pleased to offer a new array of important reports on extreme body drag reduction in its PAV Technology Library. These reports include work on Goldschmied propulsion that should prove valuable to any team planning to compete in the NASA Centennial Challenge flight competition.

2009 Electric Plane Conference

The 2009 CAFE Foundation Electric Aircraft Symposium - Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California - Friday, April 24, 2009 - CAFE Foundation - The organization that runs NASA's Personal Air Vehicle/General Aviation Centennial Challenges also runs an electric aircraft conference. Last year's conference had some presentations about the General Aviation Challenge, and with the CAFE request to NASA to focus this year's challenge on a $1M competition for fuel efficient aircraft, I'd imagine the competition will be a hot topic this year, too:

Topics will include the latest in motors, PV technology, controllers, batteries, chargers, new designs, prototype performance, and the “100 MPG aircraft race”.

General Aviation Prize Updates

The CAFE Foundation made several short announcements recently:

The CAFE Aviation Green Prize
...
The CAFE Foundation has developed and submitted to NASA a detailed proposal for the CAFE Aviation Green Prize, a $1M flight competition for safe, practical aircraft that can simultaneously demonstrate ≥ 100 MPG and ≥ 100 mph. Aimed to attract university teams to compete, the event is currently proposed as a 200 statute mile race in July 2010 that would favor aircraft propelled by electricity. Stayed tuned here for its official announcement.

CAFE visits Stanford's DARPA Challenge Vehicle
...
3rd Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium
...

CAFE Foundation's Aviation Green Prize - AVweb

General Aviation Challenge Results

The 2008 General Aviation Challenge has completed, and here are the results:

Baby steps for NASA's small-plane challenge - Cnet News - This includes a slide show with detailed comments for each slide. From the overview:

NASA sponsored its second annual General Aviation Challenge (GAC) last weekend, when it awarded only about a third of its total $300,000 in prize money to contestants with advances in flight technology. ... NASA plans to retool its contest next year to focus primarily on fuel-efficient aviation, according to Andy Petro, head of NASA's Centennial Challenges, a series of government-sponsored competitions that support space exploration and aviation technologies in private industry.

Team Lambada - a UFM-13 Lambada motor glider sport plane, won $33,000 in NASA's challenge for quietest plane. ... Bob Johnson, the Carson, Nev.-based owner of Lambada, said he found out about the race early this summer, so he didn't have much time to prepare.

The Pipistrel Virus won $50,000 for aircraft safety with measures like a deployable rocket that would launch a parachute 100 feet above the plane in the event of an emergency.

Pipistrel also won some money for the Noise Prize, but noone won money for the fuel efficiency Green Prize. One contender with strength in that area withdrew because of mechanical problems.

Novel planes lift off in NASA tech challenge - Press Democrat - From the article:

Next year, Seeley is hoping for a jump in participants and public interest with a possible 100 mpg competition as part of the overall challenge.

NASA Spends $25M On Unmanned Planes, Awards Aviation Prizes - Slashdot

Update (August 12 evening): Space for All notes that there's also a NASA press release on the results.

Flying Cars, Electric Cars, and Electric Flying Cars

Why flying cars are better than electric ones - The Register - This covers personal air vehicles and the General Aviation Challenge.

Luna Philosophie and Centennial Challenges

August 5, 2008: Partnering with NASA-- Innovation through Collaboration - NASA CoLab - The Yahoo Brickhouse in San Francisco will host Doug Comstock from NASA IPP. Centennial Challenges will be featured:

Part of the talk will focus on IPP's Centennial Challenges Program, NASA's 'citizen inventor' program, with an upcoming event in Santa Rosa for a "Green Prize" for aviation transportation.

Some topics to discuss include:
* How do you successfully foster innovation in large organizations?
* How do partnerships factor into the future of NASA?
* What are some of the most surprising benefits of space technology to the general public?

Here's more about Luna Philosophie:

Luna Philosophie is regular salon and discussion coordinated by NASA CoLab . They occur on (or close to) Full Moons in San Francisco, as part of CoLab's efforts to bring NASA and space exploration to the San Francisco Bay Area community.