Spaceref presents a press release from Representative Ken Calvert on the NASA Innovation Fund and Sponsorship Act, H.R. 4308. The Act would allow NASA to earn money for the NASA Centennial Challenges prizes by offering advertising - a prospect that doesn't make commercial space companies that seek advertising sponsorship very comfortable. This concept was debated quite a bit earlier this year; check the "Ads for CC" tag below to see earlier posts and links on it.
The consensus in the discussions I read was that NASA should simply fund Centennial Challenges adequately and refrain from competing with private industry. This would be easy enough to do, since Centennial Challenges, even if considerably expanded, would still be a tiny part of NASA's budget, and there are certain activities with a troubled history that NASA currently does where budgets could be made available by trimming back NASA in-house efforts and using private services instead.
Having said all that, it would be good to have a funding source for Centennial Challenges. Here's an article by Representative Calvert promoting the idea.
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Update (Dec 9): Check RLV News, including the comments section there.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Odyssey Moon and CMU Moon Team Rollout
Continuing the news from my earlier post, here's more on the rollout of 2 Google Lunar X PRIZE competitors. (The links I gave earlier are a good place to start, though).
The Odyssey Moon site is now up and running. It's time to go surfing around there and find out all the details about the project. The Google Lunar X PRIZE site has a full page of such details. The Planetary Society has announced a role on the project, as does big-time aerospace firm MDA.
Apparently Odyssey Moon was in the works before the Lunar X PRIZE announcement, but the prize has brought focus to their efforts. Space.com notes that the Google Lunar X Prize was a catalyst to their plans – but the group had been shaping a lunar business strategy and a pathfinder mission to the Moon for over a year.
Space.com also gives insight into their business plan:
Richards said that science, exploration and technology validation will be the Moon market needs of government enterprises. "There are ways that the private sector can play a role in helping them do that."
Moreover, there are ancillary markets that also constitute lunar dealing, Richards added, be it for entertainment, education, or novelty ideas. "But those are not driving what we see as our business plan. We are an exploration company for lunar commerce."
According to the Planetary Society link, the Odyssey Moon lander is designed to deliver scientific, exploration and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon.
Meanwhile, Space Pragmatism has a press release on the CMU Moon Prize Team, which is using the experience of Raytheon. The Moon Prize team has formed AstroBotic to go after the prize. The business clearly also intends to go after more markets than the prize itself:
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is the commercial organization through which Dr. Whittaker plans to carry out the lunar mission as well as engage in potential commercial orbital transfer services and potential cis-lunar services that may be best enabled by leading-edge robotics.
Both teams are making their announcements at the Space Investment Summit 3.
Not to be a Grinch, but it would be good to hear some healthy skepticism about the teams' plans along with the promotion. I'd like to see no more and no less skepticism than what's needed to make the teams think seriously, if they haven't already, about their business plans. I suppose these 2 teams have considered their business, but have all ~340 teams? The Space Cynics, at least 1 of which is supposed to be at the Investment Summit, should be able to do the job.
In addition to all of these links, RLV News has another post on the announcement with several prominent links I haven't included above.
The Odyssey Moon site is now up and running. It's time to go surfing around there and find out all the details about the project. The Google Lunar X PRIZE site has a full page of such details. The Planetary Society has announced a role on the project, as does big-time aerospace firm MDA.
Apparently Odyssey Moon was in the works before the Lunar X PRIZE announcement, but the prize has brought focus to their efforts. Space.com notes that the Google Lunar X Prize was a catalyst to their plans – but the group had been shaping a lunar business strategy and a pathfinder mission to the Moon for over a year.
Space.com also gives insight into their business plan:
Richards said that science, exploration and technology validation will be the Moon market needs of government enterprises. "There are ways that the private sector can play a role in helping them do that."
Moreover, there are ancillary markets that also constitute lunar dealing, Richards added, be it for entertainment, education, or novelty ideas. "But those are not driving what we see as our business plan. We are an exploration company for lunar commerce."
According to the Planetary Society link, the Odyssey Moon lander is designed to deliver scientific, exploration and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon.
Meanwhile, Space Pragmatism has a press release on the CMU Moon Prize Team, which is using the experience of Raytheon. The Moon Prize team has formed AstroBotic to go after the prize. The business clearly also intends to go after more markets than the prize itself:
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is the commercial organization through which Dr. Whittaker plans to carry out the lunar mission as well as engage in potential commercial orbital transfer services and potential cis-lunar services that may be best enabled by leading-edge robotics.
Both teams are making their announcements at the Space Investment Summit 3.
Not to be a Grinch, but it would be good to hear some healthy skepticism about the teams' plans along with the promotion. I'd like to see no more and no less skepticism than what's needed to make the teams think seriously, if they haven't already, about their business plans. I suppose these 2 teams have considered their business, but have all ~340 teams? The Space Cynics, at least 1 of which is supposed to be at the Investment Summit, should be able to do the job.
In addition to all of these links, RLV News has another post on the announcement with several prominent links I haven't included above.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Robert Zubrin's New Book: Energy Victory
Robert Zubrin is best known as the President of the Mars Society, author of The Case for Mars and the Mars Direct plan to get humans to Mars, and other space-related work. This past weekend, however, I read his new book Energy Victory, figuring that with the following technical academic qualifications it would be interesting to see what he has to say about achieving energy independence:
He holds a B.A. in Mathematics, a masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering.
(That's from the Case for Mars link above).
The book is an interesting read, and worth getting. There is a lot of Zubrin's save-the-world style that space advocates are familiar with. It doesn't just cover energy independence as it relates to defeating terrorism, but also many other political and social problems, like corruption, world poverty, global warming, the drug trade, and past wars, all from the perspective of "putting the world on the alcohol standard" instead of the oil standard. Zubrin, as usual, pulls no punches with either (or any) side of the political spectrum. His compliment for one Presidential candidate's policy is "a dwarf among Lilliputans" or something like that. When he's convinced he's right, that's that (sort of like ESAS and NASA Administrator Griffin I guess), but at least he puts up a good argument.
I read the book mainly to learn a bit about the technical side of the energy situation. Zubrin gives an easy-to-read overview of the pros and cons of ethanol and methanol, and he advocates that the U.S. mandate that all vehicles sold in the U.S. be flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) able to run with E85 (85% ethanol), M85 (85% methanol), or gasoline. He makes the case that this would be relatively easy and cheap to implement using existing technology, and would give an incentive for gas stations to offer E85 and M85 (which are currently only offered in scattered locations because most cars aren't FFVs). This would allow investment in more ethanol and methanol production and R&D from countless sources that he describes. It would also provide a lot of help in the political and social areas I mentioned above (you'll have to read the book to see how). Such is his argument, and you can get a taste of it Front Page Magazine, The New Atlantis, and Cosmic Log.
As for prizes, he describes the Set America Free Coalition, which is interested in energy independence, and advocates the House version of a bill based on SAFC ideas. It has measure similar to Zubrin's idea to enforce E85/M85/gas flexibility in vehicles. From Thomas:
(4) FLEXIBLE FUEL VEHICLE- The term `flexible fuel vehicle' means a motor vehicle warranted by its manufacturer to operate on any and all blends of gasoline, E85, and M85.
(5) FUEL CHOICE-ENABLING MOTOR VEHICLE- The term `fuel choice-enabling motor vehicle' means--
(A) a flexible fuel motor vehicle; or
(B) a vehicle warranted by its manufacturer to operate on biodiesel.
...
(2) SCHEDULE- Not less than 50 percent of each light-duty motor vehicles manufacturer's annual production of passenger cars manufactured on and after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2013, and no less than 80 percent of each manufacturer's production of passenger cars manufactured on and after January 1, 2013 shall be fuel choice enabling motor vehicles or alternative fuel automobiles.
This bill includes a series of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Prizes. From The Library of Congress (Thomas):
SEC. 404. PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE PRIZE.
(a) In General- The Secretary of Energy (in this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall carry out a program to competitively award cash prizes to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technology.
(b) Categories- The Secretary shall establish prizes for--
(1) batteries using nanotechnology for application in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or in plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles;
(2) prototypes of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that best meet or exceed objective performance criteria;
... skipping much of the prize section of the bill, including many other categories of prizes ...
(g) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this section $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011, of which no more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses. Funds appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until expended.
The Senate version doesn't have the provision Zubrin is looking for, but it does have Plug-in Hybrid Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Prizes. Again from Thomas:
SEC. 207. PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN VEHICLE PRIZES.
Section 1008 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16396) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c), by inserting `, including plug-in hybrid and hydrogen vehicle technologies' before the period at the end; and
(2) in subsection (e)(2)--
(A) by striking `$5,000,000' and inserting `$450,000,000'; and
(B) by inserting `, to remain available until expended' before the period at the end.
The hydrogen vehicle concept is demolished in Zubrin's book, by the way.
He holds a B.A. in Mathematics, a masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering.
(That's from the Case for Mars link above).
The book is an interesting read, and worth getting. There is a lot of Zubrin's save-the-world style that space advocates are familiar with. It doesn't just cover energy independence as it relates to defeating terrorism, but also many other political and social problems, like corruption, world poverty, global warming, the drug trade, and past wars, all from the perspective of "putting the world on the alcohol standard" instead of the oil standard. Zubrin, as usual, pulls no punches with either (or any) side of the political spectrum. His compliment for one Presidential candidate's policy is "a dwarf among Lilliputans" or something like that. When he's convinced he's right, that's that (sort of like ESAS and NASA Administrator Griffin I guess), but at least he puts up a good argument.
I read the book mainly to learn a bit about the technical side of the energy situation. Zubrin gives an easy-to-read overview of the pros and cons of ethanol and methanol, and he advocates that the U.S. mandate that all vehicles sold in the U.S. be flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) able to run with E85 (85% ethanol), M85 (85% methanol), or gasoline. He makes the case that this would be relatively easy and cheap to implement using existing technology, and would give an incentive for gas stations to offer E85 and M85 (which are currently only offered in scattered locations because most cars aren't FFVs). This would allow investment in more ethanol and methanol production and R&D from countless sources that he describes. It would also provide a lot of help in the political and social areas I mentioned above (you'll have to read the book to see how). Such is his argument, and you can get a taste of it Front Page Magazine, The New Atlantis, and Cosmic Log.
As for prizes, he describes the Set America Free Coalition, which is interested in energy independence, and advocates the House version of a bill based on SAFC ideas. It has measure similar to Zubrin's idea to enforce E85/M85/gas flexibility in vehicles. From Thomas:
(4) FLEXIBLE FUEL VEHICLE- The term `flexible fuel vehicle' means a motor vehicle warranted by its manufacturer to operate on any and all blends of gasoline, E85, and M85.
(5) FUEL CHOICE-ENABLING MOTOR VEHICLE- The term `fuel choice-enabling motor vehicle' means--
(A) a flexible fuel motor vehicle; or
(B) a vehicle warranted by its manufacturer to operate on biodiesel.
...
(2) SCHEDULE- Not less than 50 percent of each light-duty motor vehicles manufacturer's annual production of passenger cars manufactured on and after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2013, and no less than 80 percent of each manufacturer's production of passenger cars manufactured on and after January 1, 2013 shall be fuel choice enabling motor vehicles or alternative fuel automobiles.
This bill includes a series of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Prizes. From The Library of Congress (Thomas):
SEC. 404. PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE PRIZE.
(a) In General- The Secretary of Energy (in this section referred to as the `Secretary') shall carry out a program to competitively award cash prizes to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technology.
(b) Categories- The Secretary shall establish prizes for--
(1) batteries using nanotechnology for application in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or in plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles;
(2) prototypes of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that best meet or exceed objective performance criteria;
... skipping much of the prize section of the bill, including many other categories of prizes ...
(g) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this section $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011, of which no more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses. Funds appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until expended.
The Senate version doesn't have the provision Zubrin is looking for, but it does have Plug-in Hybrid Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Prizes. Again from Thomas:
SEC. 207. PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC AND HYDROGEN VEHICLE PRIZES.
Section 1008 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16396) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c), by inserting `, including plug-in hybrid and hydrogen vehicle technologies' before the period at the end; and
(2) in subsection (e)(2)--
(A) by striking `$5,000,000' and inserting `$450,000,000'; and
(B) by inserting `, to remain available until expended' before the period at the end.
The hydrogen vehicle concept is demolished in Zubrin's book, by the way.
Odyssey Moon Announcement Countdown
I already posted a couple of times (here and here) about the upcoming Odyssey Moon announcement of the first Google Lunar X PRIZE team registered. Their web site is still veiled in secrecy, ticking down the last few hours before the announcement (possibly not the best timing if the Shuttle launches with Columbus, an event that large parts of the space community has been anticipating for many years). The site now lets you sign up for alerts and news.
So ... will the suspense be ended with some kind of surprise? Will the team involve some household name ... some rich entrepreneur or company ... or at least a household name in the houses of space advocates? Or ... is it a new team we don't know now but will come to know in the years ahead?
Update (morning of Dec 6): Cosmic Log has a lot more details well worth reading, and also describes some of the CMU Moon Team plans. Also see RLV News.
So ... will the suspense be ended with some kind of surprise? Will the team involve some household name ... some rich entrepreneur or company ... or at least a household name in the houses of space advocates? Or ... is it a new team we don't know now but will come to know in the years ahead?
Update (morning of Dec 6): Cosmic Log has a lot more details well worth reading, and also describes some of the CMU Moon Team plans. Also see RLV News.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Putting Cosmology Prize Money to Good Use
It's often the case that an innovation or research prize winner puts the prize money to use doing more innovation, research, or related work like making a business out of the innovation.
Spaceref posts on a press release from the University of California at Berkeley about what 2006 Physics Nobel Prize winner George Smoot is doing with his prize money. He's used $500,000 of his Nobel Prize money to help start the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, with the help of some other large donations (including money from Saul Perlmutter from his 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize).
Spaceref posts on a press release from the University of California at Berkeley about what 2006 Physics Nobel Prize winner George Smoot is doing with his prize money. He's used $500,000 of his Nobel Prize money to help start the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, with the help of some other large donations (including money from Saul Perlmutter from his 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize).
New Genomics X PRIZE Team Led By George Church
From the X PRIZE Foundation news update list comes a link to an article from Boston.com about the Genomics X PRIZE, including a new team:
Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church, 53, who helped originate the Human Genome Project, is set to announce he will lead a team that will compete for the X Prize. Church said he hopes his Personal Genome X team, vying with five rivals from both sides of the Atlantic, will accomplish the task in 2008.
The article gives some details on the team's approach:
Church's team, consisting of about 20 engineers and technicians at his Church Lab in Harvard Medical School and other labs around the world, plans to line up about 200 of their customized genome-sequencing machines somewhere in the Boston area to handle massive volumes of sequencing simultaneously. The team is also using "open source" hardware and software, posting their specifications online for public inspection.
Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church, 53, who helped originate the Human Genome Project, is set to announce he will lead a team that will compete for the X Prize. Church said he hopes his Personal Genome X team, vying with five rivals from both sides of the Atlantic, will accomplish the task in 2008.
The article gives some details on the team's approach:
Church's team, consisting of about 20 engineers and technicians at his Church Lab in Harvard Medical School and other labs around the world, plans to line up about 200 of their customized genome-sequencing machines somewhere in the Boston area to handle massive volumes of sequencing simultaneously. The team is also using "open source" hardware and software, posting their specifications online for public inspection.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Space Elevator on the Space Show; Space Elevator Games Compilation
The Space Elevator Blog notes that Dr. Brad Edwards will be on the Space Show. The discussion will include the recent conference on space elevators and Space Elevator games.
The Blog also includes a really big compilation of post Space Elevator Games links. I haven't gotten far yet (I just read the post itself and the Punkworks links so far); there's a lot in there that probably should be sampled in small bites.
The Blog also includes a really big compilation of post Space Elevator Games links. I haven't gotten far yet (I just read the post itself and the Punkworks links so far); there's a lot in there that probably should be sampled in small bites.
March Storm 2008
Space for All reminds us that, according to weather reports derived from data from our POES and GOES satellites, the 2008 ProSpace March Storm on Washington DC is approaching. I'm not sure if ProSpace will be including something like their Space Act of 2007 as part of the agenda they'll encourage Senators and Representatives to adopt, but it would be interesting if they do. Here's a summary of the Act:
This groundbreaking legislation will create THE NATIONAL SPACE PRIZE BOARD (NPSB).
This NPSB's purpose will be to use cash prizes as a means to accelerate the commercial expansion of economic, national security and scientific uses of space and spaceflight. The SPACE Act provides the board with an annual budget of $100 million and the authority to offer prizes up to $400 million.
This groundbreaking legislation will create THE NATIONAL SPACE PRIZE BOARD (NPSB).
This NPSB's purpose will be to use cash prizes as a means to accelerate the commercial expansion of economic, national security and scientific uses of space and spaceflight. The SPACE Act provides the board with an annual budget of $100 million and the authority to offer prizes up to $400 million.
Unreasonable Rocket Helicopters and Decisions
Unreasonable Rocket posted a few days ago on tank and helicopter testing (apparently with some advice in the comments from at least 3 other Lunar Lander Challenge teams). Today they continue posting with an important decision branch approaching.
Some Old But Cool Lunar Lander Videos and Pictures
I just thought I'd link to a couple old discussion threads I just ran across. They feature some cool pictures and videos of Lunar Lander Challenge hardware and attempts. The discussions are here and here. Look for the pictures and videos by PistolPete.
Space, Space Prizes, and Education
Presidential candidate Barack Obama has a plan to fund an education program in part by postponing NASA's Constellation program by 5 years. That's the program to replace the Shuttle with Ares I/Orion and COTS vehicles, and to return to the Moon.
I'm not the biggest advocate of Ares I/Orion, and in fact I wouldn't mind if it were replaced with more COTS, space prizes, robotic/satellite science missions, use and encouragement of commercial space, and small X vehicle demonstrators. I actually think that could be done in a way that offers huge benefits to education while also providing a lot of benenfits to science, commerce, the environment, and national security.
For example, a NASA program that really emphasizes (and funds) the types of student space prizes I have listed on the right (and discussed in many posts) could be very productive educationally while being quite cost-effective. Student space prizes can get a lot of students involved in learning math, science, engineering, communication, and teamwork. The prizes themselves could also be in a form that helps education. For example, they can be in the form of scholarships, or for large school teams perhaps in financial rewards for the winning schools. They can be designed so they help students and schools in financial need, but that show that they are winners nonetheless.
A NASA program that dramatically expands the NASA Centennial Challenges program could have great benefits to university teams. It would also benefit younger students that aspire to university work and that get involved with the K-12 events that usually go along with the bigger Centennial Challenges.
At another level, having NASA offer lots of real high-altitude plane/balloon/rocket flights, suborbital flights, or even orbital rides for student experiments, and that gives incentives to actually personally reach space like Teachers in Space, with rides for members of each Congressional district and additional rides to encourage the educational districts in the greatest need, could be a great boost to inspire math and science education.
Adding to that more science missions with university participation and analysis, more modest ground-based telescopes that serve both researchers and students of all ages, and enough emphasis on commercial transportation that students still see the human side of spaceflight progressing, and you've started something dramatic in the educational world.
To do this, you just need to make education, in the context of real space commerce, science, and exploration, NASA's goal. Oh, don't forget to emphasize the entrepreneurial side of space commerce, since that's what gets a lot of young people interested in space, math, science, and education in general.
All of this could be done using the Ares I/Orion budget, probably with funds left over for museum upgrades and other educational improvements. A lot of it could even be done in conjunction with sponsors and allied organizations.
On the other hand, I'm quite skeptical that adding the Constellation budget to a pure Federal education program would have much benefit, since it would be such a small drop in the education bucket.
Anyway, what was I getting around to? Oh, yes, the whole point of this is to link to an education web site that addresses technology in the classroom. Among other things, it discusses the Google Lunar X PRIZE:
The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st century. Through an active blog, an Internet TV show, and other media resources, the ITM shares a "bazillion practical ideas" for turning the infinite universe of information into knowledge. It is part of the Google Educators network that offers Goggle Earth, Weekly Reader, and Lunar X/prize. Lunar X/Prize's space education content is designed to get your students interested in math, science, and history.
Yes, not only does the Google Educators site show the Lunar X PRIZE education site, but also other space-related software like Google Earth and Sketchup (used within Google Earth). There's also a student Open Source Software Competition by Google (this is NOT the $10M Google phone software contest I mentioned recently).
I'm not the biggest advocate of Ares I/Orion, and in fact I wouldn't mind if it were replaced with more COTS, space prizes, robotic/satellite science missions, use and encouragement of commercial space, and small X vehicle demonstrators. I actually think that could be done in a way that offers huge benefits to education while also providing a lot of benenfits to science, commerce, the environment, and national security.
For example, a NASA program that really emphasizes (and funds) the types of student space prizes I have listed on the right (and discussed in many posts) could be very productive educationally while being quite cost-effective. Student space prizes can get a lot of students involved in learning math, science, engineering, communication, and teamwork. The prizes themselves could also be in a form that helps education. For example, they can be in the form of scholarships, or for large school teams perhaps in financial rewards for the winning schools. They can be designed so they help students and schools in financial need, but that show that they are winners nonetheless.
A NASA program that dramatically expands the NASA Centennial Challenges program could have great benefits to university teams. It would also benefit younger students that aspire to university work and that get involved with the K-12 events that usually go along with the bigger Centennial Challenges.
At another level, having NASA offer lots of real high-altitude plane/balloon/rocket flights, suborbital flights, or even orbital rides for student experiments, and that gives incentives to actually personally reach space like Teachers in Space, with rides for members of each Congressional district and additional rides to encourage the educational districts in the greatest need, could be a great boost to inspire math and science education.
Adding to that more science missions with university participation and analysis, more modest ground-based telescopes that serve both researchers and students of all ages, and enough emphasis on commercial transportation that students still see the human side of spaceflight progressing, and you've started something dramatic in the educational world.
To do this, you just need to make education, in the context of real space commerce, science, and exploration, NASA's goal. Oh, don't forget to emphasize the entrepreneurial side of space commerce, since that's what gets a lot of young people interested in space, math, science, and education in general.
All of this could be done using the Ares I/Orion budget, probably with funds left over for museum upgrades and other educational improvements. A lot of it could even be done in conjunction with sponsors and allied organizations.
On the other hand, I'm quite skeptical that adding the Constellation budget to a pure Federal education program would have much benefit, since it would be such a small drop in the education bucket.
Anyway, what was I getting around to? Oh, yes, the whole point of this is to link to an education web site that addresses technology in the classroom. Among other things, it discusses the Google Lunar X PRIZE:
The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st century. Through an active blog, an Internet TV show, and other media resources, the ITM shares a "bazillion practical ideas" for turning the infinite universe of information into knowledge. It is part of the Google Educators network that offers Goggle Earth, Weekly Reader, and Lunar X/prize. Lunar X/Prize's space education content is designed to get your students interested in math, science, and history.
Yes, not only does the Google Educators site show the Lunar X PRIZE education site, but also other space-related software like Google Earth and Sketchup (used within Google Earth). There's also a student Open Source Software Competition by Google (this is NOT the $10M Google phone software contest I mentioned recently).
More on Odyssey Moon, First Registered Lunar X PRIZE Team
I posted links to the news about the first Google Lunar X PRIZE team registration a few days ago. Now I'm just noting that Spaceref has a post on it. The Spaceeref post is linked by the X PRIZE Foundation site, and it also contains a link to the Odyssey Moon site. Right now the site is kind of like the curtains before the show starts; presumably the curtains at the site will be lifted soon.
It currently (a tiny bit dramatically I suppose, but why not?) says "History Restarts 2007.12.06".
It currently (a tiny bit dramatically I suppose, but why not?) says "History Restarts 2007.12.06".
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Aeronautics and Space Greenhouse Student Competitions
Spaceref has some posts about student challenges to design a plant growth chamber for astronauts on the Moon and to present their ideas on the aircraft of the future.
The aeronautics contest is divided into high school and college levels. The site doesn't seem to commit to specific cash prizes (they depend on availability of funds), but
Cash prize amounts will be on the order of $5000 for first place, $3500 for second place, $2000 for third place. In the case of a tie, prizes will be determined based on funds available. Non US schools are not eligible to receive cash awards.
Internships are also possible. The suggested first team and individual prizes for the high school level are $1500 and $1000.
Aeronautics entries that address space goals are possible, and have won awards in the past. For example, this year the Mars Heavy-Payload Entry, Descent, and Landing Team from the Georgia Institute of Technology tied for third place.
The aeronautics contest is divided into high school and college levels. The site doesn't seem to commit to specific cash prizes (they depend on availability of funds), but
Cash prize amounts will be on the order of $5000 for first place, $3500 for second place, $2000 for third place. In the case of a tie, prizes will be determined based on funds available. Non US schools are not eligible to receive cash awards.
Internships are also possible. The suggested first team and individual prizes for the high school level are $1500 and $1000.
Aeronautics entries that address space goals are possible, and have won awards in the past. For example, this year the Mars Heavy-Payload Entry, Descent, and Landing Team from the Georgia Institute of Technology tied for third place.
USST on the Move
You can see a bit of recent news about Beam Power team USST as they travel to Summits and Workshops.
Mars Sample Return Mission Design Contest
Here's a page on the Mars Drive Mars Sample Return Mission Design Contest. This is late; I hadn't heard of the contest until now. Entries were due in February, but I'm not sure what the status is on judging the entries ... is the jugding still in progress, did someone win, or is the contest going to continue into 2008? I don't know, but I thought I should present the link anyway.
The cash value part of the prize at stake is modest in comparison with the Planetary Society Apophis Mission Design Competition for asteriod tagging, but there are other rewards, too:
Contest Prizes
1st Prize -
All expense-paid trip to present at the ISDC 2008 Conference
$500 Cash purse
Showcased on all MarsDrive partners sites
Submission to the AIAA
Recognition at the annual Mars Society International Conference
2nd Prize -
$100 Cash purse
Showcased on all MarsDrive partners sites
You can see a number of entries to the contest here.
Here's some insight into the contest judging:
Mission Selection Designs will be selected from submissions by a panel of leading experts in various areas of expertise including:
Astrobiology: Dr. Christopher P. McKay, Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames.
ISRU: Dr Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society
Science/Engineering: Louis Friedman, President of the Planetary Society
The cash value part of the prize at stake is modest in comparison with the Planetary Society Apophis Mission Design Competition for asteriod tagging, but there are other rewards, too:
Contest Prizes
1st Prize -
All expense-paid trip to present at the ISDC 2008 Conference
$500 Cash purse
Showcased on all MarsDrive partners sites
Submission to the AIAA
Recognition at the annual Mars Society International Conference
2nd Prize -
$100 Cash purse
Showcased on all MarsDrive partners sites
You can see a number of entries to the contest here.
Here's some insight into the contest judging:
Mission Selection Designs will be selected from submissions by a panel of leading experts in various areas of expertise including:
Astrobiology: Dr. Christopher P. McKay, Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames.
ISRU: Dr Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society
Science/Engineering: Louis Friedman, President of the Planetary Society
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