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.
