Nanosat Mission Ideas, Wild Card Winner, FIRST, TARC Kit, More

March Madness -- Moonbuggy-style - NASA Great Moonbuggy Race Blog

Estes releases new Team America parts assortment packs - Rocketry Planet

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #42 - Luna C/I: Moon Colonization and Integration

Students Compete in Lego Robotics Challenge at JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Robotics ingenuity on the spot: FIRST competition draws student teams to WPI - Telegram.com

New chief executive officer for space company - Isleofman.com on Odyssey Moon

Conrad Foundation announces first ever Wild Card Invitation Winner - Conrad Foundation

EuSEC - Looking for a few good teams… - The Space Elevator Blog

There’s an app for that! - The Space Elevator Blog

Economist: Beam it up - The Space Elevator Reference

@LaserMotive: LaserMotive will be pitching to the Space Angels Network March 31st in LA and Palo Alto: http://bit.ly/dFEzv9

@ac_charania: 1st Nano-sat Constellation Mission Idea Contest, 1st place: Integrated Meteorological/Precise Positioning Mission http://bit.ly/hL4lMS

Here's the Nano-satellite Constellation Mission Idea Contest site where you can find out more about the winners and other finalists.  In addition to prize money and publication, the finalists were invited to present at the 2nd Nano-Satellite Symposium in Tokyo.  The rest of that symposium has been canceled because of effects of the recent earthquake, but per A.C. Charania's tweets, a second Nanosat Constellation Mission Idea Contest is planned for 2012.

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: FAA Space Access Prize? Space Elevator, ISDC, NSRC Student Prize, More

FAA 2012 budget proposal includes space access prize - Space Politics

Here are 3 updates that mix in some other topics with information about competitions with a Space Elevator theme:

An oldie but goodie… - The Space Elevator Blog

Call for Papers for the 2011 Space Elevator Conference - The Space Elevator Reference

Moving Forward In March - LaserMotive

Need your help: A GLXP Panel at International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2011) - Evadot

Allure From Afar: 1st Prize Student Essay at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, 2011 - SpaceRef

NASA recruiting sponsors for new high-tech competitions - Network World / Layer 8

The following RLV News set includes a number of Armadillo and Unreasonable Rocket updates:

Briefs: Paul Breed interview Pt.2; Stig at sunset; REL update
Briefs: Blue Origin article; Stig + team; CSF hails NSRC
Packing up Stig
Briefs: Unreasonable interview; Andrews Space gets Reusable Booster study contract
Armadillo nosecone/parachute deployment test video
NSRC 2011: Monday afternoon - Suborbital provider session
Armadillo video of the Tube Rocket preparations

Contest by Make Magazine, Teachers in Space, and NASA

NASA Launches 2011 Nationwide Technology Space Competition for Education - NASA

Make Magazine Helps Develop Space Science Kits for Education - The Space Frontier Foundation

NASA MAKE Challenge - Make: Online

Make: Challenge Experiemental Science Kits for Space - Make Magazine blog:

Our first challenge is to develop inexpensive science kits that can be built in a classroom and sent on-board suborbital flights to conduct experiments. The experiments must fit within a Cubesat ... The winner of the NASA MAKE Challenge will be honored at this year’s Bay Area Maker Faire, and the winning kit project will be featured in MAKE magazine.

Prize Roundup: Lunbotics Contractor, FIRST Peek, Night Rover Allied Org, Rocket Challenge, More

@nasawatch: Lunarobotics Mining Competition Awards Ceremony and Reception at KSC Visitor Complex http://srs.gs/15Kj

It looks like the scope of work for the Lunabotics contract also includes the opening ceremony and the competition itself.

@Team190: Check out the teaser video for this year's robot, the G-Rex http://vimeo.com/20350475! #omgrobots #WPI

Briefs: Night Rover Challenge needs management. WPI to run Sample Return Robot Challenge - RLV News

John Carmack and Paul Breed sponsor amateur rocket challenge prize - RLV News

@fineri: John Carmacks announcement of the 100kft micro prize on arocket has sparked abit of interest in the nz rocket community,positive interest :)

@fineri: @QuantumG go here for more pics mate: https://picasaweb.google.com/kiwi2space/6600N1500lbfLargeHybrid

Armadillo Aerospace tube rocket picts - RLV News

More Yuri's Night contests - Space for All

MIT $100K! ~ Business Plans Due 2/25 6p... - Maximizing Progress

@RCSpacePioneers: RCSP Team Leader, Tim Pickens, will speak at the Huntsville HAL5 meeting Mar. 3 about the #Google Lunar X PRIZE quest: http://bit.ly/gmTqjf

How are you going to fund your GLXP entry: The Nanosat Launcher Challenge Contracting - Team Phoenicia

Astrobotic Technology Inc. - D Minus Zero

@genomics_xprize: Pleased to announce that we're opening up the AGXP Validation Protocol for public comment. See details here: http://bit.ly/giGadT

Prize Roundup: Canadian Sat Challenge,UCF Conference, Prometheus Activity, EAA Electric Planes, More

Seven Entries for EAA's Electric Flight Prize - EAA AirVenture 2011

USST, the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team, was one of the prominent Space Elevator Games climber teams.  They are also participating in another competition, the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge.

Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Rocket Engines - Peter Diamandis at The Huffington Post

Future of Space Tourism, Research Will Be Focus of Conference - University of Central Florida Newsroom

GPS progress.... - Unreasonable Rocket

Team Prometheus had a number of interesting tweets recently.  Here are a couple of them:

@TeamPrometheus: John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace just agreed to donate $5000 to Team Prometheus to launch the Prometheus III... http://fb.me/V84sgdTG

@TeamPrometheus: I uploaded a YouTube video -- "Q" motor Static test http://youtu.be/Qt6nYh27BAQ?a

@tedprize: Check out this story from NPR on "Tuning In Space Noise For Sounds Of Life". Includes interview w/ Jill Tarter. http://n.pr/gguVPI

@evadot: Working on a proposed #GLXP panel for ISDC 2011. Would be nice if some teams could come. I know @rcspacepioneers and @ptscientists are.

@sedsusa: SEDS-USA is happy to announce the SEDS 2011 High-Powered Rocketry Competition! Full rules and details can be found at http://bit.ly/gAMsb1

@dmasten: A little Xaero flying action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=H8rOcDW4Pbk

@FLspacereport: Anousheh Ansari, private-sector astronaut, gives keynote address today at @EmbryRiddle for Engineering Week.

@National Engineers Week at Embry-Riddle Features Anousheh Ansari, Space Explorer and X Prize Creator - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University News Center - This news release gives more information about the keynote speech and some competitions at Engineers Week.

@wikkit: Need a good machine shop? Nosala Engineering has been used by Armadillo, Altius, XCOR, and Masten. http://nosala.com/ Wnosala@aol.com

Mars Society Prizes: University Rover Challenge and Convention Poster Contest

Here's a couple prize items from the Mars Society:

2011 Mars Society Poster Contest - The winner will help publicize this year's International Mars Society Convention, which will be held in Dallas.

Meet the Competitors - The competitors in this year's University Rover Challenge have been selected, and are now listed on the URC 2011 Teams page.  There are links to web sites for most of the teams there, so it's easy to learn more about them.

One of the University Rover Challenge competitors, the University of Michigan Mars Rover Team, has its own space prize, the 2011 Mars Rover High School Contest for Michigan high school teams.  The first place prize is $600, there is a total of $1000 in prizes.

Prize Roundup: RICC Conference, GLXP Q&A, Geospatial Skills, Mojave, Masten Site, CMU Call, More

Check out the Robotics Innovations Competition and Conference sponsored by Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  WPI is also running the Sample Return Centennial Challenge.

After that, take a look at Mojave Air and Space Port 2011.

Ask me about the X PRIZE Foundation's space activities, including the Google Lunar X PRIZE. - This Q/A session by Will Pomerantz was yesterday, but you can still see lots of answers to questions here.

@ConradAwards: Woot woot! Check out our #finalist teams in @MTVGeek. Way to go! http://bit.ly/eyMF2O

@VerySpatial: Episode 291 - A discussion about the National Geospatial Technology Skills Competition with Amy Bullard http://t.co/JiDZdTY

@fineri: I posted a news update, http://www.kiwi2space.co.nz/Site/news/Thoughts.aspx

@ChallengeGov: Cities who increase post secondary degrees can win $1 million Talent Divided Prize. http://ceosforcities.org/talent/ 

Hamilton Project launches prize to identify new policies for creating jobs in the US. $25,000 award http://j.mp/fgdKr9 #challengegov

@mattcannella: Excited to see Masten Space System's Xaero on the pad. http://yfrog.com/h49nvfpj Thanks @colinake. Can't wait to see her fly!

Loving the new @MastenSpace website! Check it out at http://masten-space.com/ 

NASA checks payload fit & function on Masten's Xaero vehicle - RLV News

@AlanMLadwig: On your mark..get set... one of my fav student engagement events. #MoonbuggyRace at MSFC, Apr 1-2. http://bit.ly/hkGnVO 

@YurisNight: Yuri's Night 2011 Video Contest featured in the National Post! http://fb.me/HJfdNVKb 

@astrobotic: Do you go to CMU and want to contribute? http://bit.ly/e9MeaP 

Astrobotic featured in new Wired article about the #glxp: http://bit.ly/hflwzi #astrobotic

Google Lunar X PRIZE Milestones and Changes

Ending One Part of a Journey, Starting Another - The Launch Pad - Will Pomerantz discusses the introduction of the full set of Google Lunar X PRIZE teams, the final Google Lunar X PRIZE rules, and a new phase in his career.

Google Lunar X PRIZE Announces Official Roster of Teams Competing in the $30 Million Race to the Moon - X PRIZE Foundation

You can see the full roster of teams and their symbols at the Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams page.  The newly official teams are at the bottom of the page.  You will see some familiar names and some new ones.  Here are their introductions from the Teams page:

Team Puli: February 18, 2011

The Puli will not only bark at the Moon! 
Team Phoenicia: February 17, 2011

Welcome to the Team Phoenicia Blog

Spacemeta: February 17, 2011

Hello from SpaceMETA team

Plan B: February 17, 2011

Introduction to Team Plan B

Penn State Lunar Lion Team: February 17, 2011

Introduction to Penn State Lunar Lion Team

Angelicum: February 16, 2011

Angelicum Team Introduction 
Indus: February 16, 2011

Team Indus Introduction 
Mystical Moon: February 16, 2011

Mystical Moon

Here are some twitter accounts from the new teams.

@spacemeta
@pulispace
@teamspaceil - Although not announced today, this team was announced quite recently.
@teamindus

When I get a chance I'll try to get the twitter accounts on the Space Prizes Twitter List and associated "Space Prizes Tweets" sidebar, as well as on the Google Lunar X Prize Twitter List.  I'll also try to update the "Google Lunar X PRIZE" sidebar with the teams' web sites.

Here are some additional comments and updates:

It's official: Team Puli Space has entered the GLXP competition - Team Puli Space

Penn State Lunar Lion joins Google Lunar X PRIZE competition - Penn State Live

Penn Staters Compete in Google Lunar Competition - StateCollege.com

Okay, Now We Can Comment: WE ARE OFFICIAL!!! - Team Phoenicia

A thought about the X PRIZE Foundation as Pomerantz exits - Evadot

The Google Lunar X PRIZE Team Scorecard already includes spots for the new teams.

Google Lunar X Prize contest sets official roster - CNET News

Google's Lunar X-Prize Gets Real - Popular Mechanics

JSETEC 2011 Vids, 2011 Tether Prizes, TARC, More

Gearing up for JSETEC 2011 - The Space Elevator Blog - JSETEC stands for Japan Space Elevator Technical & Engineering Competition.

Announcing the 2011 Artsutanov and Pearson prizes - The Space Elevator Blog

World's Largest Rocket Contest for Students Launches into Qualifying Rounds - PR Newswire

Let's talk about the final frontier - Cosmic Log

@unrocket: At space up San Diego today.

@spacehack: Deadline to register for the Lunabotics Mining Competition is February 28th: http://spacehack.org/project/lunabotics (scroll to see video!)

Prize Roundup: GLXP Roundup, Space Access '11 Prize Teams, Prominent Prize4Life Speakers, More

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #41 - Luna C/I: Moon Colonization and Integration

Fly Me To The Moon - The Daily

Students Design Their Future - The Huffington Post

Saturday Testing... - Unreasonable Rocket

Space Access'11 update - RLV News - The early snapshot of speakers with prize connections includes Altius Space Machines, Armadillo Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, Team Prometheus, SpeedUp, and Unreasonable Rocket.

@spacehack: The deadline for the University Rover Challenge is February 15th! http://spacehack.org/project/university-rover-challenge

@wikkit: It looks so much... missilier with the fins on. http://twitpic.com/3xqst8

@jetlab: Santa Monica High 'Catches Next Wave' to Nationals: In a very close competition, Santa Monica High School ... http://bit.ly/g8ysFn

@Prize4Life: A full list of speakers for our briefing on the role of incentive prizes in biomedical innovation: tomorrow at... http://fb.me/MCFo0xkT

@ChallengeGov: Dept. of Defense seeks vehicle body designs. Support their mission and save lives. $10,000 in prizes. http://go.usa.gov/Y7S

@RCSpacePioneers: University of Washington students work on rover electronics with the Rocket City Space Pioneers. http://twitpic.com/3y0itr

@AlanMLadwig: Interesting perspective on Sci Fair winners as champions. Disagree with last sentence. http://wapo.st/geA3B6

Prize Roundup: Sample Return Challenge Partner, Conrad Award Finalists, Prometheus Flight, Moonbuggy Teams, More

There's been a lot of prize activity since my last post on Friday.  I can't give a full roundup of it all, but here's a good sample:

@MOONBUGGYRACE: 84 teams from 7 countries and 4 continents set to race! We welcome so many new competitors! List: http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov/email.html

@ConradAwards: #FINALISTS ANNOUNCED: http://bit.ly/ibTzP8

You can find a lot more links about the Astrobotic Falcon 9 contract at the SoldTheMoon (David Gump) and Astrobotic twitter accounts.  I'm just giving 2 samples:

@SoldTheMoon: SpaceX sells first its ticket for a moon launch - Technology & science - msnbc.com http://t.co/96yYv00 via @msnbc

@astrobotic: Here we are in the Pittsburgh Tribune: http://bit.ly/dSfFsN

@YurisNight: We just launched the Yuri's Night 2011 Video Contest on @Spacevidcast! Check it out at http://t.co/iskxSvv

@TeamPrometheus: I uploaded a YouTube video -- Prometheus II Maden flight http://youtu.be/0B87yZfMNxU?a

@NASAPrize: NASA And Worcester Polytechnic Institute Are Challenge Partners for the Sample Return Robot

Here's the NASA press release on the Sample Return Robot Challenge partnership: NASA And Worcester Polytechnic Institute Are Challenge Partners.  The competition date is currently anticipated around Spring 2012.  Also note that Larry Cooper is program executive for the Centennial Challenges.

From WPI: Welcome to the Sample Return Robot Challenge!

Prize Roundup: Flagsuit Contract, ALS Biomarker Prize Won, Stardust, CRuSR Workshop, More

Flagsuit Handed Contract To Develop Improved Gloves For NASA Space Suits - Space Frontier Foundation

@Prize4Life: The $1M ALS Biomarker Prize has been won! Read the New York Times article for more information on the winner. http://fb.me/NYhTnHX4

RNAi Sequences Targeted to the Asian Citrus Psyllid Genome - InnoCentive posted this $100,000 challenge.

@astrobotic: Video of Red Whittaker's X PRIZE seminar is now up: http://youtu.be/0hrYfA_5bfk

@unrocket: Disassembled CAT pack from test motor, spent the rest of evening machining anti channel rings to force flow into center of cat pack.

We will be testing early Saturday.

@jeff_foust: Israeli team joins Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, thinks it can do mission for only $8M: http://bit.ly/gfSS7n

FOP-CRuSR, What We’ve Learned So Far (PDF) - This is the abstract for one of the presentations at the NASA Flight Opportunities Workshop, which in turn is part of the 2011 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference.  The abstract covers the Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems CRuSR development test flights: 

The initial two payloads were the Suborbital Flight Environment Monitor (SFEM) and the Automated Detection Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) units developed by NASA and the FAA respectively. 

Planetary Society sponsoring Stardust Contest - Space for All 

Kids Micro-G experiments chosen for ISS - Space for All

@sedsusa: Illinois Space Society has won the 2010 Holiday Contest over their UB-SEDS competitors! Check out the photo entries at http://bit.ly/gyKzrQ

Twitter Roundup: ISS Contest, GLXP Landing Map Update, SpaceWiki, More

@glxp: 7pm on a Friday and I'm still at work. But that's because we have something awesome to announce on Sunday. Stay tuned!

@ISS_NatLab: Check this video out -- Hamlin Student Wins NASA Space Contest http://t.co/LvKPXsb via @youtube

@jetlab: Arcadia High School Wins Regional Science Bowl: Arcadia High School beat out 22 other local high schools i... http://bit.ly/heJlsK

@evadot: Proposed Landing Sites for #GLXP "2.0" http://bit.ly/eFgMOe Same map but entirely in Javascript. Lots more functionality coming soon :-)

The next tweet happened on the 27th ...

@sedsusa: Only 5 days left in the contest for SEDS chapters hosted by SpaceWiki! $1000 in prizes! Let's generate some content: http://spacewiki.com/

@ConradAwards: Newsflash - Conrad Awards' Wild Card Invitation is on! http://bit.ly/fPmof1

@ChallengeGov: NASA challenges high school teams to propose experiments for a high altitude weather balloon http://go.usa.gov/YYr

@astrobotic: Red Rover & Bumblebee! http://flic.kr/p/9dzigF

@NextGiantLeap: NGL team member, Dr. Todd Mosher, To Chair National Academies Panel http://www.nextgiantleap.com/index.php?id=44

Prize Roundup: Photonics West, NanoSail-D Photos, OSTP Role, More

Trade Show Math - LaserMotive

The LaserMotive twitter has a few tweets about the trade show, ending with

@LaserMotive: We made it! Tom and Dave have finished walking the floor at #pw11 Photonics West. Very exciting event. Now heading home.

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #40 - Luna C/I: Moon Colonization and Integration

Approaching the Tipping Point: Establishing the New Airship Industry - Airship Z-Prize

We Chat With 2009-2010 Spirit Of Innovation Award Winners Shannon and Mikayla Diesch! - MTV Geek News

Still got the right stuff: the next generation of rocket scientists - Ars Technica

NanoSail-D photo contest - NASA/SpaceWeather.com - Space for All

OSTP's role expanding under new law - Federal News Radio