, Pipistrel-USA.com leader Jack W. Langelaan (right, in suit) celebrates with his team after winning the $1.35 million CAFE Green Flight Challenge.

Pipistrel-USA.com received a check for $1.35 million this afternoon for winning the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenge prize funded by Google for the demonstration of fuel-efficient aircraft.

eGenius, of Ramona, Calif., was awarded a second-place prize of $120,000. The team also won a $10,000 prize for the quietest aircraft in the competition.  Erik Lindbergh, the grandson of Charles Lindbergh, presented the smaller prize, which was funded by Jean Schulz, the widow of Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. The competition was held at the Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif.

“Two years ago the thought of flying 200 miles at 100 mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction,” said Jack W. Langelaan, team leader of Team Pipistrel-USA.com. “Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation.”

Langelaan said his company would contribute $100,000 for a new prize for the first electric aircraft to break the speed of sound. He believe it could be accomplished within five years. The prize would depend upon whether NASA and Google would be willing to provide funding.

Pipistrel-USA.com's winning entry in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge.

NASA says that the prize, the largest in aviation history, was created to inspire the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft and spur the start of a new electric airplane industry. The space agency hopes the technologies developed will enter into the general aviation industry.

“NASA congratulates Pipistrel-USA.com for proving that ultra-efficient aviation is within our grasp,” said Joe Parrish, NASA’s acting chief technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Today we’ve shown that electric aircraft have moved beyond science fiction and are now in the realm of practice.”

The CAFE Green Flight Challenge trophy.

The winning aircraft had to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity. The first and second place teams, which were both electric-powered, achieved twice the fuel efficiency requirement of the competition, meaning they flew 200 miles using just over a half-gallon of fuel equivalent per passenger. Pipistrel-USA.com’s aircraft exceeded 300 miles while eGenius’s plane fell just below 300 miles.

eGenius' fuel-efficient aircraft, which won second prize in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge.

“I’m proud that Pipistrel won, they’ve been a leader in getting these things into production, and the team really deserves it, and worked hard to win this prize,” said Eric Raymond, team leader of eGenius.

Fourteen teams registered for the competition and three qualified for the air trails held in the skies over Santa Rosa. The competitors invested more than $4 million in their aircraft.

The competition was managed by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation under an agreement with NASA.

The Night Rover Challenge is to demonstrate solar energy collection and storage systems suitable for rovers to operate through several cycles of daylight and darkness. During daylight, systems can collect photons or thermal energy from the sun. During darkness, the stored energy would be used to move the rover toward a destination and to continue its exploration work.

“The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition and is a proven leader in developing clean technology startup entrepreneurs” said Larry Cooper, program executive for NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The team has significant experience in tech entrepreneurship and innovation, and access to expertise in aerospace, making them a great choice to manage the Night Rover challenge. We look forward to the competition and bringing together innovative teams with creative problem-solving ideas.”

The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in energy storage technology and system designs for space operations. In particular, NASA seeks solutions to meet the demands imposed by the daylight and darkness cycle on the moon. Energy innovations stemming from this challenge may be beneficial to broader terrestrial applications, including vehicles and renewable energy generation systems.

The Cleantech Open team is partnering with YouNoodle Inc., a San Francisco-based startup to manage the competition. The Cleantech Open and YouNoodle will begin preparations for the challenge, publishing rules and registering competitors for the competition.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to the agency and the nation. NASA provides the prize purse, but the competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are demonstrated successfully.

There have been 21 Centennial Challenges competition events since 2005. NASA has awarded $4.5 million to 13 different challenge-winning teams. Centennial Challenges is one of the ten Space Technology programs, managed by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. For more information about the program and descriptions of each of the challenge competitions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/challenges

For updates on the Night Rover Challenge visit:

http://NightRover.org

During the Sample Return Robot Challenge, teams will compete to demonstrate a robot that can locate and retrieve geologic samples from a wide and varied terrain without human control. The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic manipulator technologies. Innovations stemming from this challenge may improve NASA’s capability to explore a variety of destinations in space, as well as enhance the nation’s robotic technology for use in industries and applications on Earth.

“NASA’s Centennial Challenges competitions engage teams from across the country to solve the technology hurdles NASA faces as we explore new frontiers,” said Mike Gazarik, director of NASA’s Space Technology Program in Washington. “We’re looking forward to teams registering to compete, so they can unleash their creative problem-solvers to take on this robotic technology challenge.”

NASA provides the prize money to the winning team as part of the agency’s Centennial Challenges competitions, which seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to the agency and the nation. While NASA provides the prize purse, the competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. The competition is planned for June 2012 in Worcester and is anticipated to attract hundreds of competitors from industry and academia nationwide.

“WPI takes tremendous pride in being the first university selected by NASA as a partner for a Centennial Challenge,” said WPI President and CEO Dennis D. Berkey. “This university is a hub of expertise and innovation within the area of robotics, and like NASA, we believe strongly in the promise of this industry. Accordingly, we have invested deeply in growing our programs and growing interest in the field among young people. We are looking forward to an exciting competition.”

There have been 21 NASA Centennial Challenges competitions since 2005. Through this program, NASA has awarded $4.5 million to 13 different challenge-winning teams. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are successfully demonstrated.

For more information about the Sample Return Robot Challenge, visit: http://challenge.wpi.edu

The Centennial Challenges program is part of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. For more information about NASA’s Centennial Challenges and the Office of the Chief Technologist, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/oct

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA has signed an agreement with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) of Worcester, Mass., to manage the Sample Return Robot Challenge, one of the agency’s new Centennial Challenges prize competitions.

The challenge will demonstrate how a robot can locate and retrieve geologic samples from varied terrain without human control. This challenge has a prize purse of $1.5 million. The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic manipulator technologies.

Innovations stemming from this challenge are intended to improve NASA’s capability to explore a variety of destinations in space and enhance the nation’s robotic technology for use in industries and applications on Earth.

“WPI has significant experience managing robotic competitions and brings extensive subject matter expertise to the partnership, making them a great choice to manage the Sample Return Robot Challenge,” said Larry Cooper, program executive for NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program at agency headquarters in Washington. “We look forward to WPI overseeing the competition and bringing together innovative teams with creative problem-solving ideas.”

In response to a NASA solicitation, WPI submitted a proposal last fall for this partnership opportunity. The institute will begin detailed preparations for the challenge, publish rules and register competitors. The competition is expected to take place in the spring of 2012.
In the Centennial Challenges program, NASA provides the prize purse but the competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. This agreement marks the first time NASA has partnered with a university to manage a Centennial Challenge.

The Centennial Challenges seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are successfully demonstrated.

There have been 20 Centennial Challenges competition events since 2005. NASA has awarded $4.5 million to 13 different challenge-winning teams.

Last July, NASA announced the Sample Return Robot Challenge along with two other new challenge competitions; the Night Rover Challenge and the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge. NASA hopes to select partnering organizations for these two new challenges in the coming months.

For updates about the Sample Return Robot Challenge visit:

http://wp.wpi.edu/challenge/

The Centennial Challenges program is part of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist. For more information about the program and
descriptions of each of the challenge competitions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/challenges

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

“Continuing our pioneering leadership in prize competitions, NASA recently inaugurated an employee challenge, NASA@Work, a collaborative problem-solving program that will connect the collective knowledge of experts from all areas of NASA using a private web-based platform for NASA ‘challenge owners’ to pose challenges to internal “solvers.’ The solvers who deliver the best innovative ideas will receive a NASA Innovation Award.

“Today, the administration has announced a new online platform that empowers the federal government to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on our nation’s most pressing problems. On Challenge.gov, entrepreneurs, leading innovators and citizen solvers can compete for prizes by providing novel solutions to tough problems and, at the same time, take pride in engaging with their government to advance national priorities.”

Statement by NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden
about the NASA Prize Competitions

One year ago this month, the President released his “Strategy for American Innovation,” calling for federal agencies to increase their ability to promote and harness innovation by using tools such as prizes and challenges.

Within the government, NASA has been a pioneer and early-adopter of challenge approaches.

We’ve been using prize competitions such as NASA’s Centennial Challenges since 2005. Centennial Challenges have triggered an outpouring of creative solutions from students, citizen inventors, and entrepreneurial firms for technologies such as lunar landers, space elevators, fuel-efficient aircraft, and astronaut gloves. NASA recognizes that competition and prizes can have an enormous catalytic effect in spurring our most adventurous entrepreneurs and inventors to tackle the critical challenges that face America today and in the future.

NASA has conducted 20 Centennial Challenges competition events in six challenge areas, and awarded $4.5 million to 13 different teams. Each challenge is managed by non-profit organizations in partnership with NASA without any upfront government funding. In doing so, NASA leverages private sector investment many times greater than the cash value of the prize and pays only for results.

Open to all, NASA’s Centennial Challenges boasts an impressive track record of generating novel solutions from student teams, citizen inventors, and entrepreneurial firms outside the traditional aerospace industry. And NASA is putting the innovations to work. NASA recently announced awards to the two small aerospace firms for flight testing of rocket vehicles based on designs that won prizes in the Lunar Lander Challenge.

NASA also is using an online “innovation marketplace” to spur solutions to problems such as forecasting solar activity, astronaut health and medical issues, and developing a compact aerobic device for astronauts.

This year, NASA awarded a $30,000 prize to a retired radio frequency engineer in New Hampshire for his ideas on how to predict the adverse effects of solar flares on astronauts and spacecraft. NASA also has held challenges to develop better astronaut gloves and ways to safely store food longer in space.

Peter Homer of Southwest Harbor, Maine, won the first place prize of $250,000 and Ted Southern of Brooklyn, NY won the second place prize of $100,000 in NASA’s Astronaut Glove Challenge. A new approach to spacesuit glove design was demonstrated through the challenge and the commercial space industry has gained a new member – Homer has started his own company, Flagsuit.

Alex Altshuler, a mechanical engineer from Foxboro, Mass., won an award for his proposal for a compact aerobic and resistive exercise device, which delivers the proper motions for exercises in space under very limited or zero gravity and meets very specific size and space requirements.

Bruce Cragin, a retired radio frequency engineer from Lempster, N.H., won an award for his proposed solution for forecasting solar activity, which poses a significant radiation exposure risk to humans and hardware in space. Until now there has been no method available to predict the onset, intensity or duration of a solar particle event. Cragin’s solution allows for a 24-hour forecast window of the event onset, with 75 percent accuracy.

By spurring innovation through competition, NASA is providing seed money for which private companies of all sizes can vie, encouraging collaborative competition and sharing the risks of highly challenging problem solving.

Continuing our pioneering leadership in prize competitions, NASA recently inaugurated an employee challenge, NASA@Work, a collaborative problem-solving program that will connect the collective knowledge of experts from all areas of NASA using a private web-based platform for NASA “challenge owners” to pose challenges to internal “solvers.” The solvers who deliver the best innovative ideas will receive a NASA Innovation Award.

Today, the administration has announced a new online platform that empowers the federal government to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on our nation’s most pressing problems. On Challenge.gov, entrepreneurs, leading innovators and citizen solvers can compete for prizes by providing novel solutions to tough problems and, at the same time, take pride in engaging with their government to advance national priorities.

I’m proud that NASA’s been singled out as an early pioneer and leader in successful use of government prize competitions for strengthening America’s technology and innovation base and is now included as part of Challenge.gov. NASA will continue to employ innovative approaches in advancing its aeronautics, science and exploration missions, and in building a technology foundation for our nation.

Charles Bolden
NASA Administrator

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA’s pioneering use of prize competitions and innovation challenges is a dramatic departure from government’s traditional “business as usual.”

The agency’s innovation and technology challenges include prizes that encourage independent teams to race to achieve bold goals — without any upfront government funding. NASA benefits from private sector investments many times greater than the cash value of prizes, and the agency only pays for results.

“NASA prize competitions unlock the extraordinary, sometimes untapped potential of U.S. students, private companies of all sizes and citizen inventors,” said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These individuals and teams are providing creative solutions to NASA challenges while fostering new technology, new industries and innovation across the United States.”

NASA has a history of broad and successful experiences with prize challenges. The agency is a leader in government-sponsored competitions that solve problems to benefit the space program and nation. Since 2005, NASA has conducted 20 Centennial Challenges in six areas and awarded $4.5 million to 13 teams. Each challenge is managed by non-profit organizations in partnership with NASA.

In July, NASA announced three new challenges and is seeking non-profit organizations to manage them. The challenges are:

• The Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge is to place a small satellite into Earth orbit, twice in one week, for a prize of $2 million. The goals of this challenge are to stimulate innovations in low-cost launch technology and encourage commercial nano-satellite delivery services.

• The Night Rover Challenge is to demonstrate a solar-powered exploration vehicle that can operate in darkness using its own stored energy. The prize purse is $1.5 million. The objective of this challenge is to stimulate innovations in energy storage technologies for extreme space environments, such as the surface of the moon, or for electric vehicles and renewable energy systems on Earth.

• The Sample Return Robot Challenge is to demonstrate a robot that can locate and retrieve geologic samples from varied terrain without human control. This challenge has a prize purse of $1.5 million. The objective is to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic technologies.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program has an impressive track record for generating novel solutions from student teams, citizen inventors and entrepreneurial firms outside the traditional aerospace industry. NASA is putting the innovations to work, as the agency recently announced awards to two small aerospace firms for flight testing rocket vehicles based on designs that won prizes in the Lunar Lander Challenge.

NASA’s Green Flight Challenge offers $1.5 million for an aircraft with unprecedented fuel-efficiency. At least 10 teams are preparing to compete next summer in the challenge. Other agency challenges are focused on wireless power transmission and super-strong materials.

In addition to the Centennial Challenges, NASA sponsors innovation challenges, posing problems via the Internet to people around the world. NASA uses open innovation platforms, or crowd sourcing, to take advantage of group power from outside the agency to help solve problems or to bring in new ideas. Current challenges seek innovative solutions to health and medical problems of astronauts living in space, the forecasting of solar storms and exercise equipment for crews aboard the International Space Station. Solutions are submitted in return for prizes or recognition by the space program.

NASA recently inaugurated an employee challenge called NASA@Work. This collaborative problem-solving program will connect the collective knowledge of experts from around the agency using a private Web-based platform. NASA “challenge owners” can post problems for review by internal “solvers.” The solvers who deliver the best innovative ideas will receive a NASA Innovation Award.

The public can learn more about NASA’s Centennial Challenges and other innovation challenges on:

http://www.challenge.gov

This new online platform empowers the federal government to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on the nation’s most pressing problems. On this site, entrepreneurs, innovators and citizen solvers can compete for prizes by providing novel solutions to tough problems.

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA announced three new Centennial Challenges Tuesday, with an overall prize purse of $5 million. NASA’s Centennial Challenges are prize competitions for technological achievements by independent teams who work without government funding.

“NASA sponsors prize competitions because the agency believes student teams, private companies of all sizes and citizen-inventors can provide creative solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation,” said Bobby Braun, the agency’s chief technologist. “Prize competitions are a proven way to foster technological competitiveness, new industries and innovation across America.”

The Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge is to place a small satellite into Earth orbit, twice in one week, with a prize of $2 million. The goals of this challenge are to stimulate innovations in low-cost launch technology and encourage creation of commercial nano-satellite delivery services.

The Night Rover Challenge is to demonstrate a solar-powered exploration vehicle that can operate in darkness using its own stored energy. The prize purse is $1.5 million. The objective is to stimulate innovations in energy storage technologies of value in extreme space environments, such as the surface of the moon, or for electric vehicles and renewable energy systems on Earth.

The Sample Return Robot Challenge is to demonstrate a robot that can locate and retrieve geologic samples from wide and varied terrain without human control. This challenge has a prize purse of $1.5 million. The objectives are to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic manipulator technologies.

Centennial Challenges are extended to individuals, groups and companies working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike most contracts or grants, awards only are made after solutions are successfully demonstrated.

NASA is soliciting proposals from non-profit organizations to manage each of the three new competitions. Centennial Challenge events typically include public audiences and are televised or broadcast over the Internet via streaming video. The competitions provide high-visibility opportunities for public outreach and education.

After the partner organizations are signed, NASA and those organizations expect to announce challenge rules and details on how teams may enter later this year. Proposals from organizations interested in partnering with NASA are due by Sept. 13. Selection of partner organizations is expected by Oct. 8.

Since 2005, NASA has conducted 19 competition events in six challenge areas and awarded $4.5 million to 13 different teams. There are three current Centennial Challenges:

– The Strong Tether Challenge: Teams must demonstrate a material that is at least 50 percent stronger than the strongest commercially available. The challenge is scheduled for Aug. 13 in Seattle.

– The Power Beaming Challenge: Teams must transmit power using laser beams to a device, so it can climb a vertical cable more than half a mile high. The challenge is planned for the fall of 2010.

– The Green Flight Challenge: Teams will fly aircraft they designed to travel 200 miles in less than two hours using the energy equivalent of less than one gallon of gasoline per occupant. The challenge will be held in July 2011. It is expected to attract electric, hybrid and bio-fueled aircraft.

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA is seeking private and corporate sponsors for the Centennial Challenges, a program of incentive prizes designed for the “citizen inventor” that generates creative solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation. NASA is looking for companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring the non-profit allied organizations that manage the prize competitions.

Since 2005, NASA has conducted 19 competitions in six challenge areas and awarded $4.5 million to 13 different teams. Each of the challenges is managed by non-profit organizations in partnership with NASA.

NASA provides prize purses for the challenges but not the funds to conduct the competitions. A group of allied organizations conducts and manages the competitions, typically raising additional funds through partnerships with private and corporate sponsors.

Potential sponsors can be for-profit companies and corporations, universities and other non-profit or educational organizations, professional or public organizations, and individuals. Those interested in discussing sponsorship opportunities should respond to a Request for Information at:

http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=141911
Allied organizations generally seek sponsorships of all monetary sizes and in-kind contributions while providing public recognition to competition sponsors. Arrangements for competition sponsorships will be negotiated directly between the allied organizations and the sponsors and may include naming rights for significant contributors.

Centennial Challenge events typically include public audiences and are televised or broadcast over the Internet via streaming video. The competitions provide high-visibility opportunities for public outreach and education. There are three on-going Centennial Challenges, with several new challenges expected to be announced this year.

For additional information on the program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/challenges

Continuing our look at NASA’s proposed 2011 budget, we see that the space agency is proposing to spent $10 million per year through 2015 on its Centennial Challenges program.

In selecting topics for prize competitions, NASA consults widely within and outside of the Federal Government. The $10 million per year FY 2011 request for Centennial Challenges will allow NASA to pursue new and more ambitious prize competitions. Topics for future challenges that are under consideration include revolutionary energy storage systems, solar and other renewable energy technologies, laser communications, demonstrating near-Earth object survey and deflection strategies, innovative approaches to improving the safety and efficiency of aviation systems including Next Generation Aeronautics efforts, closed-loop life support and other resource recycling techniques, and low-cost access to space. Annual funding for Centennial Challenges allows new prizes to be announced, addressing additional technology challenges that can benefit from the innovation of the Citizen inventor.

The Centennial Challenges program seeks innovative solutions to technical problems that can drive
progress in aerospace technology of value to NASA’s missions in space operations, science,
exploration and aeronautics. Beginning in FY 2011, Centennial Challenge activities associated with
the Innovative Partnerships Program are transferred to the Space Technology Program. Centennial
Challenges encourage the participation of independent teams, individual inventors, student groups
and private companies of all sizes in aerospace research and development, and seek to find the
most innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation. NASA’s
original seven prize challenges have been successful in encouraging broad participation by innovators across our nation and across generations. Many of these technical challenges also have
direct relevance to national and global needs such as energy and transportation.

Prize programs encourage diverse participation and multiple solution paths. A measure of diversity is
seen in the geographic distribution of participants (from Hawaii to Maine) that reaches far beyond the locales of the NASA Centers and major aerospace industries. The participating teams have included individual inventors, small startup companies, and university students and professors. An example of multiple solution paths was seen in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge. NASA can typically afford one or two working prototypes in a development program but at this Challenge event, over twenty different working prototypes were demonstrated for the NASA technologists. All of these prototypes were developed at no cost to the government. For three years of competitions with dozens of teams investing tens of thousands of hours, NASA spent only $750,000 in prize money.

The return on investment with prizes is exceptionally high as NASA expends no funds unless the
accomplishment is demonstrated. NASA provides only the prize money and the administration of the
competitions is done at no cost to NASA by non-profit allied organizations. For the Lunar Lander
Challenge, twelve private teams spent nearly 70,000 hours and the equivalent of $12 million trying to win $2 million in prize money. Prizes also focus public attention on NASA programs and generate
interest in science and engineering. Live webcasts of Centennial Challenge competitions attract
thousands of viewers across the nation and around the world. The 2009 Power Beaming completion
resulted in over 100 news articles and web features. Prizes also create new businesses and new
partners for NASA. The winner of the 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge started a new business to
manufacture pressure suit gloves. Armadillo Aerospace began a partnership with NASA related to
the reusable rocket engine that they developed for the Lunar Lander Challenge, and they also sell
the engine commercially.

RT Doug_Comstock: Peter Homer wins $250k 1st prize and Ted Southern wins $100k 2nd prize in Astro Glove Challenge. Congrats to both for a great competition!

More details later.

The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge will be held on Nov. 19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Fla., near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The $400,000 prize challenge is a nationwide competition that focuses on developing improved pressure suit gloves for astronauts to use while working in the vacuum of space. The competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 19 and conclude with an award ceremony at approximately 5 p.m.

Part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program, the competition will test gloves independent inventors designed and constructed. The tests will measure the gloves’ dexterity and strength during operation in a glove box that simulates the vacuum of space. At least two competitors are expected, including Peter Homer, the winner of the competition held in 2007. This year’s entrants must provide a glove that includes an outer thermal protection layer, as well as the inner pressure-containing layer. The result is a complete glove suitable for space operations.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program will provide the prize. Volanz Aerospace Inc. of Owings, Md., manages the competition for NASA. Secor Strategies, LLC of Titusville, Fla., is a sponsor for the event.

Centennial Challenges is NASA’s program of technology prizes for the citizen-inventor. Recent Centennial Challenge events included Regolith Excavation, Lunar Lander and Power Beaming Challenges, in which six different competitors won a total of $3.3 million in prizes.

NASA will award $1.65 million in prize money Thursday to a pair of innovative aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program will give a $1 million first prize to Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., and a $500,000 second prize to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Tex., for their Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge flights. The competition was managed by the X PRIZE Foundation. The Northrop Grumman Corporation is a commercial sponsor that provided operating funds for the contest to the X PRIZE Foundation.

An awards ceremony for the winning teams will be held at noon on Nov. 5 in room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Journalists should contact Sonja Alexander at 202-358-1761 for more information about the ceremony.

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge involves building and flying a rocket-powered vehicle that simulates the flight of a vehicle on the moon. The lander must take off vertically then travel horizontally, flying a mission profile designed to demonstrate both power and control before landing accurately at another spot. The same vehicle then must take off again, travel horizontally back to its original takeoff point and land successfully, all within a two-hour-and-15-minute time period.

The challenge requires exacting control and navigation, as well as precise control of engine thrust, all done automatically. The rocket’s engine must be started twice in a short time with no ground servicing other than refueling. This represents the technical challenges involved in operating a reusable vehicle that could land on the moon.

The prize purse is divided into first and second prizes for Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 requires a flight duration of at least 90 seconds on each flight and Level 2 requires a duration of at least 180 seconds. One of the landings for a Level 2 attempt must be made on a simulated lunar terrain with rocks and craters.

Masten Space Systems met the Level 2 requirements by achieving accurate landings and captured the first place prize during flights of their “Xoie” (pronounced “Zoey”) vehicle Oct. 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Masten also claimed a $150,000 prize as part of the Level 1 competition.

Armadillo Aerospace was the first team to qualify for the Level 2 prize with successful flights of its Scorpius rocket Sept. 12 in Caddo Mills, Tex. Armadillo placed second in the Level 2 competition, earning a $500,000 prize.

The average landing accuracy determined which teams would receive first and second place prizes. The Masten team achieved an average accuracy of 7.5 inches while Armadillo Aerospace’s average accuracy was 34 inches.

The events of the past two months have brought the four-year Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge to a conclusion. All $2 million in prize money has been awarded.

“The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge has had its intended impact, with impressive performances by multiple teams representing a new generation of aerospace entrepreneurs” said Andrew Petro, NASA’s Centennial Challenge program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These companies have demonstrated reusable vehicles with rapid turnaround and a surprising degree of precision in flight, and they have done all this at a much lower cost than many thought possible.”

Four teams had been in pursuit of the 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge prizes during the competition that opened in July. The BonNova team dropped out of the competition last week. Unreasonable Rocket, a father-and-son team from Solana Beach, Calif., conducted flight attempts during the final days of the competition but did not complete any qualifying flights.

In the Level 1 competition, Armadillo Aerospace previously claimed the first place prize of $350,000 in 2008. Masten Space Systems qualified for the remaining second place prize on Oct. 7, 2009, with an average landing accuracy of 6.3 inches. Because there were no other qualifying Level 1 flights this year, the Masten team will receive the second place prize of $150,000.

NASA’s Centennial Challenges program’s goals are to drive progress in aerospace technology that is of value to NASA’s missions; encourage participation of independent teams, individual inventors, student groups and private companies of all sizes in aerospace research and development; and find innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation.

The Northop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is one of six Centennial Challenges managed by NASA’s Innovative Partnership Program. The competition was managed for NASA at no cost to the taxpayer by the X PRIZE Foundation under a Space Act Agreement. NASA provided all of the prize funds.

CALIFORNIA SPACE AUTHORITY PRESS RELEASE

MOUNTAIN VIEW – Nineteen teams pushed their robotic competitors to the limit and three teams claimed a total of $750,000 in NASA prizes for their hard work and innovation at this year’s Regolith Excavation Challenge held at NASA’s Ames Research Center on Moffett Field.

After two days of intense competitive drama, organizers conferred Paul’s Robotics of Worcester, MA, with the first place title, second went to Terra Engineering of Gardena, CA, and Team Braundo of Rancho Palos Verde, CA, took home third.

This is the first time in the competition’s three-year history that any teams qualified for a cash prize, the largest NASA has ever given. Announcing the awards and handing over the cash prizes were Lynn Baroff, Executive Director of the California Space Education and Workforce Institute (CSEWI), Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of the California Space Authority (CSA), and Andrew Petro, Program Executive for the NASA Innovation Incubator and Centennial Challenges.

The winning excavator lifted 965 pounds of regolith material in the allotted time. Runners up excavated 595 pounds and 580 pounds, respectively. Special mention goes to Team E-REX and Eric Jones of Little Rock, AR for transferring the most regolith, 165 pounds, in a single deposit of simulated lunar substance into the official collector bin.

Competitors were required to use mobile, robotic digging machines capable of excavating up to at least 330 pounds of regolith and depositing it into a container in 30 minutes or less. The rules require the remote controlled vehicles to contain their own power sources and weigh no more than 176 pounds.

The team Paul’s Robotics has worked on many robots for a variety of competitions and real-life challenges. “We expected the huge dust plume that was created by our excavator, but managed operations anyway,” stated Paul Ventimiglia, the leader of the team and a tenured Battlebots participant. “What we didn’t expect were the last minute design alterations we were forced to employ.

Terra Engineering is returning for their third time at a prize. Utilizing articulated independent steering and 28 sensors, the digger was a modified version of the team’s entry from last year. “We got the most out of this machine,” Stated Todd Mendenhall, team captain. “It provided us with the expected level of information that we needed to properly operate the hardware.”

Brut Force Digger is the name of the digging rover designed by Team Braundo, an experience prize competitor. “It was built in just a couple of months with surplus materials that we had sitting around our shop,” stated Valerie Mendenhall, a first time competitor. “In this design we applied the ‘simple is better’ approach and, happily, it paid off.”

Twenty-three teams registered for the challenge and traveled from across the country to compete. Of the 23 teams, only 19 competed, one was disqualified as a result of specification violations and the rest withdrew on their own due to last-minute mechanical or logistical problems.

“It’s really encouraging that we saw three teams achieve the minimum requirements and shows that innovation is not only alive but growing,” said Baroff, who also lead the panel of judges. “It’s really great that through this competition NASA is actively seeking to recognize citizen inventors from across the nation whose ideas may one day contribute to space exploration.”

Regolith is difficult to dig because the dust particles want to stick together. The winning teams achieved a real technical accomplishment because their entire robotic system has to be sturdy enough to scoop faux moon dirt, powerful enough to move through the dense surface and still light enough to meet the weight requirements.

“This was an incredibly tough competition and teams came up with fantastic ideas, some of which might find use in future missions to the moon,” said Greg Schmidt, deputy director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI). “It’s great to have a winner this year. The biggest win is getting so many talented young people involved in NASA’s mission of exploration.”

“After three years, it’s great to have three cash prize winners,” said Seastrand. “Two of the teams are returning competitors and have learned through this challenge that there is no such thing as failure. It’s great to see them rewarded for their determination, innovation and creativity. A testament to what a tinkerer will do.”

The two-day competition was co-hosted by CSEWI and its sister organization CSA, in collaboration with the NLSI. Diani Building Corporation and Empirical Systems Aerospace also supported the competition.

Terra Engineering’s rover dumps a load of regolith into the collection box.

Terra Engineering has lept into second place in the Lunar Excavation Challenge, guaranteeing that this year’s $750,000 prize purse will be full claimed.

The team’s rover collected an unofficial total 270.6 kilograms of simulated lunar soil. This lept the Gardena, California-based team ahead of Braundo Rancho, whose rover collected 263.75 kilograms earlier on Sunday. Paul’s Robotics of Worcester, Massachusetts continues to lead with 439 kilograms.

The first place finisher will claim $500,000 with the second and third place teams claiming $150,000 and $100,000, respectively. To qualify for prizes, teams had to excavate at least 150 kilograms of regolith.

One team – Moon Diggers B of San Francisco, California – remains to compete.

• 18 teams competed
• 2 teams still to compete – Terra Engineering and Moon Diggers B
• 6 teams excavated soil
• 2 teams qualified for prize money – Paul’s Robotics and Braundo Rancho
• 11 teams excavated no soil
• 1 team disqualified during set up – Moon Diggers A

Qualified for Prizes

Paul’s Robotics: 439 kilograms – Worcester, Mass
Braundo Rancho: 263.75 kilograms – Palo Verdes, California

Excavated Soil – Did Not Qualify

E-REX – 75 kilograms – Little Rock, Arkansas
Technology Ranch – 26.45 kilograms – Arroyo Grande, California
Green Cheese Solutions – .6 kilograms – Hudson, Wisconsin
Laurentian Rock: .4 kilograms – Glendale, California

Excavated No Soil

Auric Design – Orlando, Florida
C2 Robotics – San Luis Obispo, California
Colorado School of Mines – Golden, Colorado
Innovation Island – Southwest Harbor, Maine
Invading Huns – Palm Bay, Florida
Lunar Arc – Irvine, California
Next Step Robotics – Houston, TX
Sandstorm – North Royalton, Ohio
Team Waldbaum – Sunnyvale, California
Top Hat Robotics West – Lafayette, Indiana
UBC TREAD Robotics – Vancouver, BC

Disqualified

Moon Diggers A – San Francisco, California