Microgravity Enterprise, Inc. will provide Space2O—a bottled space water product—for participating teams in the 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge, a national competition involving 25 teams from across the U.S. The event requires teams to build an effective roving lunar excavator that collects and places into a collector 150 kg of lunar simulant within 30 minutes for eligibility in winning NASA’s $750,000.
“The Regolith Excavation Challenge invites innovation,” says Darryl Hupfer, MEI’s VP for Marketing working with vendors and distributors, “and that resonates with our own drive for innovative consumable space products. MEI wants our Space2O at the regolith competition to express our support for the participating teams and their inventive spirit.”
Space2O—is an innovative bottled water product that uses ingredients launched and retrieved from space. On every commercial space flight, MEI donates “free payload space” to educational organizations ranging from K-20 as part of their ACCESS for Education Foundation, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that provides educational and public outreach associated with space research, development and commercialization.
Continue reading ‘Microgravity Enterprises to Provide Space Water for Regolith Excavation Challenge Teams’
The California Space Authority is hoping to build a $175 million education center just outside the gates at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, Calif., the Santa Maria Times reports.
CSA officials are negotiating a lease for use of 66 acres of Air Force property. The land sits on a bluff that is used as the primary viewing area for rocket launches from the military spaceport.
“The purpose of the space center is to primarily inspire young people to look to Vandenberg and learn the story of the land - what’s happening there today, and what’s going to happen there in the future,” CSA Executive Director Andrea Seastrand told KSBY-TV.
CALIFORNIA SPACE AUTHORITY PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC – The California Space Education and Workforce Institute and California Space Authority announced today during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters that 20 teams have registered to compete in the 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge.
The teams competing for the $750,000 prize purse hail from 12 states and represent a variety of backgrounds, including universities, seasoned private sector robotics teams, and industry based competitors. The Challenge event will take place during August 2nd and 3rd on the campus of challenge co-host California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo College of Engineering.
Continue reading ‘Twenty Teams to Compete in Lunar Regolith Challenge for $750,000 in NASA Prize Money’
