Centennial Challenges
Encyclopedia
The Centennial Challenges are NASA
space competition
prize
contest
s for non-government-funded technological
achievements by American
teams.
competition to further space elevator
and space elevator related technologies. The Elevator:2010 competition is operated by a partnership between Spaceward Foundation and the NASA Centennial Challenges, and were the first two challenges announced on March 23, 2005.
. The 2005 contest was to award US$50,000 to the team which constructed the strongest tether, with contests in future years requiring that each winner outperform that of the previous year by 50%. No competing tether surpassed the commercial off-the-shelf
baseline and the prize was increased to $200,000 in 2006.
In 2007 the prize money was raised to $500,000 USD for this competition.
In 2007 the prize money was raised to $500,000 USD for this competition.
See Elevator:2010
for more information on the Tether Challenge, and the Beam Power Challenge as well as other challenges related to space elevator technologies.
Tickets for entrance were available at the Expo website for no cost. The Expo had the competition aircraft on display, presented winner checks and additional displays of green energy technology.
twice within one week. The intent is to spur development of low-cost launch technology and commercial nano-sat delivery. The prize for completion is $2 million. NASA is currently seeking a non-profit organization to partner with for this challenge. Requirements for proposal submission are here.
in Worcester, MA. Team registration will began Summer 2011 with the competition to occur in Summer 2012. The WPI Robotics Center coordinates the details of the competition.
once the NASA authorization bill has passed and the purse size has been allocated. This will be the first prize where the purse is over $250,000. The goal is to achieve suborbital altitudes that provide enough linger time for the kind of microgravity research NASA needs.
Challenges will be organized into one of four categories:
in 4 hours or less using at most 10 kW of energy. This $1 million prize expired in June 2009 without a winner.
The initial MoonROx challenge was announced in 2005 with the intent to award a $250,000 prize to the first team to develop the capability to extract 5 kilograms of breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil in an eight-hour period. The prize expired in June 2008.
For the initial announcement of the challenge, the competition was to be administered by the Florida Space Research Institute
(FSRI) in collaboration with NASA.
The next year the California Space Education and Workforce Institute (CSEWI) was selected to administer the challenge when FSRI was dissolved and Space Florida
was created to take its place.
Since extracting oxygen from silicates is difficult, and the oxygen electrochemically bound into the silicates at high temperature, it is likely that a solar-furnace may be part of the solution.
The first competition took place May 2 and May 3, 2007 at the New England Air Museum
in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
. NASA offered a total of $200,000 for the team that could design and manufacture the best astronaut glove that exceeded minimum requirements. An additional $50,000 was offered to the team that best demonstrated Mechanical Counter Pressure gloves
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_M07043_Astronaut_Glove_Challenge.html. The $200,000 prize was awarded to Peter K. Homer
, an engineer from Southwest Harbor, Maine
; the $50,000 prize went unclaimed and rolled to the next competition.
The 2009 competition was held on November 18 and 19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame
in Titusville, Florida
. In the 2009 competition Peter K. Homer of Maine won $250,000 and Ted Southern of New York won $100,000, both had competed previously. Another challenge is planned and the date is yet to be announced.
NASA's page
Official Website
was the only team able to compete. Their vehicle "Pixel" completed one leg of the trip on its third try but crashed shortly after takeoff on the return, leaving all prizes unclaimed.
In 2008, Armadillo Aerospace
successfully completed the easier level one VLC prize.
In 2009, the level two first prize was won by Masten Space Systems
, while Armadillo Aerospace took the level two second prize.
and was competed in 2007, 2008, and 2009, at which time the Challenge was won by a team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute
, which won the $500,000 prize purse.
NASA page
Regolith Challenge Excavation
(won by John Harrison
), the Orteig Prize
(won by Charles Lindbergh
), the Ansari X PRIZE
(won by Scaled Composites
), and the DARPA Grand Challenge
(won by Stanford University
in 2005 and Carnegie Mellon University
in 2007). A key advantage of prizes over traditional grants
is that money is only paid when the goal is achieved. A 1999 National Academy of Engineering
committee report recommended that "Congress encourage federal agencies to experiment more extensively with inducement prize contests in science and technology". A 2003 NASA Space Architect study, assisted by the X PRIZE Foundation
, led to the establishment of the Centennial Challenges. The prize contests were named "Centennial" in honor of the 100 years since the Wright brothers
' first flight in 1903.
As a federal agency, NASA has one of the federal government's three largest procurement budgets. The Energy Department (DOE) and the Defense Department (DOD) round out the trio. With the subsequent proposal in Congress of "H Prize" funding for breakthroughs in hydrogen fuel-related technology, the Department of Energy is poised to join NASA and DARPA's Defense Department in fortifying this paradigm shift favoring a growing quantity of technology experimenters who might otherwise be neglected by traditional government contractors and federal procurement officials.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
space competition
Space competition
Space prize redirects here. For the literature prize, see Howard E. Day PrizeA space competition is an offer of a prize to be given to the first competitor who demonstrates a space vehicle, or a space exploration apparatus, which meets a set of pre-established criteria...
prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
contest
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
s for non-government-funded technological
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
achievements by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
teams.
Current Challenges
As of April 2007, seven Challenges have been announced: the Tether Challenge, the Beam Power challenge, the Moon Regolith Oxygen (MoonROx) Challenge, the Regolith Excavation Challenge, the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge, the Lunar Lander Challenge and the Astronaut Glove Challenge. Each of these challenges are being done in collaboration with an outside organization. Three new challenges were announced in July 2010, the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge, the Night Rover Challenge, and the Sample Return Robot Challenge.Tether & beam power challenge
Both the Tether and Beam Power Challenges are a part of the Elevator:2010Elevator:2010
Elevator:2010 is a competition with monetary prizes similar to the Ansari X Prize, but with the purpose of developing space elevator and space elevator-related technologies...
competition to further space elevator
Space elevator
A space elevator, also known as a geostationary orbital tether or a beanstalk, is a proposed non-rocket spacelaunch structure...
and space elevator related technologies. The Elevator:2010 competition is operated by a partnership between Spaceward Foundation and the NASA Centennial Challenges, and were the first two challenges announced on March 23, 2005.
Tether challenge
This competition presents the challenge of constructing super-strong tethers, a crucial component of a space elevatorSpace elevator
A space elevator, also known as a geostationary orbital tether or a beanstalk, is a proposed non-rocket spacelaunch structure...
. The 2005 contest was to award US$50,000 to the team which constructed the strongest tether, with contests in future years requiring that each winner outperform that of the previous year by 50%. No competing tether surpassed the commercial off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf
In the United States, Commercially available Off-The-Shelf is a Federal Acquisition Regulation term defining a nondevelopmental item of supply that is both commercial and sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, and that can be procured or utilized under government contract...
baseline and the prize was increased to $200,000 in 2006.
In 2007 the prize money was raised to $500,000 USD for this competition.
Beam power challenge
This is a competition to build a wirelessly-powered ribbon-climbing robot. The contest involves having the robot lift a large payload within a limited timeframe. The first competition in 2005 would have awarded US$50,000, US$20,000, and US$10,000 to the three best-performing teams, meeting the minimum benchmark of 1 m/s. However, no team met this standard, with only two teams climbing under beam power. This prize also increased to $200,000 in 2006, but no team was able to accomplish the full set of requirements.In 2007 the prize money was raised to $500,000 USD for this competition.
See Elevator:2010
Elevator:2010
Elevator:2010 is a competition with monetary prizes similar to the Ansari X Prize, but with the purpose of developing space elevator and space elevator-related technologies...
for more information on the Tether Challenge, and the Beam Power Challenge as well as other challenges related to space elevator technologies.
Green Flight Challenge
The Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google is to build an aircraft which can fly 200 miles in under two hours using the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline per passenger. The $1,650,000 prize was competed for Sept 25 - Oct 1, 2011 at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa, CA. The CAFE Foundation was the Allied Organization which partnered with NASA's Centennial Challenges Program to conduct the challenge. On October 1, 2011 CAFE had a competition open house for the public to see the aircraft and meet the competing teams. The Google Green Flight Challenge Exposition hosted by NASA was at NASA Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, CA on October 3, 2011.Tickets for entrance were available at the Expo website for no cost. The Expo had the competition aircraft on display, presented winner checks and additional displays of green energy technology.
Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge
The Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge is to place a small satellite into low earth orbitLow Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
twice within one week. The intent is to spur development of low-cost launch technology and commercial nano-sat delivery. The prize for completion is $2 million. NASA is currently seeking a non-profit organization to partner with for this challenge. Requirements for proposal submission are here.
Night Rover Challenge
The Night Rover Challenge is to build a solar-powered robot which can operate on stored energy for a significant portion of time. The intent is to spur development of extreme environment battery technology for use in space missions. The prize is $1.5 million. NASA is currently seeking a non-profit organization to partner with for this challenge. Requirements for proposal submission are here.Sample Return Robot Challenge
The Sample Return Robot Challenge is to build an autonomous rough-terrain robot which can find and retrieve geologic samples. The intent is to advance autonomic robotics and remote manipulator technology. The prize is $1.5 million. The Allied Organization selected to partner with NASA to conduct this challenge is Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities...
in Worcester, MA. Team registration will began Summer 2011 with the competition to occur in Summer 2012. The WPI Robotics Center coordinates the details of the competition.
Suborbital payload challenge (announced)
Announced at the XPrize Cup Expo, this challenge will be run by the X PRIZE FoundationAnsari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...
once the NASA authorization bill has passed and the purse size has been allocated. This will be the first prize where the purse is over $250,000. The goal is to achieve suborbital altitudes that provide enough linger time for the kind of microgravity research NASA needs.
Other proposals
The Challenges have not been finalized. Candidates include:- Very Low Cost SpacecraftSpacecraftA spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
Missions- Micro reentryAtmospheric reentryAtmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...
vehicles - LunarMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
robotic landingsLander (spacecraft)A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. For bodies with atmospheres, the landing is called atmospheric reentry and the lander descends as a re-entry vehicle... - MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
and asteroidAsteroidAsteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
microspacecraftMicrospacecraftUnder a study contract, the Italian Space Agency developed the mechanical system concept for a Mars Microspacecraft to launch in a twin configuration on an Ariane V ASAP...
missions - Solar sailSolar sailSolar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
missions.
- Micro reentry
- Breakthrough RobotRobotA robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
ic capability competitions- Robotic triathlonTriathlonA triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
. - Telerobotic construction race.
- Robotic insects.
- RoverMars RoverA Mars rover is an automated motor vehicle which propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars after landing.Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to...
survivor. - Antarctic rover traverse.
- Robotic triathlon
- Revolutionary TechnologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
demonstrations- Lunar resource utilization
- Long-term propellantPropellantA propellant is a material that produces pressurized gas that:* can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust ;...
storage - Precision landers
- Autonomous drillDrillA drill or drill motor is a tool fitted with a cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit or driver bit, used for drilling holes in various materials or fastening various materials together with the use of fasteners. The attachment is gripped by a chuck at one end of...
s - BatteryBattery (electricity)An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
breakthrough - In situ life detector
- Extreme environment computer
- Carbon nanotubeCarbon nanotubeCarbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material...
-based materials - Tether propulsion
- Very low cost suborbital launch.
Challenges will be organized into one of four categories:
- Flagship Challenges: "To encourage major private space missions," these are expected to be multi-million dollar prizes for more major goals, such as robotic lunar landers or human orbital spaceflight. (Flagship technology demonstration program is more explicitly described by NASA here.)
- Keystone Challenges: "To address technology priorities"
- Alliance Challenges: "To leverage partnerships," contests organized in collaboration with non-government partners
- Quest Challenges: "To promote science, technology, engineering and math outreach"
Moon regolith oxygen (MoonROx) challenge
This head-to-head competition was for a system capable of extracting 2.5 kilograms of oxygen from 100 kilograms of artificial lunar regolithRegolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
in 4 hours or less using at most 10 kW of energy. This $1 million prize expired in June 2009 without a winner.
The initial MoonROx challenge was announced in 2005 with the intent to award a $250,000 prize to the first team to develop the capability to extract 5 kilograms of breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil in an eight-hour period. The prize expired in June 2008.
For the initial announcement of the challenge, the competition was to be administered by the Florida Space Research Institute
Florida Space Research Institute
The Florida Space Research Institute was a state-wide center for space research which was established by Florida's governor and the Florida legislature in 1999. The institute was created in an effort to increase collaboration between the academic, government, and private organizations with regard...
(FSRI) in collaboration with NASA.
The next year the California Space Education and Workforce Institute (CSEWI) was selected to administer the challenge when FSRI was dissolved and Space Florida
Space Florida
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the state of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing space entities into a single new organization via the The Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the Florida Legislature...
was created to take its place.
Since extracting oxygen from silicates is difficult, and the oxygen electrochemically bound into the silicates at high temperature, it is likely that a solar-furnace may be part of the solution.
Astronaut glove challenge
In the 2007 competition, only the pressure-restraining layer part of the glove was required. But for the 2009 challenge, teams had to provide a complete glove, including the outer, thermal-micrometeoroid-protection layer. This competition rewarded US$200,000 in May 2007 to the team which constructed the best-performing astronaut glove. The basic idea for the competition was first proposed in Rand Simberg's Transterrestrial Musings blog.The first competition took place May 2 and May 3, 2007 at the New England Air Museum
New England Air Museum
The New England Air Museum is located at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, USA. The museum is housed in three large display buildings consisting of more than of exhibit space...
in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 12,043. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region. It is also the site of the New England Air Museum...
. NASA offered a total of $200,000 for the team that could design and manufacture the best astronaut glove that exceeded minimum requirements. An additional $50,000 was offered to the team that best demonstrated Mechanical Counter Pressure gloves
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_M07043_Astronaut_Glove_Challenge.html. The $200,000 prize was awarded to Peter K. Homer
Peter K. Homer
Peter K. Homer of Southwest Harbor, Maine, won $200,000 from NASA for his entry in the Astronaut Glove Challenge. The competition was held on Thursday, May 3, 2007, with a total of five teams competing , and was one of NASA's seven Centennial Challenges...
, an engineer from Southwest Harbor, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
; the $50,000 prize went unclaimed and rolled to the next competition.
The 2009 competition was held on November 18 and 19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame
Astronaut Hall of Fame
The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just south of Titusville, Florida, honors American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memorabilia, focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall; as well as Sigma 7, the fifth manned Mercury...
in Titusville, Florida
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Brevard County. Nicknamed Space City, USA, Titusville is on the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore...
. In the 2009 competition Peter K. Homer of Maine won $250,000 and Ted Southern of New York won $100,000, both had competed previously. Another challenge is planned and the date is yet to be announced.
NASA's page
Official Website
Vertical lander challenge and lunar lander challenge
Also announced at the XPrize Cup Expo and run by the XPrize Foundation, this prize is for a VTVL (vertical take-off, vertical landing) suborbital rocket that can achieve the altitudes and launch energies that are equivalent to what would be needed for a lunar lander. The Vertical Lander Challenge requires 50 meter minimum altitude, horizontal distance of 100 meters, flight time of 90 seconds, and landing on a smooth surface and after refueling, return to its original location. The more aggressive Lunar Lander Challenge increases that to 180s of flight time and landing on a rocky surface. The VLC has a first prize of $350,000, while the LLC has a first prize in excess of this. For 2006 at the Wirefly X PRIZE Cup, Armadillo AerospaceArmadillo Aerospace
Armadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack.On October 24, 2008, Armadillo...
was the only team able to compete. Their vehicle "Pixel" completed one leg of the trip on its third try but crashed shortly after takeoff on the return, leaving all prizes unclaimed.
In 2008, Armadillo Aerospace
Armadillo Aerospace
Armadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack.On October 24, 2008, Armadillo...
successfully completed the easier level one VLC prize.
In 2009, the level two first prize was won by Masten Space Systems
Masten Space Systems
Masten Space Systems is an aerospace startup company in Mojave, California that is developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing spacecraft, initially for unmanned suborbital research flights and eventually intended to support unmanned orbital launches.- Overview :Masten Space Systems...
, while Armadillo Aerospace took the level two second prize.
Regolith Excavation Challenge
In this Challenge, teams designed and built robotic machines to excavate simulated lunar soil (regolith). The Challenge was managed by the California Space AuthorityCalifornia Space Authority
The California Space Authority was a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Academia, and Workforce. CSA was also a participating member in...
and was competed in 2007, 2008, and 2009, at which time the Challenge was won by a team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities...
, which won the $500,000 prize purse.
NASA page
Regolith Challenge Excavation
Origin
The Centennial Challenges are based on a long history of technology prize contests, including the Longitude prizeLongitude prize
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude...
(won by John Harrison
John Harrison
John Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
), the Orteig Prize
Orteig Prize
The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors...
(won by Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
), the Ansari X PRIZE
Ansari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...
(won by Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...
), and the DARPA Grand Challenge
DARPA Grand Challenge
The DARPA Grand Challenge is a prize competition for driverless vehicles, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the most prominent research organization of the United States Department of Defense...
(won by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 2005 and Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
in 2007). A key advantage of prizes over traditional grants
Federal grant
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of...
is that money is only paid when the goal is achieved. A 1999 National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
committee report recommended that "Congress encourage federal agencies to experiment more extensively with inducement prize contests in science and technology". A 2003 NASA Space Architect study, assisted by the X PRIZE Foundation
X Prize Foundation
The X PRIZE Foundation is a non-profit organization that designs and manages public competitions intended to encourage technological development that could benefit mankind....
, led to the establishment of the Centennial Challenges. The prize contests were named "Centennial" in honor of the 100 years since the Wright brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
' first flight in 1903.
As a federal agency, NASA has one of the federal government's three largest procurement budgets. The Energy Department (DOE) and the Defense Department (DOD) round out the trio. With the subsequent proposal in Congress of "H Prize" funding for breakthroughs in hydrogen fuel-related technology, the Department of Energy is poised to join NASA and DARPA's Defense Department in fortifying this paradigm shift favoring a growing quantity of technology experimenters who might otherwise be neglected by traditional government contractors and federal procurement officials.
See additionally
- International Mars Society's University Rover Challenge
- Virginia's V Prize for spaceflight breakthroughs
- Innocentive's technical challenges page
- X Prize Foundation
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal's / PETA's million dollar in vitro meat production prize
- America's Rocketry Contest (for students)
Official (NASA)
- Centennial Challenges Home page of official web site.
- NASA Budget
- Centennial Challenges overview presentation
- 2004 Centennial Challenges Workshop Report
- Elevator 2010 (partner for Tether Challenge and Beam Power Challenge)
News
- NASA's Centennial Challenges Collaborates With Foundation - NASA press release (October 11, 2005)
- NASA Announces First Centennial Challenges' Prizes - NASA press release (March 23, 2005)
- NASA Schedules Centennial Challenges Workshop - NASA press release
- NASA Announces Centennial Challenges Workshop Agenda - NASA press release
- Centennial Challenges Workshop 2004 June 15–16. Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC.
- Centennial Challenges Workshop Registration Ends 2004 June.
News
- Race2Space.org - Advancing the Privatization of Space Travel July 2006, Race2Space, in partnership with the X PRIZE foundation, is seeking sponsorship in order to support the privatization of space travel, research, and exploration for the upcoming Lunar Landing Challenge Contestants October 2006."
- Lunar Lander Challenge -- One small step for NASA, One giant leap for the X PRIZE
- Space prize confidential (The Space Review, May 15, 2006)
- NASA Will Offer Cash Prizes for Technological Innovations (New York Times, March 27, 2005)
- NASA and Spaceward Foundation Announce First Centennial Challenges Prizes (Planetary Society, March 24, 2005)
- NASA Details Cash Prizes for Space Privatization (Space.com, March 23, 2005)
- NASA plans contests for space feats - MSNBC By Alan BoyleAlan BoyleAlan Boyle is a journalist specializing in science and technology news. He has worked for msnbc.com as a science editor since 1996.He has received recognition from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the form of the 2002 AAAS Science Journalism Award.-References:...
. - NASA's Centennial Challenges Program To Offer Cash Prizes - Space News
- NASA exploration office charts new procurement territory - GovExec.com
- Cosmic Contests - GovExec.com (August 15, 2005)
- "H Prize": The Department of Energy's proposed prize for hydrogen fuel-related breakthroughs: "H Prize" funding for breakthroughs in hydrogen fuel-related technology (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/24/41211.aspx)
Opinion
- Concerning Federally Sponsored Inducement Prizes in Engineering and Science Report of the Steering Committee for the Workshop to Assess the Potential for Promoting Technological Advance through Government-Sponsored Prizes and Contests, National Academy of Engineering.
- The Testimony of Mr. Elon Musk - U.S. Senate Committee Elon MuskElon MuskElon Musk is an American engineer and entrepreneur heritage best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity...
, the CEO of SpaceXSpaceXSpace Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...
: "If I can emphasize, underscore and highlight one strategy for Congress, it is to offer prizes of meaningful scale and scope." - And the Winner Is ... - FORTUNE Magazine By Brian O'Reilly. "Inducement prizes are a 'fantastic, low-risk, high-return mechanism,' says Diamandis. If no one succeeds, he notes, you don't have to shell out any money. 'And if someone does, you've automatically backed the winner.'"
- Grand challenges (Editorial) - The Washington Times
- NASA Needs Prize Contest Ideas - Slashdot