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	+ IPP Home		+ SBIR + STTR + IPP Seed Fund + Centennial Challenges + FAST + Innovation Transfusion + Technology Transfer + Intellectual Property Mgmt + New Innovative Partnerships + Spinoff Current Challenges | Past Challenges | What's New? | Links | Submit Your Ideas | Mailing List | Outreach Centennial Challenges is NASA's program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in solar system exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. By making awards based on actual achievements, instead of proposals, Centennial Challenges seeks novel solutions to NASA's mission challenges from non-traditional sources of innovation in academia, industry and the public. Current and past Centennial Challenges competition events are listed below. Current Challenges The following information is deemed accurate at the time of posting. Dates may change without notice. Challenge Date Challenge Name Purse Allied Organization 2008 (Date TBD) 2008 Beam Power Challenge $900K The Spaceward Foundation (non-NASA link) 2008 (Date TBD) 2008 Tether Challenge $900K The Spaceward Foundation (non-NASA link) 2008 (Date TBD) Lunar Lander Challenge $2M The X PRIZE Foundation (non-NASA link) 2008 (Date TBD) 2008 Astronaut Glove Challenge $400K Volanz Aerospace Inc./Spaceflight America (non-NASA link) 2-3 Aug 2008 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge $750K California Space Education & Workforce Institute (CSEWI) (non-NASA link) 2-10 Aug 2008 2008 General Aviation Technology Challenge (formerly the PAV Challenge) $300K Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation (non-NASA link) Expires 1 Jun 2009 Moon Regolith Oxygen (MoonROx) Challenge $1M California Space Education & Workforce Institute (CSEWI) (non-NASA link) Abbreviations: CAFE = Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation CSEWI = California Space Education and Workforce Institute MoonROx = Moon Regolith Oxygen ^ back to top Past Challenges The following information is deemed accurate at the time of posting. Dates may change without notice. Challenge Date Challenge Name Winner/Purse Allied Organization 27-28 Oct 2007 Lunar Lander Challenge None/$2M The X PRIZE Foundation (non-NASA link) 20 Oct 2007 2007 Tether Challenge None/$500K The Spaceward Foundation (non-NASA link) 13-21 Oct 2007 2007 Beam Power Challenge None/$500K The Spaceward Foundation (non-NASA link) 4-11 Aug 2007 2007 Personal Air Vehicle Challenge Vance Turner/$100K Vantage Prize Dave & Diane Anders/$50K Noise Prize John Rehn/$25K Handling Qualities Vance Turner/$25K Shortest Runway Prize Vance Turner/$25K Efficiency Prize Dave & Diane Anders/$15K Top Speed First Prize Vance Turner/$10K Top Speed Second Prize Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation (non-NASA link) 11-12 May 2007 2007 Regolith Excavation Challenge None/$250K California Space Education & Workforce Institute (CSEWI) (non-NASA link) 2-3 May 2007 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge Peter Homer/$200K Volanz Aerospace Inc./Spaceflight America (non-NASA link) 20-21 Oct 2006 2006 Beam Power Challenge None/$200K The Spaceward Foundation 20-21 Oct 2006 2006 Tether Challenge None/$200K The Spaceward Foundation 20-21 Oct 2006 2006 Lunar Lander Challenge None/$2M The X PRIZE Foundation 21-23 Oct 2005 2005 Beam Power Challenge None/$50K The Spaceward Foundation 21-23 Oct 2005 2005 Tether Challenge None/$50K The Spaceward Foundation ^ back to top What's New? May 2, 2008 - Green Personal Aircraft Take Off In  a Jetsons-like twist, some aerospace engineers predict that Americans will soon find it easier to commute via small, personal aircraft than cars. + Read More Apr 30, 2008 - Personal, 'Green' Airplanes Propel Forward The idea of personal planes may conjure up dark visions of Blade Runner, but the first batch of two-seater aircraft to fly on electricity rather than fossil fuels could reach more than a dozen buyers by year's end. + Read More Mar 10, 2008 - Allied Organizations Honored by NASA The Allied Organizations which conduct the Centennial Challenge competitions for NASA were honored for their contributions to the advancement of air and space technology on March 10, 2008. + View Pictures Winter 2008 - Learning From Space Entrepreneurs On October 4, 2004, Brian Binnie piloted SpaceShipOne above 100 km, marking the third time ever—and the second time in as many weeks—that a civilian astronaut had taken a privately built craft to outer space. + Read More Winter 2008 - The Astronaut Glove Challenge: Big Innovation From a (Very) Small Team How does one guy in Maine transform a pile of failures sitting on his dining room table into one of the biggest innovations in spacesuit glove technology since the beginning of human space flight? + Read More ^ back to top Links Below are links to other NASA organizations that feature Centennial Challenges on their web sites. NASA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs ^ back to top Submit Your Ideas Centennial Challenges was established to develop concepts for technology competitions that NASA will offer to the general public. Centennial Challenges is interested in YOUR ideas for future competitions and invites your submissions. Below are the two formats which you can use to submit your ideas. Before sending us your ideas, please review your submission to ensure that it is not an unsolicited proposal (e.g., an idea to make or do something new or better). Only competition ideas will be reviewed by Centennial Challenges. You may submit your challenge ideas via one of the following methods: Electronic Mail: ccideas@hq.nasa.gov Please also note that emails transmitting viruses will be quarantined and deleted by our system before we receive them. We apologize that these emails will not be received nor read by our office. Fax or US Mail: Dowloadable Form (pdf) Please download and print the form and either fax or mail it to the number/address at the end of the form. Please be assured that submissions will be reviewed by the staff of Centennial Challenges. However, due to the high volume of submissions received, please do not expect an individual response to your submission. If it is found that your questions or concerns are repeated in the other submissions we receive, we will respond in an appropriate and timely fashion. Thank you in advance for your idea submissions! ^ back to top Mailing List Messages: Centennial Challenges Update - October 2006 (pdf) Centennial Challenges Update - July 2006 (pdf) Centennial Challenges Update - April 2006 (pdf) To Subscribe: All subscription requests must be sent in Plain Text message format. If not, you will receive an error message and will not be subscribed until you receive a successful "You have been subscribed..." response. Send e-mail to majordomo@hq.nasa.gov Leave the subject line BLANK In the body of the message, type: subscribe centennialchallenges Make sure message format is plain text and do not include a signature Send You will receive a confirmation message via e-mail from the listserv upon a successful subscription attempt Please keep your confirmation message. You will need to know the exact name of the list and email address from which you subscribed if you decide to unsubscribe To Unsubscribe: You must send the unsubscribe request from the same email address used when you subscribed to the list. Do not include your name in the request. Send e-mail to majordomo@hq.nasa.gov Leave the subject line BLANK In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe centennialchallenges Make sure message format is plain text and do not include a signature Send ^ back to top Outreach Reports | Press Releases | Federal Register Notices | Past Announcements Reports Full Workshop Report (pdf) Prize Culture Report (pdf) Prize Competitions and NASA's Centennial Challenges Program (pdf) - This paper provides a programmatic overview of the Centennial Challenges program including a description of the origins of the program. Press Releases 04-144: NASA Schedules Centennial Challenges Workshop 04-179: NASA Announces Centennial Challenges Workshop Agenda 04-xxx: Centennial Challenges Day M05-044: NASA Announces First Two Centennial Challenges 05-128: NASA Announces New Centennial Challenge 05-204: NASA Announces Aeronautical Centennial Challenge 05-273: Digging 'Moon Dirt' is NASA's Fifth Centennial Challenge 05-341: NASA's Centennial Challenges Collaborates With Foundation 05-347: NASA Announces Results From Beam and Tether Challenges M05-083: NASA Announces First Centennial Challenges' Prizes 06-057: NASA's Challenges Program Seeks Input for New Competitions 06-189: Five NASA Centennial Challenges Competitions Open For Registration 06-211: NASA Announces Lunar Lander Analog Competition Agreement Federal Register Notices E6-13496: Centennial Challenges 2006 Tether Challenge E6-13497: Centennial Challenges 2006 Beam Power Challenge E6-13498: Centennial Challenges 2007 Astronaut Glove Challenge E6-13499: Centennial Challenges 2007 Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge Past Announcements February 2006 - NASA's Centennial Challenges Program Seeks Input On New Prize Competitions Announcement Synopses Request for Comments Rules (pdf) NASA Press Release ^ back to top
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