The Centennial Challenges are NASA inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A prize is an award given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. ... A contest is an event involving a competition at least two opposing individuals or teams, to be awarded a prize to the champion. ... ...

Challenges

As of August 2005, four Challenges have been announced: the Tether Challenge, the Beam Power challenge, the Moon Regolith Oxygen (MoonROx) Challenge, and the Astronaut Glove Challenge. Each of these challenges are being done in collaboration with an outside organization. Further challenges are still being planned.

Tether Challenge

This competition, being done in partnership with the Spaceward Foundation[1], has the challenge of constructing super-strong tethers, a crucial component of a space elevator. [2] A contest in 2005 will award US$50,000 to the team that constructs the strongest tether, with contests in future years requiring that each year's winner beat the previous year's by 50%. A space elevator would consist of a cable attached to the surface and reaching outwards into space. ...

This challenge and the Beam Power Challenge were the first to be announced by NASA, on March 23, 2005.

Beam Power Challenge

This is a competition to build a wirelessly-powered ribbon-climbing robot, also done in partnership with the Spaceward Foundation[3]. The contest involves having the robot lift a large payload within a limited timeframe. The first competition in 2005 will award US$50,000, US$20,000, and US$10,000 to the three best-performing teams.

Moon Regolith Oxygen (MoonROx) Challenge

This head-to-head competition, planned for Summer 2006, will reward US$250,000 for the system capable of extracting 2.5 kilograms of oxygen from 100 kilograms of artificial lunar regolith in 4 hours or less[4]. Regolith (Greek: blanket rock) is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. ...

Astronaut Glove Challenge

This competition will reward US$250,000 at a competition in November 2006 to the team which constructs the best-performing astronaut glove [5]. The basic idea for the competition was first proposed in Rand Simberg's Transterrestrial Musings blog[6].

Suborbital Payload Challenge

Announced at the XPrize Cup Expo, this challenge will be run by the XPrize Foundation 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.

Suborbital Lunar Lander Analog Challenge

Also announced at the XPrize Cup Expo and run by the XPrize Foundation, this prize is for a VTVL suborbital rocket that can achieve the altitudes and launch energies that are equivalent to what would be needed for a lunar lander.

Telerobotic Construction Challenge

Planetary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Challenge

Other proposals

The Challenges have not been finalized. Candidates include:

• Very Low Cost Spacecraft Missions
  • Micro reentry vehicles
  • Lunar robotic landings
  • Mars and asteroid microspacecraft missions
  • Solar sail missions.
• Breakthrough Robotic capability competitions
  • Robotic triathlon.
  • Telerobotic construction race.
  • Robotic insects.
  • Rover survivor.
  • Antarctic rover traverse.
• Revolutionary Technology demonstrations
  • Lunar resource utilization
  • Long-term propellant storage
  • Improved astronaut gloves
  • Precision landers
  • Autonomous drills
  • Battery breakthrough
  • In situ life detector
  • Extreme environment computer
  • Nanotube based materials
  • Tether propulsion
  • Very low cost suborbital launch.

Challenges will be organized into one of four categories: [7] A spacecraft is designed to leave Earths atmosphere and operate beyond the surface of the Earth in outer space. ... Atmospheric entry is the transition from the vacuum of space to the atmosphere of any planet or other celestial body. ... Bulk composition of the moons mantle and crust estimated, weight percent Oxygen 42. ... This article is about the spacecraft type. ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... An asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. ... Under a study contract, ASI developed the mechanical system concept for a Mars Microspacecraft to launch in a twin configuration on an Ariane V ASAP (Auxiliary Payload). ... Concept image of a solar sail spacecraft in the process of unfurling sails. ... ASIMO, a humanoid robot manufactured by Honda. ... A triathlon is an athletic event made up of three contests (from the Greek). ... Telerobotics is the area of robotics that is concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections ( like WiFi and similar). ... A Mars Rover is an unmanned land vehicle for exploration of the planet Mars. ... For other uses, see Antarctica (disambiguation). ... ... A propellant is a material that is used to move an object by applying a motive force. ... This article is about the spacecraft type. ... A drill is a tool with a rotating drill bit used for drilling holes in various materials. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Microelectronics designed for environments with high levels of ionizing radiation have special design challenges. ... An electronic device known as a diode can be formed by joining two nanoscale carbon tubes with different electronic properties. ... Artists conception of satellite with a tether Tether propulsion uses long, strong strings (known as tethers) to change the orbits of spacecraft. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ...

• 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.
• 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"

Origin

The Centennial Challenges are based on a long history of technology prize contests, including the Longitude prize (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). 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[8] 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. The longitude prize was a prize offered by the British government through an Act of Parliament in 1714 for the precise determination of a ships longitude. ... For other people with this name, see John Harrison (disambiguation). ... Charles Lindbergh (left) and Raymond Orteig The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered in 1919 by hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. ... Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. ... The X prize logo shows a stylised letter X representing a spacecraft trajectory and containing a starfield. ... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... The DARPA Grand Challenge is a United States government-sponsored competition that aims to create the first fully autonomous vehicles capable of competing on an under-300 mile, off-road course in the Mojave Desert in the Southwest United States. ... Stanford redirects here. ... A prize is an award given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. ... In the United States Federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in the United States provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The X PRIZE Foundation is the non-profit organization operating the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million competition designed to encourage private exploration of space. ... Orville Wright Wilbur Wright The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 - January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 - May 30, 1912), are generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Budget

For Financial Year 2004, each prize will be $250,000 or less.

The Financial Year 2005 budget includes $20 million for Centennial Challenges. Prizes larger than $250,000 will be offered if legislation (2005 NASA Authorization Act) allows them.

See also

• List of prizes, medals, and awards

A list of famous prizes, medals and awards including cups, trophies, bowls, badges, state decorations etc. ...

External links

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 4.

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining. ...

Unofficial (non-NASA)

News

• 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 Boyle.
• 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)

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 Musk, the CEO of SpaceX: "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