Jacques van Oene
May 20th 05, 12:09 AM
Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington May 19, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1979/5241)
Edward Ellegood
Florida Space Research Institute, Fla.
(Phone: 321/452-2653; x 204)
RELEASE: 05-128
NASA ANNOUNCES NEW CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE
NASA, in collaboration with the Florida Space Research Institute
(FSRI), today announced a new Centennial Challenges prize competition.
The MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) challenge will award $250,000 to the
first team that can extract breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil
before the prize expires on June 1, 2008.
For the MoonROx challenge, teams must develop hardware within mass and power
limits that can extract at least five kilograms of breathable oxygen from
simulated lunar soil during an eight-hour period. The soil simulant, called
JSC-1, is derived from volcanic ash. The oxygen production goals represent
technologies that are beyond existing state-of-the-art.
NASA's Centennial Challenges promotes technical innovation through a novel
program of prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation's ingenuity
to make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration
and NASA goals.
"The use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the Vision for
Space Exploration," said NASA's Associate Administrator for the Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate, Craig Steidle. "This challenge will reach out
to inventors who can help us achieve the Vision sooner," he added.
"This is our third prize competition, and the Centennial Challenges program
is getting more and more exciting with each new announcement. The
innovations from this competition will help support long-duration, human and
robotic exploration of the moon and other worlds," said Brant Sponberg,
NASA's Centennial Challenges program manager.
"Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic and human
missions to the moon," said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance. "Like
other space-focused prize competitions, the MoonROx challenge will encourage
a broad community of innovators to develop technologies that expand our
capabilities," he added.
The Centennial Challenges program is managed by NASA's Exploration Systems
Mission Directorate. FSRI is a state-wide center for space research. It was
established by Florida's governor and legislature in 1999.
For more information about Centennial Challenges on the Internet, visit:
http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
For information about the Florida Space Research Institute on the Internet,
visit:
http://www.fsri.org
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Headquarters, Washington May 19, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1979/5241)
Edward Ellegood
Florida Space Research Institute, Fla.
(Phone: 321/452-2653; x 204)
RELEASE: 05-128
NASA ANNOUNCES NEW CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE
NASA, in collaboration with the Florida Space Research Institute
(FSRI), today announced a new Centennial Challenges prize competition.
The MoonROx (Moon Regolith Oxygen) challenge will award $250,000 to the
first team that can extract breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil
before the prize expires on June 1, 2008.
For the MoonROx challenge, teams must develop hardware within mass and power
limits that can extract at least five kilograms of breathable oxygen from
simulated lunar soil during an eight-hour period. The soil simulant, called
JSC-1, is derived from volcanic ash. The oxygen production goals represent
technologies that are beyond existing state-of-the-art.
NASA's Centennial Challenges promotes technical innovation through a novel
program of prize competitions. It is designed to tap the nation's ingenuity
to make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration
and NASA goals.
"The use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the Vision for
Space Exploration," said NASA's Associate Administrator for the Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate, Craig Steidle. "This challenge will reach out
to inventors who can help us achieve the Vision sooner," he added.
"This is our third prize competition, and the Centennial Challenges program
is getting more and more exciting with each new announcement. The
innovations from this competition will help support long-duration, human and
robotic exploration of the moon and other worlds," said Brant Sponberg,
NASA's Centennial Challenges program manager.
"Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic and human
missions to the moon," said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance. "Like
other space-focused prize competitions, the MoonROx challenge will encourage
a broad community of innovators to develop technologies that expand our
capabilities," he added.
The Centennial Challenges program is managed by NASA's Exploration Systems
Mission Directorate. FSRI is a state-wide center for space research. It was
established by Florida's governor and legislature in 1999.
For more information about Centennial Challenges on the Internet, visit:
http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
For information about the Florida Space Research Institute on the Internet,
visit:
http://www.fsri.org
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info