Part Of Centennial Challenges Program
NASA's Centennial
Challenges program has announced the Planetary Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle Challenge, in collaboration with the California Space
Education and Workforce Institute, Santa Maria, CA. NASA says the
$250,000 competition, scheduled for 2007, may significantly affect
how science is conducted on planets and moons with atmospheres.
"This Challenge will promote the development of innovative
solutions to the way NASA performs planetary science," said NASA's
Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate, Scott Horowitz. "Outer space destinations, such as
Mars and Saturn's satellite, Titan, are prime candidates for the
types of vehicles that will compete in this Challenge."
The planetary challenge will award $250,000 to teams that can
design and build an autonomously operating aerial vehicle to fly a
roller-coaster flight path using only visual navigation systems --
no GPS systems are allowed. Additional requirements
include extending and retracting a probe to precisely hit multiple
targets on the ground.
"NASA is continuing to push innovative concepts and new
technologies with this Challenge," said Brant Sponberg, NASA's
Centennial Challenges program manager. "Based on our experiences
with the Beam Power and Tether Centennial Challenges, we anticipate
a broad variety of participants, ideas and real hardware for this
competition."
NASA's Centennial Challenges effort -- a response to similar
competitions held in the private sector, including the X-Prize --
promotes technical innovation through prize competitions. It is
designed to tap the nation's ingenuity and make revolutionary
advances to support the Vision for Space Exploration and NASA
goals.
"The Institute is pleased to expand on our prior collaboration
with NASA to conduct this Centennial Challenges Competition," said
California Space Education and Workforce Institute Director Andrea
Seastrand. "By stimulating greater awareness, understanding and
appreciation for space research, we hope this Challenge will
inspire industry, educators and students to engage in space-related
education and enrichment activities."
The Institute is a charitable, nonprofit corporation formed to
create understanding, enthusiasm and appreciation for space
enterprise and space technology; inspire parents, educators and
students to engage in space-related education and enrichment
activities; stimulate greater awareness and understanding of the
space enterprise workforce and research needs throughout academia;
and attract, integrate and retain a robust space workforce.