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Ideas for New NASA Prize Challenges
 
SEND US YOUR IDEAS!

Do you have an idea for a prize challenge?

We are now formulating plans for new prize challenges with the help of engineers and scientists throughout NASA - and we would like to consider ideas from private industry, outside organizations and the public as well. Deadline is November 8, 2009.

All submissions become public domain information. Ideas that are submitted may be used in whole or in part in formulating new NASA prize challenges. Submissions will be posted on this website as we receive them. Providing your name is optional and names and affiliations of those making submittals will not be posted publicly.

See instructions to submit ideas.
› View NASA Call for Prize Concepts
› View NASA Call for Prize Concepts Form

› VIEW IDEAS RECEIVED SO FAR

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
To stimulate brainstorming.
What are we looking for?
  • Relevant to NASA mission needs
  • Relevant to national and global needs
  • One or more NASA organizations willing to advocate
    • Provide expertise to guide competition
    • Actively seek technology infusion and partnerships
    • Remain involved through life of competition
  • Potential for commercial development
  • Appropriate subject for prize competition
Ideal Characteristics for Challenges
Not all interesting technical problems make good prize challenges
  • Technically valuable and interesting
    • Solution set not overly constrained – multiple solutions possible
    • High technical risk, high potential payback
  • Right degree of difficulty
    • Requires innovation but achievable by independent teams
    • Appropriate for the prize amount
    • Multiple competitors likely
  • Compelling to the public
    • Simple rules
    • Interesting to observe or follow
    • Obvious value
    • Futuristic
Links between NASA Needs and National and Global Needs
  • Energy - Alternative sources, transmission, storage and conservation
  • Food and Water Supplies, Life Support, Recycling, Hazard Remediation
  • Health Care, Space Medicine, Tele-Medicine
  • Robotics
  • Education, Communication, Artificial Intelligence
  • Climate Change, Earth Science, Space Weather
(You can read more about these in the main Centennial Challenges Section)

Regolith Excavation
  • Robotic devices to excavate simulated lunar soil
  • Competitions held in 2007 & 2008 and planned for 2009
Green Flight (Aviation)
  • General Aviation Challenges held in 2007 & 2008
  • Green Flight Challenge for super-efficient aircraft culminates in 2011
Lunar Lander
  • Reusable rocket vehicles simulating lunar takeoff and precision landing
  • Competitions held in 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009
Power Beaming
  • Wireless power transmission
  • Competitions held in 2005, 2006 & 2007 and one is planned for 2009
Tether
  • Super-strength materials
  • Competitions held in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and one is planned for 2010
Astronaut Glove
  • Innovative spacesuit glove designs
  • Competition held in 2007 and one is planned for 2009
(Some topics that could be expanded into prize challenge proposals – but ideas don’t need to be limited to these topics)

Space Transportation

Rocket Propulsion (Earth-based demo)
  • Non-toxic rocket engines
  • Precision autonomous landing
  • Highly reusable engines
  • Electric rocket engines
Space Vehicles
  • Micro reentry vehicle
  • Station-keeping solar sail
  • Solar sail race
  • Lunar cargo delivery
  • Aerocapture demo
  • Fuel-efficient Earth to lunar orbit transfer (electric propulsion, etc.)
Propellant Depots
  • Fuel depot demonstration
  • Hydrogen/oxygen storage (zero boiloff)
Launch Vehicles
  • Air-breathing space plane
  • Human to earth orbit
  • Single-stage to orbit
  • Reusable suborbital flight
  • Laser launcher
  • Track launcher
Aeronautics
  • Electric aircraft - increasing range and speed
  • Improved safety and efficiency of aviation systems
  • Personal air vehicles
  • Flying cars
Space and Planetary Operations
  • Laser communications
  • Telerobotic construction
  • Packaging equipment and supplies
  • Human lunar all-terrain vehicle
  • Lunar greenhouse
  • Space positioning system
  • Robotic race or obstacle course
  • Reliability or prediction of reliability
  • Improved weather prediction
  • Robotic lunar construction
Exploration and Planetary Science
  • Planetary Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
  • Chemical lab on a chip
  • Asteroid Search
  • Lunar sample return
  • Planetary drill
  • Rover survivability, speed race, obstacle course
  • Micro-robots (robotic insects)
  • Research balloons
  • Innovative Near-Earth object survey
  • Near-Earth object deflection strategies
  • Anchoring to an asteroid
  • Life detection technology
  • Land in bottom of crater at lunar pole (permanently shadowed location)
  • Systems for low-temperature operations in lunar craters (near absolute zero)
Human Systems

Working in Space
  • Low-cost and/or lightweight space pressure suit
  • Space suits for rapid donning or other features
  • Tools for space: extra-vehicular, intra-vehicular, planetary surface
  • Space manipulation task (better gloves or alternatives to gloved hand)
Health and Life Support
  • Medical lab on a chip
  • Radiation monitors
  • Medical diagnostic lab in a laptop
  • Space adaptation counter measures
  • Telemedicine demonstration
  • Miniature pharmaceutical factory
  • Closed loop life support
  • Suspended animation
  • Artificial-g spacecraft demonstration
  • Efficient clothes washing machine for space station
  • Space station exercise device
  • Space station sports and games
Technologies for Space and Earth
  • Lunar Night power source and/or power storage
  • Cryogenic propellant storage (related to propellant depot)
  • Radiation protection and/or shielding
  • Recycling of materials
  • Artificial intelligence tasks
  • Solar power systems (size, mass, performance, cost)
  • Power beaming - solar rover or airship
  • Space solar power demo
  • Power beaming to the lunar surface from space-based solar power systems
  • Improved space thermal radiators
  • New applications for Earth observation data
  • "Room-temperature" superconductors
  • Improved wind power systems (aeronautical technology, Earth or Mars application)
  • Closed loop life support systems and resource recycling
  • NASA Technologies to Meet Human Needs
  • Best Use of Retired Orbiters
 
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