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Centennial of Flight
In December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright, two bicycle mechanics working with no government support, initiated the age of powered flight with their success at Kitty Hawk. NASAs Prize Program honors the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other independent inventors by acknowledging the centennial of the first powered flight in 2003. The NASA Centennial Challenges program also recognizes that the rapid and dramatic progress in aeronautics in the early years of the first century of flight was often driven by prize competitions.
"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted."
Sir Francis Bacon
(1561‐1626)
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Challenges
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Regolith Excavation
In this challenge, teams design and build robotic machines to excavate simulated lunar soil (regolith). The 2009 challenge was held at the NASA Ames Research Center on October 17-18.
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Green Flight
Previously named the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge and the General Aviation Technology Challenge, teams demonstrated light aircraft that incorporate improvements to maximize fuel efficiency, reduce noise and improve safety. The challenge was announced at AirVenture 2009 in Oshkosh, WI on July 31, 2009.
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Lunar Lander
The Lunar Lander Challenge involves building and flying a rocket-powered vehicle that simulates the flight of a vehicle on the Moon.
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Power Beaming
This challenge is a practical demonstration of wireless power transmission. Teams build mechanical devices (climbers) that can propel themselves up a vertical cable.
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Tether
This is a challenge in materials engineering in which the tether provided by each team is subjected to a pull test. The 2009 Tether Challenge was held on August 14 at the 2009 Space Elevator Conference in Redmond, WA.
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Astronaut Glove
The Astronaut Glove Challenge seeks improvements to glove design that reduce the effort needed to perform tasks in space and improve the durability of the glove.
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Send Your Ideas
The IPP Office is seeking new prize concept ideas from private industry and the public.
