NASA - Centennial Challenges

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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.

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"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted."
Sir Francis Bacon
(1561‐1626)

Latest News

The Power Beaming Challenge is underway on November 4 – 6 with a live webcast and updates at http://live.spaceelevatorgames.org→

Lunar Lander Challenge Results
Level Two First Place: Masten Space Systems (October 30, 2009) $1,000,000
Level Two Second Place: Armadillo Aerospace (September 12, 2009) $500,000

Level One First Place: Armadillo Aerospace (October 24, 2009) $350,000
Level One Second Place: Masten Space Systems (October 7, 2009) $150,000
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Lunar Lander Award Ceremony Photos on Flickr→
Lunar Lander Award Ceremony Photos on the VIP Web Gallery→
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In the final week of the competition period

BonNova cancelled their attempts on October 26 and 27, 2009.
Masten Space Systems successfully qualified for Level 2 on October 30, 2009 with an average landing accuracy of 19 cm. (Armadillo Aerospace’s accuracy on their September 12 flights was 87 cm.)
Unreasonable Rocket conducted Level 1 flight attempts on October 30 and 31, 2009. On their second attempt, they flew from one pad to the other with a time aloft of 85 seconds but could not continue. Testing of their Level 2 vehicle on November 1, 2009 was not successful.

Masten Space Systems qualified for the Level One 2nd prize on October 7, 2009.
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Masten Space Systems made unsuccessful Level One attempt on September 16, 2009.
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Armadillo Aerospace qualified for the Level Two prize on September 12, 2009.
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For more details, see the X-Prize website as they are our allied organization for this competition.
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The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge is coming on November 18 & 19, 2009.

Three Winners in Regolith Excavation Challenge
Paul’s Robotics of Worcester, Massachusetts won the $500,000 first prize in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge that concluded on October 18, 2009. The second place prize of $150,000 was won by Terra Engineering of Gardena, California and the $100,000 third place prize went to Team Braundo of Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Twenty teams qualified for the event that was held at the NASA Ames Research Park in Mountain View, California. The half-million dollar prize award was the largest to date in the Centennial Challenges and the number of competing teams was also a record.
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The IPP Office is seeking new prize concept ideas from private industry and the public. Click here for more information.

Challenges

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.
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.
Lunar Lander

The Lunar Lander Challenge involves building and flying a rocket-powered vehicle that simulates the flight of a vehicle on the Moon.
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.
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.
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. The 2009 challenge is scheduled for November 18-19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Kennedy Space Center, FL.
Send Your Ideas

The IPP Office is seeking new prize concept ideas from private industry and the public.

Mission Overview

The Centennial Challenges seek to:

Drive progress in aerospace technology of value to NASA's missions
Encourage the participation of independent teams, individual inventors, student groups and private companies of all sizes in aerospace research and development
Find the most innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation

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Lunar Lander Videos

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