Staff
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prag·ma·tism (prgm-tzm)
n.
A way of approaching situations or solving problems that emphasizes practical applications and consequences.
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge website has the dates for the event this year.
Washington D.C., April 15, 2008 -- The National Space Society (NSS) announced today that famed aircraft and spacecraft designer Burt Rutan will receive the Heinlein award for lifetime achievement in aerospace. The award, which is given out every two years, will be bestowed upon Rutan by CNN correspondent Miles O'Brien at the Gala dinner of the 27th Annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC) taking place at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 30, 2008.
The Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award honors those individuals who have made significant, lifetime contributions to the creation of a free, spacefaring civilization. The award is named after author Robert A. Heinlein, in memory of him and of his many contributions to the pro-space movement. The award is given based on a vote of the entire NSS membership. The 2008 award will be the 12th Heinlein Award given.
"With this award, the members of NSS recognize Burt Rutan for his life's work in advancing the frontiers of air and space," said NSS Executive Director, George T. Whitesides.
NSS selected Rutan in recognition of the unique contribution that he has made in designing not just the innovative and re-usable vehicles: SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo, but just as important, the creation of aircraft specifically designed to launch spacecraft: WhiteKnightOne and WhiteKnightTwo. These designs point the way to future high speed air launch systems which could greatly reduce the cost of launch to orbit.
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan was born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon and well known for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft.
He is most famous for his design of the record-breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the sub-orbital space plane SpaceShipOne, which won the $10M Ansari X PRIZE in 2004 for becoming the first privately funded spacecraft to fly to space twice within a two week period.
Rutan displayed an early interest in aircraft design. By the time he was eight years old he was designing and building model aircraft. His first solo flight in a full-scale plane was an Aeronca Champ in 1959, when he was sixteen. In 1965 he graduated third in his class from California Polytechnic University with an aeronautical engineering degree.
From 1965 to 1972 Rutan worked for the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base as a flight test project engineer, working on nine separate projects including fighter spin tests and the LTV XC-142 VSTOL transport. Shortly after, he became director of the Bede Test Center for Bede Aircraft, in Newton, Kansas, a position he held until 1974.
Rutan struck out on his own in June of 1974 with the creation of the Rutan Aircraft Factory in the Mojave Desert, where he designed and developed prototypes for a number of aircraft, mostly homebuilt. His first design was the Rutan VariViggen, a two-seat pusher with a canard in front. The canard was later to become a standard feature in most Rutan designs. In April 1982, Burt Rutan founded Scaled Composites, LLC, which has become one of the world's pre-eminent aircraft design and prototyping facilities. Scaled Composites is headquartered in Mojave, California.
Amongst several honors, Rutan previously received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan in December of 1986 and was named by TIME Magazine one of the "100 most influential people in the world" in April of 2005.
Previous Heinlein Award Winners include General Chuck Yeager (video of Yeager's acceptance speech), Capt. James Lovell, Neil Armstrong, Dr. Carl Sagan, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Dr. Robert H. Goddard, Gene Roddenberry, Dr. Wernher von Braun, Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, Dr. Robert Zubrin, and Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
27th Annual International Space Development Conference
ISDC 2008 will bring the major players from all corners of the space world to the nation's capital for a symposium that will provide invaluable insight into the future of spaceflight and exploration.
On Wednesday May 28th, the conference will kick off with an exclusive pre-event, the 4th Space Investment Summit (SIS), bringing together the emerging commercial space industry with the established world of finance to exchange their goals, ideas and advice. On Thursday May 29th, up-and-coming entrepreneurial space companies will be on hand to share their latest advances. Friday May 30th will focus the discussion on NASA and its future. Saturday May 31 will be focused primarily on personal spaceflight and the final day of the conference will concentrate on the visionaries, scientists and entrepreneurs who look far in to the future at deep space settlements, ways to use and inhabit Mars and the methods used to protect our planet from near earth objects such as asteroids.
Featured speakers include Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn; SpaceX Founder Elon Musk; Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Dr. Anthony Tether; Hon. Nick Lampson (D-22nd District-TX), United States House of Representatives; Director of NASA Ames Research Center, Dr. Simon "Pete" Worden; Doug Cooke, Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA's exploration programs; X PRIZE Foundation Founder and Chairman Dr. Peter Diamandis; private space explorers Dr. Anousheh Ansari and Gregory Olsen and Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson.
NASA is the presenting sponsor of ISDC 2008 and Space News is the exclusive media sponsor. Space Florida is the presenting sponsor of SIS 4.
To register for the 27th Annual International Space Development Conference please visit: www.isdc2008.org or call (202) 429-1600.
Space Prizes is reporting 20 teams are registered for the 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge.
SpaceDev and partner SpaceWorks Engineering designed a craft called Farsight that won an asteroid tracking competition. Farsight tracked the asteroid Apophis (a somewhat unnerving name to Stargate SG-1 fans - djs) that should come within 30,000 km of the Earth in 2029 and has a slight chance of hitting us in 2036. The competition was sponsored by The Planetary Society, NASA and ESA.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- 02/21/08 -- The X PRIZE Foundation and Google, Inc. today announced the first ten teams to register for the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable $30 million in prizes. This international group of teams will compete to land a privately funded robotic craft on the Moon that is capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, announced the teams at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. "I'm very pleased to welcome our first 10 fully registered teams to the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Only 6 months after the announcement of this competition, the response has been incredible -- we have received over 567 expressions of interest from 53 nations. By comparison, at the 6 month point of the Ansari X PRIZE we had only 2 teams registered. I think we are going to see an exciting and very competitive race to the Moon, highlighted by some very creative designs unlike anything we have seen come out of the government space programs. Many of these teams represent some of the most creative and entrepreneurial minds in space exploration today. I wish them all the very best of luck. I can't wait to join with Google in paying the winner," said Diamandis.
"We are excited that ten teams from around the world have taken up the challenge of the Google Lunar X PRIZE," said Megan Smith, Google's Vice President for New Business Development. "We look forward to the exciting achievements and scientific advancements that will result from the efforts of these teams as they participate in the next great space race."
The ten teams are:
Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA): Based in Valcea, Romania and led by Dumitru Popescu, ARCA was also a contender in the Ansari X PRIZE. Two of ARCA's most innovative projects to date have been the Demonstrator 2B rocket and Stabilo, a two-stage manned suborbital air-launched vehicle. The craft they plan to enter in the Google Lunar X PRIZE will be called the "European Lunar Explorer."
Astrobotic: Team Astrobotic, led by Dr. William "Red" Whittaker, was formed to coordinate the efforts of Carnegie Mellon University, Raytheon Company and additional institutions. One of Carnegie Mellon's specialties is autonomous navigation through stereo vision and other technologies. This enables Carnegie Mellon's robots to automatically avoid obstacles and select their own route across unmapped terrain. Astrobotic will compete for the prize using their "Artemis Lander" and "Red Rover."
Chandah: Chandah, meaning "Moon" in Sanskrit, was founded by Adil Jafry, an energy industry entrepreneur. He is now chairman and CEO of Tara, the largest independent retail electricity provider in Texas. Jafry's goal is to catalyze commercialization of space, and bring advances in space travel, tourism, sciences, and technology to the general public at large. Team Chandah's spacecraft will be named "Shehrezade."
FREDNET: Headed by Fred J. Bourgeois III, this multi-national team is comprised of systems, software, and hardware developers who serve as the leaders and overall coordinators of an international group of Open Source developers, engineers, and scientists. Their goal is to bring the same successful approach used in developing major software systems (such as the Internet, and Linux) to bear on the problems associated with Space Exploration and Research.
LunaTrex: Led by Pete Bitar, LunaTrex is comprised of several individuals, companies, and universities from all over the United States, some of whom were also competitors for the Ansari X PRIZE. Each team member brings their own history to the mix: rocket science, high-altitude near-space R&D, defense directed-energy technology, aviation design and development, robotics, trajectories, and non-conventional propulsion expertise. The name of their competing craft will be "Tumbleweed."
Micro-Space: Helmed by Richard Speck and based in Colorado, Micro-Space, Inc. has a 31-year history of producing world class, high tech products. Since focusing on the development of spaceflight systems, they have flown 17 innovative, bipropellant liquid fuel rockets, three near-hover rockets with vectored thrust guidance, scores of flights with telemetry and radio tracking, and several innovative life support systems. Micro-Space has been a competitor in the Ansari X PRIZE as well as the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Their "Human Lunar Lander" will compete for Google Lunar X PRIZE.
Odyssey Moon: The first team to register for the competition, Odyssey Moon is a private commercial lunar enterprise headquartered in the Isle of Man and founded by Dr. Robert Richards. Odyssey Moon's business plans are actively in development for a series of missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, exploration and commerce. Their Google Lunar X PRIZE craft is titled "MoonOne (M-1)."
Quantum3: A U.S.-based team, Quantum3 is led by Paul Carliner, a senior executive in the aerospace industry. They propose to field a small spacecraft launched from an East Coast range using launch-coast-burn trajectory for a propulsive soft landing on the surface of the Moon at the Sea of Tranquility. Quantum3 is taking a partnership approach to the mission, utilizing the unique capabilities of the private sector and academic communities. Their craft will be called "Moondancer."
Southern California Selene Group: According to team leader Harold Rosen, the approach taken by the Santa Monica Selene Group can be succinctly summarized as "an elegantly simple design that is relatively inexpensive to implement." The architecture for their "Spirit of Southern California" spacecraft will combine the control and communication systems used in some of the earliest communications satellites with the latest in electronic and sensor technology.
Team Italia: Based in Italy and led by Prof. Amalia Ercoli-Finzi, Team Italia is a collaboration between several universities. The team is currently running a prototype of its system at Politecnico di Milano. The architecture of the robotic system is under study: a single big rover or a colony of many robots, light and mobile, with many legs and wheels, able to be compacted in the lander and distributed quickly on the Moon's surface with cameras and sensory support.
The X PRIZE Foundation has also announced that Space Florida will be a new preferred partner and the first preferred launch site for the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. Each preferred partner offers additional prizes or strategic services at a discounted rate to all competition teams. As the first preferred launch site, Space Florida will award an additional prize of $2 million to the Grand Prize winner of the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, provided the winner launched the winning flight from the State of Florida and upon confirmation that the winner has complied with all competition rules. Space Florida was created by the Florida Legislature to sustain Florida's position as the global leader in space exploration and commerce, and is the principal organization charged with promoting and developing Florida's aerospace industry.
ABOUT THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE
The $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st, 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st, 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. For more information about the Google Lunar X PRIZE, please visit www.googlelunarxprize.org.
ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. On October 4, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private vehicle to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation has since launched the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE and the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, and will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email prcontact@xprize.org.
ABOUT GOOGLE, INC.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
The National Space Society is looking for help on the power beaming part of the Space Elevator Challenge. (hat tip - RLV and Space Transport News).
Scientific American has announced the winners of this years’ SciAm 50.
The SciAm 50 is the magazine’s annual award celebrating the work of visionaries from the worlds of research, science, technology, industry and politics.
The XPrize was the winner of Policy Leader of the Year award.
From the X-Prize Foundation:
The X PRIZE Foundation welcomes Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and his wife Anne Wojcicki Brin to the Vision Circle. We would also like to acknowledge Board members Elon Musk of Space Exploration Technologies, Jeffrey Shames of the MIT Sloan School of Management, Ray Sydney of Big George Ventures, and Erik Lindbergh, President of Lindbergh Woodworks and Director of the Lindbergh Foundation for their generous support of the X PRIZE Foundation.
Two new members have joined the X PRIZE Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Arianna Huffington and Will Wright. Huffington is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post, a leading news and blog source on the Internet as well as the author of 11 books. Wright is a globally recognized visionary in interactive entertainment and EA’s chief designer behind the block-buster game franchises “SimCity™,” “The Sims™” and the soon-to-be-released universe simulator “Spore™.”
The first official team has completed registration for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Odyssey Moon, from the Isle of Man, announced its contention for the prize on December 6th at the Space Investment Summit in San Jose, CA. The brainchild of Robert Richards, one of the founders of the International Space University, Odyssey Moon views the Google Lunar X PRIZE as a short term goal. Long term, they will work toward lowering the cost of going to the Moon by an order of magnitude and eventually to the peaceful development of the Moon. In all, the Google Lunar X PRIZE has received 350 requests for information from more than 40 countries, 11 of which have started or completed Letters of Intent.
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. has selected Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN - News) as its supplier for development of a next-generation of high-precision, propellant-efficient lunar landing technologies.
On Sept. 13, 2007, Dr. William L. "Red" Whittaker, Astrobotic's Chief Technology Officer and Lunar Mission Commander declared his intention to pursue the recently announced Google Lunar X Prize. Astrobotic Technology, Inc. is the commercial organization through which Dr. Whittaker plans to carry out the lunar mission as well as engage in potential commercial orbital transfer services and potential cis-lunar services that may be best enabled by leading-edge robotics.
"We have great confidence in Raytheon's ability to co-develop a spacecraft that can land on a dime," said Whittaker.
Raytheon has undertaken initial design and planning activities on the project. Possible roles for Raytheon include engineering management, lander design, and high bandwidth telecommunications. A common goal is for Raytheon to develop key technologies for advanced thrust controlled descent, ascent and movement, including automated topographic scene matching.
"We are delighted to work with Dr. Whittaker on this extraordinary lunar project," said Mike Booen, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missile Defense & Directed Energy. "Development of a lunar lander is a natural extension for the company's space-proven technologies."
Astrobotic is planning for Raytheon to begin work on a contract basis with the scope of Raytheon's work to be expanded upon completion of certain financing goals by Astrobotic. It is anticipated that 15 or more professional engineers from Raytheon will be devoted to the Astrobotic lunar program.
Dr. Whittaker is the Fredkin Professor of Robotics, Director of the Field Robotics Center, and founder of the National Robotics Engineering Consortium, all at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a world-famous scientist and engineer, renowned for managing the research, development, operation, and scientific discoveries associated with several dozen exploratory robots. Most recently, Dr. Whittaker led CMU's "Tartan Racing Team" to victory in the November 2007 Urban Challenge sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Raytheon has a legacy of experience in space missions that dates back to the Apollo era, when Raytheon provided solutions for the Saturn launch vehicle, lunar modules, and space suits. Raytheon has deployed more than 100 unique control systems for military and commercial satellites as well as 75 GPS systems for the Department of Defense, civil, commercial and national markets ranging in scope from navigation, transportation, surveying and rescue operations.
Raytheon Company, with 2006 sales of $20.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 85 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.
Astrobotic Technology, Inc. (http://www.astrobotictech.com) is a privately held seed-stage company formed by Carnegie Mellon University professor William "Red" Whittaker and his colleagues in November 2007.
Media Contact:
Mitchell London
President and CEO
(425) 462-7428
ceo@astrobotictech.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "estimate," "project," "budget," "forecast," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "could," "should," "believes," "predicts," "potential," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
Astrobotic and Raytheon undertake no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this press release. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
The National Space Society is sponsoring an art contest in which artists are to create visions of a spacefaring future - a future of space settlement, be they on the Moon, on Mars, on asteroids, or orbiting independently in space. Twelve winning entries will be chosen to illustrate the NSS 2009 Space Settlement Calendar. Judges include space artists Don Davis and David Robinson. Artists may submit multiple works and submissions will be accepted until December 31, 2007.
The Grand Prize winner will have their artwork featured on the calendar cover and as one of the monthly images; $200 cash; three graphics packages from DAZ Software (Carrara 6, Hexagon 2.1, and Bryce 6.1, retail values totaling $500); signed copies of 50 Years in Space (2006) by David Hardy and Sir Patrick Moore as well as Space Art: How to Draw and Paint Planets, Moons, and Landscapes of Alien Worlds (2007) by Michael Carroll; Starry Night Pro Plus 6.0 - the world's most realistic astronomy software ($250 value); the two-volume book Astronautics or a choice of any one-volume space book from Apogee Books; complimentary admission to the 2008 International Space Development Conference in Washington, DC. The Grand Prize winner also receives one-year complimentary memberships in the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine, and 5 complimentary copies of the calendar.
There will be four First Prize winners in the categories of Best Lunar Settlement, Best Mars Settlement, Best Asteroid Settlement, and Best Orbiting Settlement. In addition to being published in the calendar, each of the four First Prizes winners will receive $100 cash; a Carrara 6 graphics software from DAZ Software (retail value $250); the artist's choice of any one-volume space book from Apogee Books; one-year complimentary memberships in the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine; and 2 complimentary copies of the calendar. In addition, one random First Prize Winner will receive a copy of the Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack desktop planetarium software ($50 value).
The remaining seven winning entries will each appear in the calendar and the artists will each receive a copy of the Project Constellation Pocket Space Guide from Apogee Books; a Bryce 6.1 software package from DAZ Software (retail value $100); a 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, which includes a subscription to Ad Astra magazine; and a complimentary copy of the calendar.
For all the contest details go to http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/
Press Release: Seattle, WA - November 7, 2007 – Andrews Space, Inc. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of Seattle-based LaserMotive in the Elevator 2010 Power Beaming competition. The competition took place from October 19 – 21, near Salt Lake City, Utah.
Andrews contributed the use of their Rapid Prototyping Laboratory (ARPL) for LaserMotive to conduct laser testing and other system assembly requirements. Located near Seattle's Boeing field, the ARPL provides fabrication and assembly facility space. It houses Andrews' avionics integration and cryogenic test facilities, fabrication machine shop, and hardware integration and test facilities.
The NASA-sponsored 2007 Space Elevator Games had 30 teams competing in various categories, including the Climber Power Beaming competition. Teams entering the Power Beaming Challenge had to power a vehicle straight up a ribbon using only energy beamed to the vehicle from a ground-based laser, at a minimum of 2.5 m/sec. The 2007 prize purse, provided by NASA, was $500,000. No teams won the 2007 competition.
LaserMotive was recognized as having an innovative and potentially powerful technology. The LaserMotive system uses a high-power laser array to shine ultra-intense infrared light onto high-efficiency solar cells, converting the light into electric power, which then drives a motor. The system automatically tracks the vehicle as it climbs, compensating for motion due to wind, twisting of the ribbon, and other changes.
Andrews Chief Technology Officer Dana Andrews said, "LaserMotive had a promising start in this years' competition, and we expect them to come back strong next year in the 2008 competition. We believe their concept is the right approach to powering a planetary scale elevator."
About LaserMotive
LaserMotive is a Seattle-based team that competed in the 2007 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming competition. They are comprised of world-class laser power beaming experts, experienced machinists, systems engineers, and experts from industry partners. Visit their Web site at www.lasermotive.com for more information.
About Andrews Space
Andrews Space, Inc. was founded in 1999 to be a catalyst in the commercialization and development of space. The company is an affordable integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced space technologies. To learn more, please visit: www.andrews-space.com.
After 1:00 CST we should know what all the hype is about. Spaceref has some interesting stuff:
[NASA] Deputy Administrator Dale will participate in an announcement regarding the X PRIZE Foundation at the X PRIZE stage at 10:30 a.m., Sept. 13. She will unveil the NASA 50th anniversary logo at 12:30 p.m. at the mini stage in the
Exploration Pavilion. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin also will speak.
Twenty teams are going to try their hand at Beam Power Challenge and Tether Challenge on October 19-21.
Spaceward Foundation News Bulletin
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ted Semon
Spaceward Foundation, Mountain View, Calif.
ted@spaceward.org
(630) 240-4797
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA; JULY 30 2007 - The Spaceward Foundation opened registration today for the 2007 Great Light Racer Championship.
The Light Racers Championship, a space technology competition, challenges kids, young adults and grown ups to design, build, and race beam-powered lunar rovers that could help NASA get to the ice deposits located in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar poles.
Total prize purse this year is $10,000, and registration has just opened. See http://www.LightRacers.org for details.
"We are thrilled to have a competition designed specifically for kids - reaching out to the scientists and engineers of the future is the most important thing we can do" said Meekk Shelef, president of the Spaceward Foundation. “We already had a high-school team at the Space Elevator games, but this competition is all about the young students”.
The finals will be held together with Spaceward’s $4,000,000 Space Elevator games at the Davis County Event Center just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. The qualifying rounds will start on October 15, and the event will be open to the public between October 19 and October 21. See http://www.spaceward.org for details.
“The Light Racers take the concept of power beaming, which is one of the cornerstones of the Space Elevator design, and illustrate how the same technology is useful on a much nearer-term project.” said Ben Shelef, CEO of the Spaceward Foundation. “It is impressive to see how many of the real-life consideration that will go into a beam-powered lunar rover design are tackled by the kids participating in the Light Racer project”.
The Light Racers are also being developed as a platform for teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to middle and high school students.
For media resources and information visit http://www.spaceward.org/press.html, call (630) 240-4797, or email ted@spaceward.org.
The Spaceward Foundation is a public-funds, non-profit organization dedicated
to furthering space science and technology in the public mindshare and in educational curriculums. We believe that expanding mankind's habitat is essential to its survival, and that the most effective way to induce long-term change is through education.
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Registration for the Great Light Racer Championship is now open – Finals to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 19 – October 21.
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The Spaceward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit dedicated to furthering Space exploration in educational curriculums and the public mindshare - http://www.spaceward.org.
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In Oklahoma Armadillo Aerospace's Pixel vehicle past the level 1 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge requirements not once but twice. If it had happened at the X-Prize cup it would have won the $350,000 prize. There is video...
Stumble It!
