Posted on 02/20/2006 5:35:06 PM PST by KevinDavis
They are not international and there are not going to be any gold, silver, or bronze medals, but the Centennial Challenge s program is competition at the highest level. Ever since Peter Diamandis revived the idea of prizes back in 1996 with the X Prize (later renamed the Ansari X Prize) the concept has been slowly taking hold in the US and elsewhere, first with the DARPA Grand Challenge for robotic vehicles and Robert Bigelow’s America’s Space Prize, and now with these NASA prizes.
Before the US Congress passed the NASA authorization bill in December of last year, the space agency was only allowed to organize competitions with awards of $250,000 or less. Now NASA is theoretically able to give prizes of as much as $50 million dollars. These large prizes are referred to as the “Flagship Challenges” and are intended to encourage “major private space missions”. Other elements of the project include Keystone Challenges of between $500,000 and $5 million for technology development, smaller Alliance Challenges with collaborating institutions, and Quest Challenges, which are intended to stimulate student efforts in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
(Excerpt) Read more at thespacereview.com ...
"Duct tape! That's it! Duct tape that dang foam to the external fuel tank!"
Double wall the main tank like any other dewar vessel. Load it up with fuel and fly it into orbit. The ETs can be the foundation upon which our "Spacefaring Society" can stand!!!
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