RE: [scifinoir2] NASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000
Title: Message This is one of the things we discussed a couple a days ago in how terraforming would work. I noted that needed gases could be pulled from a planet's soil. Wouldn't that be awesome? -Original Message-From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brent WodehouseSent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 23:38To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] NASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000http://www.space.com/news/050519_moonrox_challenge.htmlNASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000By Tariq MalikStaff Writerposted: 19 May 2005NASA has promised a cool $250,000 for the first team capable ofpulling breathable oxygen from mock moon dirt, the latest award in thespace agency's Centennial Challenges program.The cash prize is the reward for winners of the agency's Moon RegolithOxygen (MoonROx) challenge, the third contest set by NASA to encouragecommercial space industry."It our hope to kind of seed some of the long-term technologies thatwere going to need for future exploration," said Brant Sponberg, NASA'sCentennial Challenges program manager, in a telephone interview.In the MoonROx contest, NASA and the Florida Space Research Institute(FSRI) challenge inventors to pull at least 11 pounds (five kilograms)of breathable oxygen from a volcanic ash-derived lunar soil substitutecalled JSC-1.But it doesn't end there. Participants not only have to extract theoxygen, but must accomplish the feat within eight hours. Thecompetition expires June 1, 2008."Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic andhuman missions to the moon," said Sam Durrance, executive director forFSRI. Like other space-focused prize competitions, the MoonROxchallenge will encourage a broad community of innovators to developtechnologies that expand our capabilities.Earlier this year, NASA detailed two other centennial challenges.The 2005 Beam Power Challenge will award $50,000 to the first teamthat can use wireless technology to lift a weight off the ground. Suchtechnology could eventually be employed to beam payloads off Earth.Meanwhile, the 2005 Tether Challenge calls for teams to build thestrongest tether of a specific diameter. The tethers will each bestretched to the breaking point, with winners advancing through theranks toward a final showdown with NASA's house tether, made ofexisting material. Beat the house tether and you snag $50,000.NASA plans to set aside about $80 million towards Centennial Challengeprizes over the next five years to encourage private space technologydevelopment. Partly spurred by the $10 million Ansari X Prize for aprivate, manned suborbital spaceflight - which was snared last yearby Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne - the cash prize is also geared tohelp support NASA's space exploration vision.That vision, announced by President Bush on Jan. 14, 2004, callsfor a resurgence of human missions to the moon by 2020, as well as theultimate push out to Mars and beyond."The use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the visionfor space exploration," said Craig Steidle, NASA's associateadministrator for the exploration systems mission directorate, in astatement. This challenge will reach out to inventors who can help usachieve the vision sooner.Sponberg said that more challenges will be announced in upcomingweeks, and may include additional contests to develop off-planetresource utilization tools or astronaut support systems.Other front-runners for near-term contests could challenge innovatorsto develop a better spacesuit glove or an unmanned, lighter-than-airvehicle that could one day lead to a Venus or Mars probe."Longer-term challenges may call for full-up space missions or complexdemonstrations, such as a high-precision landing," Sponberg added."I think it adds great dimensions to our [exploration vision],"Sponberg said of the Centennial Challenges program. It's a great way toreach out to innovators that we couldn't before. Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [scifinoir2] NASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000
I want to play a 'Moon Is A harsh Mistress' role playing game. before veyerhoeven RUINS IT with a TRUNCHEON the way he decimated ST. mikal x! --- Brent Wodehouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.space.com/news/050519_moonrox_challenge.html NASA Challenge: Pull Oxygen from Moon Dirt, Win $250,000 By Tariq Malik Staff Writer posted: 19 May 2005 NASA has promised a cool $250,000 for the first team capable of pulling breathable oxygen from mock moon dirt, the latest award in the space agency's Centennial Challenges program. The cash prize is the reward for winners of the agency's Moon Regolith Oxygen (MoonROx) challenge, the third contest set by NASA to encourage commercial space industry. It our hope to kind of seed some of the long-term technologies that were going to need for future exploration, said Brant Sponberg, NASA's Centennial Challenges program manager, in a telephone interview. In the MoonROx contest, NASA and the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) challenge inventors to pull at least 11 pounds (five kilograms) of breathable oxygen from a volcanic ash-derived lunar soil substitute called JSC-1. But it doesn't end there. Participants not only have to extract the oxygen, but must accomplish the feat within eight hours. The competition expires June 1, 2008. Oxygen extraction technologies will be critical for both robotic and human missions to the moon, said Sam Durrance, executive director for FSRI. Like other space-focused prize competitions, the MoonROx challenge will encourage a broad community of innovators to develop technologies that expand our capabilities. Earlier this year, NASA detailed two other centennial challenges. The 2005 Beam Power Challenge will award $50,000 to the first team that can use wireless technology to lift a weight off the ground. Such technology could eventually be employed to beam payloads off Earth. Meanwhile, the 2005 Tether Challenge calls for teams to build the strongest tether of a specific diameter. The tethers will each be stretched to the breaking point, with winners advancing through the ranks toward a final showdown with NASA's house tether, made of existing material. Beat the house tether and you snag $50,000. NASA plans to set aside about $80 million towards Centennial Challenge prizes over the next five years to encourage private space technology development. Partly spurred by the $10 million Ansari X Prize for a private, manned suborbital spaceflight - which was snared last year by Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne - the cash prize is also geared to help support NASA's space exploration vision. That vision, announced by President Bush on Jan. 14, 2004, calls for a resurgence of human missions to the moon by 2020, as well as the ultimate push out to Mars and beyond. The use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the vision for space exploration, said Craig Steidle, NASA's associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate, in a statement. This challenge will reach out to inventors who can help us achieve the vision sooner. Sponberg said that more challenges will be announced in upcoming weeks, and may include additional contests to develop off-planet resource utilization tools or astronaut support systems. Other front-runners for near-term contests could challenge innovators to develop a better spacesuit glove or an unmanned, lighter-than-air vehicle that could one day lead to a Venus or Mars probe. Longer-term challenges may call for full-up space missions or complex demonstrations, such as a high-precision landing, Sponberg added. I think it adds great dimensions to our [exploration vision], Sponberg said of the Centennial Challenges program. It's a great way to reach out to innovators that we couldn't before. http://particlezen.proboards7.com/index.cgi the edge of everything. no, really. http://www.deadjournal.com/users/cataleptik/ catal3ptik is a rav3r Discover Yahoo! Stay in touch with email, IM, photo sharing and more. Check it out! http://discover.yahoo.com/stayintouch.html Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM ~- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
