NASA Honors 2009 Centennial Challenges Winners
WASHINGTON -- NASA will honor the achievements of the 2009 Centennial
Challenges prize winners and competition hosts with a technical
symposium Feb. 25 and a recognition ceremony Feb. 26. Centennial
Challenges is NASA's program of technology prizes for the
citizen-inventor. Nine prizes totaling $3.65 million were awarded in
2009. Both events will be held at the James E. Webb Memorial
Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Washington.
The Centennial Challenges Technical Symposium will take place from 9
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 25. Winners will discuss their
accomplishments and future plans and answer questions from the
audience. A one-hour panel discussion will be dedicated to each of
the challenges, including the new Green Flight Challenge and ongoing
Strong Tether and Power Beaming Challenges. The public is invited,
and government, industry and media representatives interested in the
technologies and incentive prize competitions are encouraged to
attend.
The recognition ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 26.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will participate, as will winners
of the Regolith Excavation, Lunar Lander, Power Beaming and Astronaut
Glove Challenges. Reporters will have an opportunity to talk with the
winners during a reception in the NASA Headquarters West Lobby
immediately following the one-hour ceremony.
The competitions address a range of technical challenges that support
NASA's missions in aeronautics and space with a goal of encouraging
novel solutions from non-traditional sources. The partner
organizations that conducted the competitions are: California Space
Education and Workforce Institute (Regolith Excavation), X Prize
Foundation (Lunar Lander), Spaceward Foundation (Power Beaming and
Strong Tether), Volanz Aerospace Inc. (Astronaut Glove) and
Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation (Green Flight).
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program manages the Centennial
Challenges.
NASA Television will broadcast the events. For NASA TV downlink,
schedule and streaming video information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For additional information about the Centennial Challenges, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/challenges
Source: NASA
