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DISCOVERY CHANNEL - Discovery News: Space Diary

Mark Krynsky — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:41:08 -0800

A NASA competition to stimulate commercial space projects has a winner -- Masten Space Systems of California is being awarded the top $1 million prize for demonstrating a lunar lander.

The race literally came down to the wire, reports the California-based X Prize Foundation, which oversaw the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge for NASA, part of the agency's Centennial Challenges program.

WIRED - Xoie Claims $1 Million Lunar Lander Prize

Mark Krynsky — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:40:27 -0800

Leaving it to the last minute, the team from Masten Space Systems has made a come-from-behind effort to win the $1 million prize after successfully flying its lunar lander last week. The team flew a new ship, called Xoie, to qualify for level 2 of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

$1,650,000 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge (NGLLXPC) is awarded on Nov 5, 2009

Mark Krynsky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:11:17 -0800

Click image to discover who’s who in photo.

Today, the X PRIZE Foundation along with NASA hosted the NGLLXPC 2009 awards ceremony in Washington D.C. Masten Space Systems, led by David Masten, was awarded the top $1 million prize, while Armadillo Aerospace, led by id Software founder John Carmack took home the second place prize of $500,000. The NGLLXPC is a partnership with NASA funding the $2 million in prize money as part of their Centennial Challenges program while the X PRIZE Foundation managed the competition which began in 2006. The $2 million prize purse, with part of it already awarded to Armadillo Aerospace in 2008, is the largest incentivized prize awarded by the X PRIZE Foundation since the winning of the $10M Ansari X PRIZE in 2004. Click here for more info.

NY TIMES - Using Prizes to Drive Energy Innovation

Mark Krynsky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:19:11 -0800

Can prize competitions propel energy and climate technology the way they have space technology? The recent proliferation of contests with ample rewards suggests that many people think they can.

NEW SCIENTIST - Peter Diamandis: the joy of taking risks

Mark Krynsky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:49:45 -0800

Peter Diamandis, CEO of the X Prize Foundation, wants to use our competitive instincts to make the world a better place. After handing out $10 million to the first private team to achieve suborbital space flight, he's extended his X-prize concept into earthly realms such as automotive engineering, genomics and health care. And while he still sends billionaires to the International Space Station as managing director of the firm Space Adventures, he's lately teamed up with futurist Ray Kurzweil to create the Singularity University, where young entrepreneurs are trained to think about global issues. Ivan Semeniuk spoke with Diamandis about his ongoing ventures on and above the planet.

BOSTON GLOBE - Contests increasingly a top draw for innovators seeking challenge, recognition

Mark Krynsky — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:39:04 -0800

In pursuit of a prestigious prize, people often push the boundaries of what is possible.

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The $10 million Ansari X Prize proved that to be true five years ago, when its winners launched a private manned vehicle into space. The prize spawned a resurgence of high-profile competitions, with private foundations and companies putting up hundreds of millions of dollars to solve technological challenges as urgent as building more efficient cars, and as trivial as predicting what movies people would like.

HUFFINGTON POST - William Pomerantz: Horse Races with Rocket Engines

Mark Krynsky — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:19:07 -0700

Everything is better with a little competition: sports, free markets, and now, rocketry.

No, we're not talking about a new space race between China and the USA. Instead, we're talking about a new era wherein entrepreneurs try their hands at building rockets large and small, pitting their best ideas against each other in an effort to win contracts from NASA as well potentially lucrative tourist and scientific customers.

Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge

Mark Krynsky — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:10:18 -0700

Masten qualifies for Level2 of Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge
On Oct 30, 2009, Team Masten qualified for Level 2 of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge. Hear what Dave Masten, Team Leader and CEO of Masten Space Systems felt like after successfully putting Xoie on the trailer at the end of Flight #2. Find out more at: thelaunchpad.xprize.org

Unreasonable Rocket tries for Level 1, 2nd Place of the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge
Unreasonable Rocket made their first flight attempt for Level One, 2nd Place of the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge. Unsuccessful today, they chase glory tomorrow. Discover why they are called Unreasonable Rocket from Paul Breed, Sr. and find out what happened on one of their flight attempts on Oct 30, 2009 from Paul Breed, Jr. For more info: thelaunchpad.xprize.org

MSNBC.com - Rocket contest reaches endgame

Mark Krynsky — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:53 -0700

Five days from now, a bunch of no-longer-amateur rocketeers are going to be at least $1.15 million richer, thanks to a NASA-backed contest for lunar lander prototypes. But the identity of the winners is still up in the air.

You need a scorecard to keep track of what's happening in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, which ends this year's launch season on Saturday. Here's a roundup that touches upon the four - oops, make that three - teams in the competition:

THE ECONOMIST - Lunar landers: Space hopper

Mark Krynsky — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:39:28 -0700

IF PEOPLE are to explore the moon again they will need ways of travelling across the lunar surface and also of digging holes in it. But because America’s space agency, NASA, spends most of its money on the space station and the shuttle, little is left over for the innovative research and development in areas such as these that many people think it should be carrying out in the first place.