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NASA's Astronaut Glove Design Competition

Posted by Zonk on from the build-a-better-glove-and-the-world-will-beat-a-path-to-your-door dept.

FleaPlus writes "NASA's Centennial Challenges program has announced its latest prize contest, the Astronaut Glove Challenge. The competition, a collaboration between NASA and the non-profit Volanz Aerospace, will be held in late 2006 and will award $250K to the team which produces the best-performing glove within contest parameters. The basic idea was originally proposed last year on Rand Simberg's Transterrestrial Musings blog to improve on current gloves, which have difficulties with remaining flexible while maintaining constant internal pressure in the vacuum of space. Previously-announced competitions include prizes for superstrong tethers, beaming power, and extracting oxygen from lunar regolith. These prizes are intended to lay the groundwork for larger competitions to further NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, possibly including 'an eight-figure prize for the first privately developed robotic moon lander.'"

5 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. tripod? by dotpavan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    offtopic maybe but why did they host the pages on tripod rather than on a NASA server? fear of slashdotting ;)

  2. $250k? by JanneM · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about designing a really good glove solving all the current issues, patent every aspect of the design to h*ll and back, and then sell the exclusive patent rights to a Chinese conglomerate for at least ten times those $250k?

    Hey, if the patent system wasn't meant to be used in that way, it wouldn't have been designed to allow it, right?

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  3. glove smovve by djupedal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Forget gloves...put the arm and hand into a hardened waldo and let a full synthetic appendage do the work.

    Having something as fragile as the human hand, inside something as complicated as what is being proposed, isn't a solution.

    1. Re:glove smovve by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Forget gloves...put the arm and hand into a hardened waldo and let a full synthetic appendage do the work.
      If there was a waldo as nimble and versatile as the human hand, along with the appropriate tactile feedback system - that would be a damm fine idea.

      But there isn't.

  4. NASA's strategy for development by mark_hill97 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lately I'm finding myself enjoying NASA's strategy for developing technology. By rewarding the "discoverer" they get top quality product, for minimal investment and risk of shady contractors. I wish more of our government branches would do this.