Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Next NASA Centennial Challenge Competition

Posted by Zonk on from the ready-set-space dept.

Andrew-Unit writes "NASA today announced the next competition in the Centennial Challenge series. A prize of $250,000 USD will be awarded to the team that can autonomously deliver the most lunar regolith to a collection device in 30 minutes. From the press release: 'This challenge continues NASA's efforts to broaden interest in innovative concepts ... We hope to see teams from a broad spectrum of technical areas take part in this competition,'"

15 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Man.. I Can See Where This Is Going... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    $250,000 USD will be awarded to the team that can autonomously deliver the most lunar regolith to a collection device in 30 minutes.
    I can see exactly where this is going*...
    • 300,000 USD First craft to achieve orbit.
    • 350,000 USD First craft to carry man in orbit.
    • 400,000 USD First craft to reach Moon.
    • 450,000 USD First craft to orbit Moon and return.
    • 500,000 USD First craft to take man to Moon orbit and return.
    • 550,000 USD First craft to land on Moon, take off and return.
    • 600,000 USD First craft to land Man on Moon, take off and return.
    • 650,000 USD First craft to land materiel on Moon, build structure.
    • 700,000 USD First craft to land Man and materiel on Moon, build structure, inhabit for one day and return.
    • 750,000 USD (optional) First craft to land Man on moon who spends 1 night in haunted Moon Mansion and return alive (Bonus: Gets eccentric uncle's inheritance)
    • 800,000 USD First to build town on Moon
    • 850,000 USD First to build domed city on Moon
    • 900,000 USD First to build Monorail (Monorail, a monorail!) on Moon

    NASA, if very, very cagey can do what they want on a pittance, letting people knock each other over trying to do for piddly prizes. Of course, Richard Branson will probably end up owning the Moon anyway...

    *Prizes not necessarily in order. Actual prize amount may vary. NASA employees and their family members not eligible (especially if an abnormal amount of materiel is missing from NASA) Offer subject to withdrawal at whim of sponsor or Congress.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Man.. I Can See Where This Is Going... by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't forget 1,000,000 USD if you figure out how to put someone with some brains in Congress.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  2. Surefire plan by Red+Flayer · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Pacific Ocean is my container. A lasso is my collection device. If I get it all, I win $250,000, right?

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  3. Can't wait to get started by joeflies · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now where did I leave my Saturn V and lunar lander? Maybe I can get one on Ebay?

  4. Cheese Grater by mysqlrocks · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why not just use a cheese grater?

    --
    Bradley Holt
  5. How accurate? by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Can I just detonate a fusion bomb and send NASA guys out into the parking lot to catch the debris that rains down?

  6. Blow up the moon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Do they subtract points if the collection device is The Earth?

  7. Wow, Imagine that. by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 4, Funny



    Millions of years of evolution.

    Thousands of years of painstaking acquisition of knowledge.

    Decades of space exploration.

    The next big challenge:

    -- How to get dirt into a bucket. --

    "How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?"

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
    1. Re:Wow, Imagine that. by Andrew-Unit · · Score: 2, Funny

      Secure that shit, Hudson!

  8. What about gravity? by Dareth · · Score: 3, Funny

    Will the difference in gravity between Earth and the moon make a difference in the performance of these devices?

    Oh, and will any of them bounce over craters, and have massive 2 directional (front and above) firepower?

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  9. NASA's plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    0 - Get billions of dollars from government.
    1 - Get citizens do their job for a few grands.
    2 - Fake spending those billions of dollars.
    3 - ??? (this step is optional)
    4 - ??? (this one too)
    5 - Profit !

  10. And the winner goes to: by temojen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Catterpillar. Oh wait... there's probably weight restrictions.

  11. Re:Moon damage. by the+darn · · Score: 2, Funny

    Charo wanted for questioning

    --
    Ceci n'est pas un post.
  12. Re:Is this for the Oxygen conversion? by Cerdic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Soylent green is regolith! Reeegooliiittth!

    --
    Advice for my fellow geeks: before seeking out that threesome you dream of, you might see what a TWOsome is like first.
  13. My idea by SpaceAdmiral · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm just going to buy a Roomba and spray-paint my name on it.