NASA's Centennial Challenge to Excavate Moon Dirt Set for May 12

May 3, 2007

David E. Steitz/Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730/4997

William Simon
California Space Authority, Santa Maria, Calif.
805-349-2633

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-48

NASA'S CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE TO EXCAVATE MOON DIRT SET FOR MAY 12

WASHINGTON - On Saturday, May 12, teams from around the nation will
compete for a total of $250,000 from NASA for an autonomously
operating system to excavate simulated "lunar regolith," or the
moon's soil. The Regolith Excavation Challenge, one of NASA's seven
Centennial Challenges, will take place at the Santa Maria Fairpark,
Santa Maria, Calif. The competition on May 12 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PDT is free and open to media and the public.

NASA is offering $250,000 to the team whose system can excavate and
deliver as much regolith as possible in 30 minutes. Competitors'
machines must use less than 30 W of power, weigh less than 40 kg and
excavate more than 150 kg of the simulated moon dirt. The unique
physical properties of lunar regolith make excavation a difficult
technical challenge, but it is a necessary first step toward
uncovering the moon's resources.

Teams from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Livermore, Calif., Berkeley,
Calif., Fulks Run, Va., Rolla, Mo., Berkley, Mich., Milwaukee, and
Vancouver, British Columbia, have registered to participate in the
challenge.

The California Space Education and Workforce Institute, an
organization of the California Space Authority, Santa Maria, is
administering the challenge at no cost to NASA.

The California RoboChallenge for students in kindergarten through 12th
grade also will take place at the fairpark, in coordination with the
Regolith Excavation Challenge. The RoboChallenge runs from 9 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. May 12 and features speakers Air Force Col. Stephen Tanous,
30th Space Wing, and Director of NASA's Ames Research Center, S. Pete
Worden.

For more information about the Regolith Excavation Challenge, visit:

http://www.csewi.org/regolith

Centennial Challenges, an element of NASA's Innovative Partnerships
Program, promotes technical innovation through prize competitions to
make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space
Exploration and NASA goals. For more information about the Innovative
Partnerships Program and Centennial Challenges, visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/cc

For more information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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