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Contests

NSS-sponsored or supported contests  •  Other space-related contests

SpaceShipTwo
The National Space Society is teaming up with Virgin Galactic to identify Space Ambassadors around the world. As part of their duties, Space Ambassadors will communicate the value of space research and exploration to their local communities, and one special Space Ambassador will be selected to fly on a Virgin Galactic space flight!

Torus colony Vademecum
NASA Ames Research Center in conjunction with the National Space Society sponsors an annual space settlement design contest for 6-12th grade students. In 2010 the top individual entry will receive an extra award of $2,000 by the NSS Bruce M. Clark, Jr., Memorial Scholarship, and assistance with travel expenses should the winner attend the ISDC.

Torus colony
This annual contest puts high school students in the shoes of aerospace industry engineers designing a city in space that will house over 10,000 people. Student engineers demonstrate creativity, technical competence, management skills, environmental knowledge, space, teamwork, and presentation techniques to conquer the problems inherent in siting and designing a Space Settlement (Space Colony).

The International Collegiate Solar Power Satellite Design Competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students across the globe. This contest puts college students in the shoes of aerospace industry engineers designing a Space-Based Solar Power Satellite which will beam 10MWs of electricity down to Earth. Student engineers demonstrate creativity, technical competence, management skills, space environment knowledge, teamwork, and presentation techniques to conquer the problems inherent in siting and designing a Solar Power Satellite. Registration for the contest closes August 15 and designs must be submitted by October 15, 2010.

ISU
A scholarship to the International Space University, offered by the National Space Society, SEDS, and the Space Generation Foundation, worth $10,000. Application deadline is December 31 of each year, for study in the following year.

Conrad Foundation
The Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging high school students to design products using science and technology. The competition includes platforms in personal spaceflight, lunar exploration, and renewable energy. Teams will compete for over $120,000 of prize money as well as the opportunities to connect with leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. The awards create a long term community for students and teachers and also provide resources and opportunities to develop and incubate commercial products.

Space Settlement Calendar

National Space Society
This contest is over but you can see the gallery of submitted designs.

NSS in Second Life
The 11 videos entered in the 2010 NSS in Second Life Machinima Contest are available for viewing. Machinima is a form of computer animation to preserve virtual worlds. Entries were required to have an outer space theme, with 50% of the video taking place in the National Space Society Second Life sim.

Other space-related contests

Google Lunar X Prize. The total purse of the Google Lunar X PRIZE is $30 million (USD). It ges to a team who successfully lands a privately funded craft on the lunar surface which survives long enough to roam the lunar surface for 500 meters and send a defined data package (“Mooncast”) back to Earth. See 8-minute video — It's cool!

Moon Work. The 2010 NASA Moon Work engineering design challenge seeks to motivate college students by giving them first-hand experience with the process of developing new technologies. To participate in the contest, students will submit their original design for tools or instruments that can help astronauts live and work on the moon. Top-ranked students will be offered a chance to intern with a team from NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program.

Lunabotics Mining Competition. NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Higher Education Project in partnership with the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program is proud to announce the inaugural Lunabotics Mining Competition May 25-28, 2010, Astronaut Hall of Fame, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The purpose of the Lunabotics Mining Competition is to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, in a competitive environment that may result in innovative ideas and solutions, which could be applied to actual lunar excavation for NASA. Registration deadline is February 28, 2010.

University of Toronto Space Design Contest. The University of Toronto Space Design Contest is a competition in design and engineering for high school students. The goal of the contest is to give students an opportunity to creatively develop a design solution for a particular space-related problem determined annually. Each year teams of students are tasked to design and present a proposal to a panel of judges during the Design Conference in May at the St. George University of Toronto campus, in Toronto, Canada.

See also: NSS Awards

 


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X     Last updated on Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 19:52:47