Nov 2 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced that X-Prize Foundation and NASA would host the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge (NGLLXPC) awards at a ceremony in Washington, DC. Masten Space Systems, led by David Masten, had won a first prize of US$1 million for its Xoie rocket prototype, which had competed in the Level-1 contest. Masten Space Systems had also won a second place award of US$150,000 in the Level-2 contest for its Xombie rocket. Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace’s Scorpius rocket had qualified for the Level-1 prize in September but had lost to Xoie in its flight on 30 October in the accuracy category, receiving US $500,000 for second place. Modeled after the US$10 million Ansari X-Prize competition for private-sector spaceflight, NGLLXPC was one of NASA’s Centennial Challenges, intended to encourage the development of new rocket technologies for use in future spacecraft. NASA required contestants to build and fly a rocket-powered vehicle simulating the flight of a vehicle to the Moon. The lander had to take off vertically, travel horizontally, and fly a mission profile designed to demonstrate both power and control, before landing accurately at another spot. Then the craft must take off again, travel horizontally back to its original launch point, and land successfully. The lander must complete the entire exercise within 2 hours and 15 minutes. NASA provided the prize money for the Level-1 and Level-2 contests, and the X-Prize Foundation managed the competition, with commercial sponsorship from Northrop Grumman.
NASA, “NASA and X Prize Announce Winners of Lunar Lander Challenge,” news release 09-258, 2 November 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/nov/HQ_09-258-Lunar_Lander.html (accessed 18 November 2011); Lunar X Prize, “$1,650,000 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X PRIZE Challenge (NGLLXPC) Is Awarded on November 5, 2009,” news release, 12 November 2009, http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/media/news/1650000-northrop-grumman-lunar-lander-x-prize-challenge-ngllxpc-awarded-nov-5-2009 (accessed 5 December 2011); Alan Boyle, “Rocketeers Win $1.65 Million in Prizes,” MSNBC, 3 November 2009.
NASA announced the restructure of its Advisory Council (NAC). During the NAC’s 29 October 2009 meeting at NASA’s ARC, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. had added four new committees to the council: the Commercial Space, the Education and Public Outreach, the Information Technology Infrastructure, and the Technology Innovation. Bolden stated that these four new committees reflected NASA’s evolving mission under the Barack H. Obama administration. Bolden appointed Bretton Alexander, Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, to lead the Commercial Space committee, which would help NASA gain greater insight into the entrepreneurial marketplace. He appointed Albert J. Edmonds, former Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, to lead the Information Technology Infrastructure committee and to advise NASA on cybersecurity issues. Bolden appointed Miles O’Brien, former CNN anchor and space correspondent, to chair the Public Outreach committee and Esther Dyson, a space travel enthusiast and investor in major commercial space firms, to lead the Technology Innovation panel.
NASA, “NASA Announces Advisory Council Chairs and Committee Structure,” news release 09-256, 2 November 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/nov/HQ_09-256_NAC.html (accessed 18 November 2011); Debra Werner, “Bolden Adds New Voices to NASA Advisory Council,” Space News, 30 October 2009.
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