Save Centennial Challenges

NASA's Centennial Challenges is described as a "program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in solar system exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. By making awards based on actual achievements, instead of proposals, Centennial Challenges seeks novel solutions to NASA's mission challenges from non-traditional sources of innovation in academia, industry and the public." Current challenges include Beam Power and Tether challenges related to Space Elevators; the Lunar Lander challenge (almost won by Armadillo Aerospace at the recent X-Prize Cup); and the Astronaut Glove challenge. Unfortunately funding for this highly sucessful program has been zeroed out by the Senate in their 2007 budget.

"Congress, and in particular the Senate, needs to understand how prizes work," said Rick Tumlinson, founder of the Space Frontier Foundation. "They see the money sitting there unspent and it makes them salivate. But with a prize, just because it hasn't been won yet doesn't mean it has failed. Quite the opposite." Added Whitesides: "Take the current challenges for example, because the money is there already, waiting to be won, teams are working all across America right now, from universities and high school labs to commercial firms and even private individuals, each developing new concepts from beamed power to lunar landers to new types of aircraft – all of them striving to cross the line first."

The Centennial Challenges budget currently represents well under one percent of NASA's budget – in fact, it only makes up about one-twentieth of a percent. With that minimal expenditure, NASA is already driving innovation, attracting new ideas and new investors to the industry, and inspiring students across the country. However, studies have shown that larger value, higher visibility prizes could have an even greater effect. Thus many supporters are calling not just to save the challenges, but to increase them. "The Centennial Challenges funding shouldn't just be restored, it should be significantly increased. $30M per year would be a reasonable annual budget," concluded Tumlinson. "Dollar for dollar, they are the absolute best investment NASA is making in our future in space right now."