First Beam Power and Tether Competitions

October 12, 2005 08:01 AM US Eastern Timezone

Spaceward Foundation and NASA Announce the First Beam Power and Tether Competitions; $100,000 Prize Purse Furnished by the NASA Centennial Challenges Program

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2005--The Spaceward Foundation, in partnership with NASA, today announced the venue and timing for the first Beam Power and Tether competitions. The event will be held at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., on Oct. 21 - 23, 2005, with prize money furnished by the NASA Centennial Challenges program.

The Tether Challenge centers on the creation of a material that combines light weight and incredible strength. Under this challenge, teams will develop high strength materials that will be stretched in a head-to-head competition to see which tether is strongest.

The Beam Power challenge focuses on the development of wireless power technologies for a wide range of exploration purposes, such as human lunar exploration and long-duration Mars reconnaissance. In this challenge, teams will develop wireless power transmission systems, including transmitters and receivers, to power robotic climbers to lift the greatest weight possible to the top of a 50-meter cable in under three minutes.

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