[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 160 (Monday, August 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48244-48245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19095]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice: 08-055]


Notice of Centennial Challenges Lunar Lander Challenge

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of Centennial Challenges Lunar Lander Challenge.

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SUMMARY: This notice is issued in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2451 
(314)(d).
    The Lunar Lander Challenge is now scheduled and teams that wish to 
compete may now register. The NASA Centennial Challenges Program is a 
program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in 
space exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. The Lunar Lander 
Challenge is a prize contest designed to accelerate technology 
developments supporting the commercial creation of a vehicle capable of 
ferrying cargo or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the 
lunar surface.
    The Lunar Lander Challenge is being administered for NASA by the X 
PRIZE Foundation. Their Web site is: http://www.xprize.org. The 
Centennial Challenges Web site is http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov.

DATES: The Lunar Lander Challenge will be held on October 24 and 25, 
2008 and will be continued on an annual basis until all the purse money 
has been awarded, or until October 2010, whichever comes first. The 
first Lunar Lander Challenge competition was held on October 20-21, 
2006.

ADDRESS: The Lunar Lander Challenge will be held at Holloman Air Force 
Base, Alamogordo, NM.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
regarding the NASA Centennial Challenges Program should be directed to 
Mr. Andrew Petro, NASA Headquarters, Suite 6J79, 300 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20546. To register for and get additional information 
regarding the Lunar Lander Challenge, contact the X PRIZE Foundation, 
William Pomerantz, (301) 395-5283, [email protected] or visit the Web 
site at http://space.xprize.org/ng-lunar-lander-challenge.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Summary

    The purpose of the Lunar Lander Challenge is to accelerate 
technology developments supporting the commercial creation of a vehicle 
capable of ferrying cargo or humans

[[Page 48245]]

back and forth between lunar orbit and the lunar surface. Such a 
vehicle would have direct application to NASA's space exploration goals 
as well as the personal spaceflight industry. Additionally, the prize 
will help industry build new vehicles and develop the operational 
capacity to operate quick turnaround vertical take-off, vertical 
landing vehicles that will be of significant use in many facets of the 
commercial launch procurement market.

II. Challenge Basis and Prize Amount

    To win the $2,000,000 purse, a rocket-propelled vehicle with an 
assigned payload must take-off vertically, climb to a defined altitude, 
fly for a pre-determined amount of time, then land vertically on a 
target that is a fixed distance from the take-off point. After 
remaining at this location for a period of time, the vehicle must take-
off, fly for the same amount of time, and land again on its original 
launch pad.

III. Eligibility

    The Centennial Challenges Program has established the following 
language, including definitions, governing eligibility. Challenge is 
the Lunar Lander Challenge.
    A Team is an individual or private entity, or a group of 
individuals or private entities that register to participate in 
Challenge. A Team is comprised of a Team Leader and Team Members. A 
Team Leader is, by definition, also a Team Member.
    Team Members are participants on the Team that are not the Team 
Leader. To be eligible to win the Challenge prize, an individual or 
entity, (a) in the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in 
and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and (b) 
in the case of an individual, whether participating individually or as 
a member of a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the 
United States.
    A Team Leader is a single private entity or individual which is the 
sole agent representing TEAM regarding its participation in Challenge. 
In the case of the Team Leader that is a private entity, it must 
appoint an individual who is an officer of the private entity to 
represent the Team Leader.
    All Team Members will apply to register for the Challenge through 
Team Leader and must receive written concurrence by XPF.
    All Team Members must execute an ``Adoption of Agreement'' 
committing to all terms of this Agreement. By signing the Agreement, 
Team Leader represents that all Team Members have executed the Adoption 
of Agreement and that no one else will become a member of the Team or 
participate in the Challenge until such new Team Member has signed the 
Agreement. XPF may disqualify any TEAM if it discovers that a person is 
acting as a Team Member who has not signed this Agreement. Team Leader 
will provide XPF with a copy of the ``Adoption of Agreement'' signed by 
each team member. Any U.S. Government organization or organization 
principally or substantially funded by the Federal Government, 
including Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, 
Government-owned, contractor operated (GOCO) facilities, University 
Affiliated Research Centers, and any employee of such an organization 
acting within the scope of his or her employment, are ineligible to be 
a Team Leader or Team Member. Team Members may participate in Challenge 
on more than one Team.

IV. Rules

    The rules for the Lunar Lander Challenge can be found at: http://space.xprize.org/ng-lunar-lander-challenge.

    Dated: August 11, 2008.
Doug Comstock,
Director, Innovative Partnerships Program Office.
[FR Doc. E8-19095 Filed 8-15-08; 8:45 am]
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