Oct 15, 2009

Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761 sonja r alexander@nasa gov

Rachel Prucey Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif 650-604-0643 rachel l prucey@nasa gov

Eric Daniels California Space Authority, Santa Maria, Calif 916-551-1543 eric daniels@californiaspaceauthority org

MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-200

NASA HOSTS NATIONAL LUNAR ROBOTICS MOON EXCAVATION COMPETITION

WASHINGTON -- Reporters are invited to attend the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge Oct 17-18 at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif The $750,000 prize challenge is a nationwide competition that focuses on developing improved handling technologies for moon dirt, known as lunar regolith

Part of NASA's Centennial Challenges Program, the competition will see 23 teams use robots they designed and built to excavate simulated lunar soil Teams will test their robots in a box approximately 13 feet square and one-and-a-half feet deep that contains eight tons of simulated moon soil

To qualify for a prize, a robot must dig up at least 330 pounds of regolith and deposit it into a container in 30 minutes Trophies will be presented to the top three teams

The two-day event also will feature exhibits and speakers highlighting hands-on education projects, robotics and space exploration

NASA and California Space Authority Inc of Santa Maria, along with its sister organization, the California Space Education and Workforce Institute, are co-hosting the competition in collaboration with the NASA Lunar Science Institute Also supporting the competition are Diani Building Corp of Santa Maria, Calif , and Empirical Systems Aerospace of Pismo Beach, Calif

For a complete schedule of events, visit:

http://www nasa gov/centers/ames/events/2009/10 17 09 html

To follow the event on Twitter, visit:

http://www twitter com/regolith_chal

To watch videos and for more information about the Regolith Excavation Challenge, visit:

http://www regolith csewi org

For more information about NASA's Centennial Challenges, visit:

http://www nasa gov/offices/ipp/home

For more information about the California Space Authority, visit:

http://www californiaspaceauthority org

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