2007_10_07_archive

Technology Ranch on the New Regolith Excavation Challenge Rules

Regolith Excavation Challenger Technology Ranch has been analyzing,

and commenting on, the 2008 draft rules that require mobility and

"visual" identification of a target, among other changes. The

challenge is significantly different this year. There's a discussion

in the comments that emphasizes this point. The comment discussion

also shows the exacting level of detail needed in the definition of

rules for this type of competition.

The comment discussion on possible teamwork, rules clarification, and

so on brings to mind the potential usefulness of a central discussion

forum for Excavation Challenge teams, so that, if they want to engage

in a public discussion about the rules, suppliers, teams, and so on,

there's an obvious place for them to go. The Automotive X PRIZE has a

forum for this type of communication. I'm not sure how difficult it

would be to start such a forum, but it would be nice if an

off-the-shelf software package would allow the California Space

Authority to set up a similar forum for the Regolith Excavation

Challenge.

Posted by Ray at 8:44 PM

Labels: regolith challenge

More New Blogs at the X PRIZE Foundation

Following quickly on the heels of the Pomerantz Report, the X PRIZE

Foundation has started 2 new blogs:

Dr. Peter Diamandis's Blog - this one starts off with a post on the

anniversary of Sputnik and SpaceShipOne's winning flight. You can also

see this one at the Huffington Post (I provide the somewhat redundant

link in case an interesting discussion develops in the comments

there).

The Tomologue - this is Tom Vander Ark's blog, and it starts with a

post called Chasing the Dream that's an analysis of where the X PRIZE