NASA announces astronaut glove design contest

July 24, 2005

NASA's Centennial Challenges program has announced its latest prize contest, the Astronaut Glove Challenge. The competition, a collaboration between NASA and the non-profit Volanz Aerospace, will be held in late 2006 and will award $250K to the team which produces the best-performing glove within contest parameters.

The basic idea was originally proposed last year on Rand Simberg's Transterrestrial Musings to improve on current gloves, which have difficulties with remaining flexible while maintaining constant internal pressure.

Previously-announced competitions include prizes for superstrong tethers, beaming power, and extracting oxygen from lunar regolith. These are all part of a large recently-announced program, which will potentially include 'an eight-figure prize for the first privately developed robotic moon lander.'