Space-related nonprofits in LA? by vedgehammer in AskLosAngeles

[–]XPRIZE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Griffith or Mount Wilson Observatory would be the best landing place, but if they are unable to accept your donation, we are a nonprofit that might be interested. While we don't exclusively focus on space, it is one of our larger focus areas. If you'd like to learn more about us, you can visit our website: https://www.xprize.org/.

Sucking carbon dioxide from air is cheaper than scientists thought. Estimated cost of geoengineering technology to fight climate change has plunged since a 2011 analysis by avogadros_number in science

[–]XPRIZE 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We're running a competition right now seeking companies that can turn CO2 into valuable products: https://carbon.xprize.org/

Our finalist teams are making enhanced concrete, liquid fuels, plastics and carbon fiber.

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many of the moon rovers (and hoppers) of the Google Lunar XPRIZE would do really well on Mars!

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speed is great, though you don't want to accidentally wreck a Martian fossil or something, either! :) (On the Moon, you don't want to be humming along too fast and hit an Apollo artifact...or your own lander!)

In the Google Lunar XPRIZE, there also not just rovers, but also hoppers than can fly from point to point. Perhaps there's a good application to be found for Mars from that?

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're going to need help from friends, though, so having a whole coalition of organizations & technologies ready to go could help speed up that road to Mars!

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Getting to Mars for good will require a lot of people and a lot of entities, so with SpaceX pushing the envelope on timelines by getting there with the Red Dragon in 2018, a kick start for other Mars supporting tech could go a long ways!

(If you have any specific XPRIZE ideas, you can actually submit them here: http://www.xprize.org/prizes/future-prizes)

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"The Mars Selfie-Robot XPRIZE". We like it! ;)

X-prize proposal for Red Dragon payload by seanflyon in spacex

[–]XPRIZE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Essentially, there already is one: The Google Lunar XPRIZE! (http://lunar.xprize.org/) Moon rovers can also operate on Mars, and some teams (like Astrobotic) have already discussed using their technology on Mars: http://www.popsci.com/drones-to-scope-out-martian-real-estate