Check out the free online game Mission To Pluto at MyLostGames.com.

The winners of the Moonbots competition, which started with 200 teams from 16 nations, have been selected:
/-- X PRIZE Foundation and LEGO Group Announce Winners in "MoonBots" Educational Contest - XPF - Sept.1.10
/-- And the Winners of the MoonBots Challenge Are..... - The Launch Pad - Sept.1.10

Watch here the impressive performance of the winning Moonbot built by the Landroids, a team of five eight graders from New Jersey:

An update on the MOON CAPITAL Competition 2010, which challenges space architects, and want-to-be space architects, to design a second generation Moonbase capable of supporting 60 people: Moon Capital: A Commercial Gateway to the Moon - CommercialSpaceGateway.com - Aug.28.10.

NASA and MIT are sponsoring the Zero Robotics competition in which high school students are challenged to program small robotic modules that are aboard the ISS: NASA Announces High School Competition for Future Engineers: Teams to Design Software for Small Satellites on the International Space Station - NASA (via Spacevidcast)

NASA is challenging high school teams to design software to program small satellites aboard the International Space Station. The competition centers on the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES.

SPHERES are bowling ball-sized spherical satellites used to test maneuvers for spacecraft performing autonomous rendezvous and docking. Three of these satellites fly inside the station's cabin. Each is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and navigation equipment.

NASA is holding a contest to select two songs from a list of 40 to be played as wake up music on the final flight of space shuttle Discovery during STS-133 mission, now set for launch on Nov. 1: NASA Asks Public for Final Shuttle Missions' Wakeup Songs - NASA.

You can also submit original songs for possible selection as wakeup music for STS-134 mission, scheduled to launch on February 26, 2011.

Go to NASA's Space Rock for contest details.

Here's an announcement in the mail:

Student Teams Should Drop Everything!

Dropping In a Microgravity Environment (DIME) and What If No Gravity? (WING) are two NASA competitions for high-school-aged teams and teams in grades 6-9. The teams will create a microgravity (a.k.a. weightless) science experiment or engineering test in an end-to-end program. The student teams develop the concept, design the equipment, construct the apparatus, and analyze the resulting data. Top-ranked teams in the DIME competition win a trip to NASA Glenn in Cleveland, Ohio to operate their experiment in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower.

This is not just a cookie-cutter experiment where students follow instructions to build an experiment. It's their concept, their design, their construction, and their data analysis.

Further information for both DIME and WING is available on-line and available to educators, students, parents, and technical advisors.
http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/DIME.html

Both the DIME and WING Program Announcements contain the information necessary to prepare a DIME or WING competition entry by November 1. Selection of winning teams will be announced in early December with operation of the experiments in the drop tower in late March 2011.

Questions should be addressed by e-mail to: dime [at] lists.nasa.gov or by postal mail to:
DIME, M/S 77-7
NASA Glenn Research Center
21000 Brookpark Road
Cleveland, OH 44135

If you are into making science fiction short films, check out this competition sponsored by the Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum (empsfm.org) in Seattle: Call for Entries - Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival - empsfm.org.

Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival

Call for entries now open!

EMP|SFM in partnership with SIFF will present the sixth annual Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival Saturday, January 29 or February 5, 2011 at the Seattle Cinerama Theater. The festival brings together industry professionals in filmmaking and the genres of science fiction and fantasy to encourage and support new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts.

Submissions:
From June 4 through September 15, 2010, the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival will accept short film submissions, up to 15 minutes in length, that have been produced after 2006 for entry into the competition. Multiple submissions will be accepted according to the rules and regulations. Submissions will be judged based on originality, quality, artistic merit, innovation, voice, style and narrative.

The festival will accept animated or live-action submissions in science fiction (examples: futuristic stories, space adventure, technological speculation, social experiments, utopia and dystopia) and fantasy (examples: sword and sorcery, folklore, urban fantasy, magic, mythic adventure). The festival welcomes submissions that step outside the boundaries of reality and inspire a sense of wonder. The festival will not accept horror submissions.

"SHIFTboston calls on all architects, artists, landscape architects, urban designers, industrial designers, planners, engineers, and anyone else who would like to propose a Lunar concept." : MOON CAPITAL Competition 2010 - an international design challenge.

There are two categories in the competition:

Competition Category 1: LET'S GET SERIOUS

Design a second generation living and working moon habitat. Written by Dr. Marc Cohen, a leader in the space architecture industry and a registered architect, the architectural program consists of four components: an above surface access unit, surface laboratories, an agricultural zone, and a core habitat located under the lunar surface. YOU WILL BE DESIGNING AN ACTUAL LUNAR BASE and will be contributing to advancements in design in the space architecture industry. There has never been an open competition such as this before. We are giving YOU the opportunity to learn more about designing for extreme environments and you will walk away understanding more than you ever have about our Moon and living in space.

And

Competition Category 2: LET'S HAVE FUN

THINK: WHAT IF this could happen on the Moon? SHIFTboston seeks to collect visions that will re-imagine the Moon as a new destination. We want radical ideas for new lunar elements such as rovers, growing pods, inflatable structures, droids, clothing, and habitats. Envision an entire LUNAR CITY! How about a new Moon culture? What would it look like? Sound like? Envision having FUN on the moon with activities, fashion, and spacesuits!

YOU TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IS POSSIBLE ON THE MOON.

Registration Deadline: September 1, 2010
Submission Deadline: September 3, 2010

Here is the latest info on the Moonbots competition program, which student groups conduct simulated Google Lunar X PRIZE missions with LEGO Robots:
/-- Calling all moonbots! - Cosmic Log/msnbc.com - May.11.10
/-- MoonBots Update: Age Restrictions Lowered, Team Participation Grows & Registration Deadline Nears! - GeekDad/Wired.com - May.6.10

Richard Garriott is sponsoring the Our Space program in the UK that offers educational materials and lessons based on his visit to the ISS and the scientific work and demonstrations he did while there.

There is also an Our Space Competition in which students will submit illustrated essays, films or digital mash-ups that

- use Richard’s mission as a springboard for their own imaginative space adventure.
- tell the story of the science behind Richard’s experiments designed by UK students as part of the Richard in Space competition.
- recount Richard’s adventures in an entertaining and factual way.

Closing date is 1st Jul 2010.

(Item via Rocketeers.co.uk).

An announcement from the MiniSpaceWorld program (see full color illustrated version of the announcement in this PDF file):

Lunar imaginations in Scale Model Layout: The MSW Design Contest 2010: MoonDreams
Budapest / Molfsee, 28th April 2010

Creativity and vision of future are required for the MiniSpaceWorld Design Contest 2010: MoonDreams: how would you imagine a 150-200 m2 scale model layout surface - in 1:100 or 1:87, the H0 Standard of model railways, scale – of the fascinating world of our neighbor companion, the Moon? The participating teams are asked to prepare their ideas about a Moon focused exhibit hall of MSW. The themes of the design are free to choose: they can feature historical missions like the Apollo flights or the Lunokhod, imagine first permanent colonies, show a complete "Moon city" with all the necessary facilities, or present future activities like regolith processing and mining of various minerals.

Four members of our international Jury - María Catalina, David A. Dunlop, Niklas Järvstråt and William Pomerantz – shall decide about the MSW Awards, including a first prize valued at least 1,500 Euros; the MSW Community Prize will be awarded via online voting. The award ceremony will be held in Budapest,

The contest is open for participants from all over the world. Teams may be 1 to 6 people large and any participant can be in multiple teams. The language of the contest is English. Registration at the MSW-Website is necessary for participation.

Submission deadline:
30th September 2010
====================

MiniSpaceWorld aims to create a spectacular scale model world for space flight and astronomy, using a layout scale 1:87 (H0 Scale) or similar. The MSW Worlds represent the stepping stones on our way from Earth into space. Light and sound effects, day and night simulations, historical and modern vehicles in motion, rocket starts, representation of future life scenes in the solar system will enrich the visitors’ experience. Under the motto “Space for Everybody”, MiniSpaceWorld will also explicitly feature products already used today in our everyday life that originated from space activities, offering another exciting edutainment opportunity.

MiniSpaceWorld will be a living scale model exhibit, showcasing everything from current rocket technology to basic principles of physics and astronomy, space travel as seen in science fiction and more. The famous Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg does for model railroads what we want to do for space-themed modelers and educators. The Hamburg railroad venue has shown, by drawing over six million visitors since its opening in 2001, that high quality modeling can draw a significant audience. From model railroads to space may not be that big a leap.

The first-ever partial realization of MiniSpaceWorld with round 80 m2 layout surface is being prepared in Hungary right now. This work is in the framework of Project Futura, an innovative Science Center in Mosonmagyaróvár.

MiniSpaceWorld is a project of peregrinus interstellar.

Further information
===================

"To let the possible happen, the impossible must be tried again and again." -- Hermann Hesse

peregrinus interstellar
Follow us on twitter >> http://twitter.com/piClub

The PI Club >> www.peregrinus-interstellar.net
Faces from Earth >> www.faces-from-earth.net
MiniSpaceWorld >> www.minispaceworld.com

The Moonbots Challenge contest will have teams of kids and adults simulating and building lunar rovers from LEGO MINDSTORMS robotic kits: “MoonBots” Challenges Parent-Child Teams to Conduct Google Lunar X PRIZE Missions with LEGO Robots: Major technology companies join forces to inspire the next generation of innovators, thinkers and engineers - Moonbots - Apr.15.10

The X PRIZE Foundation, Google Inc., LEGO Systems, National Instruments, and Wired’s GeekDad will announce “MoonBots: A Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Challenge” today at the FIRST WORLD Championships. The new contest will challenge small teams comprised of children and adults to design, program, and construct robots that perform simulated lunar missions similar to those required to win the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, a private race to the Moon designed to enable commercial exploration of space while engaging the global public. To further this purpose, the X PRIZE Foundation and Google have now joined forces with three other well known technology companies to offer a competition that will stimulate learning of robotics and team building while exciting students and their families about their potential roles in the new Moon race.

NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race also came and went last weekend at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year a student team from Germany won the high school race and a group from Puerto Rico won the collegiate race:
/-- Germany triumphs in NASA's "Great Moonbuggy Race" - The Local - Apr.11.10
/-- NASA';S 17th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race - WAFF.com - Apr.11.10

An announcement from The Conrad Foundation:

Recipe for the Future: Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards Program Combines Entrepreneurship, Imagination and High-School Innovators

Moffett Field, CA – April 12, 2010 – The Conrad Foundation’s 2010 Innovation Summit concluded over the weekend with the announcement of this year’s Spirit of Innovation Award winners. The program encourages high-school students to solve the challenges of the 21st century by creating breakthrough technologies in one of four categories: aerospace, green schools, renewable energy and space nutrition.

All winners were chosen from the 21finalist teams that assembled for the annual Spirit of Innovation Awards’ Innovation Summit at the NASA Ames Conference Center in Moffett Field, Calif., from April 8 to 10, 2010. The teams were joined by notable leaders such as Lori Garver, deputy administrator of NASA; Miles O’Brien, chairman of the NASA Advisory Council for Education and Public Outreach; Steve Westly of the Westly Group; Chairman Jon Wellinghoff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and entrepreneurs Rafe Furst, John Gage, Fred Nazem and Ari Meisel.

For the awards presentation, Foundation chairman Nancy Conrad was joined by special guest, recording artist and music producer Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D.

Grand prize winners, taking home the coveted title of 2010 Pete Conrad Scholars, were Falcon Robotics (aerospace), Green MAST (green schools), ACWa (renewable energy) and AM Rocks (space nutrition). In addition to the $5,000 cash prize awarded to each winning team, every member also receives a one-year student membership in American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a one-year affiliate membership to Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Each team’s coach also receives a $500 stipend via the AIAA Coaches Award.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute Award for Innovation in Space Exploration Health Care went to Hexigami from Littleton, Colo., for their lunar habitat's unique ability to shield future explorers from radiation. The $5,000 cash prize is awarded to the team with the best aerospace-related human health product.

As the name implies, the People’s Choice Award was bestowed on the team with the most votes cast during the online, public voting period. The top vote-getter, AM Rocks, received two seats on a zero-gravity flight. And, in a last-minute bonus, they will be joined on the flight by Williams. Runners-up were Ramana, TJ Alpha and Falcon Robotics.

Also of note for all participants, Clarkson University will award up to 12 merit scholarship to finalist team members who apply and are accepted to the university. Recipients will receive a scholarship of up to $6,000.

An announcement from the Conrad Awards program:

Student innovators need your votes to win the Spirit of Innovation Awards
Vote now to help select the 2010 People’s Choice Awards Winner

SAN FRANCISCO –– Online voting for the Spirit of Innovation Awards begins today, Monday, March 29, and ends Friday, April 9, on www.conradawards.org. The Spirit of Innovation Awards, challenges high school students to create innovative products using science, technology and entrepreneurship. Teams are now vying for the public’s votes to be selected as the 2010 Pete Conrad Scholars, win grants to help commercialize their products and receive two seats on a Zero Gravity flight.

The 24 finalists from across the country are designing our future. “It’s not science fiction; it’s where education meets innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s where real science gets real. Teams have created innovative products to solve 21st-century challenges. >From rural water collection devices, to robotic astronaut assistants; from Satellite altitude-control systems, to Navajo Solar Frybread Ovens, these students will rock your world!” said Nancy Conrad, founder of the Conrad Foundation.

April 8 through 10, the 24 finalist teams will gather at NASA-Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., for the 2010 Innovation Summit. The teams will present their products, attend workshops by industry leaders, and compete for more than $300,000 in grants and scholarships. Students will collaborate with high-profile scientists and entrepreneurs such as space explorer and Prodea CEO Anousheh Ansari; entrepreneurs Rafe Furst and John Gage; NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver; U.S. Department of Energy CFO Steve Isakowitz, and Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, John Wellinghoff.

At the close of this one-of-a-kind event the winners of the Spirit of Innovation Awards will be recognized as the 2010 Pete Conrad Scholars. Voting is 10 percent of the decision. There is no limit to the amount of times the public can vote.

To watch the team videos, read their blogs, get information on their products – and to vote, visit www.conradawards.org.

About The Conrad Foundation
The Conrad Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation designed to energize and engage students in science and technology through unique entrepreneurial opportunities. The Foundation builds upon the legacy of heroes in our past to nurture the heroes of our future. By enabling young minds to connect education, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Conrad Foundation provides a bold platform for enriching human capital.

College students can submit designs for space based solar power generating systems to the International Collegiate Solar Power Satellite Design Competition - (IC-SPS-DC) (link via National Space Society Blog) Students must register by August 15th and submit their design plans by Ocotber 15th.

The competition is open to all Undergraduate and graduate students across the globe. This contest puts College Students in the shoes of Aerospace Industry Engineers designing a Space based Solar Power Satellite which will beam 10MWs of electricity down to earth. Student engineers demonstrate creativity, technical competence, management skills, space environment knowledge, teamwork, and presentation techniques to conquer the problems inherent in siting and designing a Solar Power Satellite.

Team Registration for the competition is now open.

An announcement from the Creative Solution Alliance, founded by Erik Lindbergh:

Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) Created to Advance Green Technology in the Aviation Industry
Suite of prizes will stimulate new clean technology and serve as a focal point for STEM Education

La Jolla, CA (March 19, 2010) – At a press conference today marking the 80th anniversary of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s historic glider flights in San Diego, the Creative Solutions Alliance (CSA), a nonprofit organization founded by their grandson Erik Lindbergh, announced the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP). LEAP is a new technology prize designed to stimulate meaningful advances in the fledgling electric aircraft industry. LEAP will bring electric flight to more people and will serve as a vehicle for creating a powerful project-based curriculum that will address the need for effective science, technology, engineering and math education.

“The Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize is the culmination of my work over the last decade in aviation, education and prize philanthropy. LEAP represents the perfect focal point to light up both kids and adults. We are literally teaching the next generation to imagine and create their future,” explains LEAP Founder, Erik Lindbergh.

LEAP is a suite of prizes designed to promote the practical development of electric aircraft by recognizing specific advances in this emerging clean technology industry. The prizes will be awarded for the following:

1) Best Electric Aircraft: Awarded for the best example of a practical electric aircraft in any category - Experimental, LSA, or Certified.

*Hybrid electric aircraft may be nominated as well but only series hybrids where the source of primary propulsion is electric. An example of this type of system is the Chevy Volt, which uses an internal combustion engine as a range extender but has a pure electric powertrain.

2) Best Electric Aircraft Sub-System: Defined as a set of components designed to work together to accomplish a specific task which advances the field of electric aircraft in both performance and practicality, e.g., electric powertrains, energy storage systems, charging systems, etc.

3) Best Electric Aircraft Component Technology: Defined as individual components that serve to advance the performance and practicality of electric aircraft, e.g., batteries, electric motors, power electronics, etc.

4) Public Choice Award: Allowing the public to vote on electric aircraft that are currently flying whether practical or not. This will be an opportunity to gauge the public's interest and excitement with respect to various electric aircraft projects.

CSA has partnered with the Experimental Aircraft Association and will announce the winners at EAA’s AirVenture, the annual air show held each July in Oshkosh, WI.

Hosting the pioneering technology of electric aircraft is a natural for EAA AirVenture and that has always been the annual showcase for what's new in the world of flight," said Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chairman. "This area will play an increasing role in aviation in this century and only at Oshkosh can people meet and hear from the innovators themselves and find out more about what it means for individual aircraft owners and pilots."

About the Creative Solutions Alliance
CSA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, showcase and leverage innovation for a sustainable future. CSA will accomplish its mission by using prize philanthropy and media to promote individuals and organizations that are creating extraordinary solutions to social, technical and environmental problems. CSA encourages students to seek out problems as potential opportunities, thereby creating a shared sense of challenge, empowerment and hope. CSA creates professional learning communities and professional development programs in project-based learning which build a bridge between secondary education, higher education and industry.

For more information please visit www.LindberghPrize.org

The Secure World Foundation and the Space Policy journal are a Space Policy Essay Competition.

The competition is open to all law school students and graduate students of space policy for a publishable article on a topic of current debate.

The deadline is December 31, 2010.

A report on this year's Rice University Business Plan Competition, which includes NASA sponsored prizes for space related business plans: NASA "Game Changer" Commercial Space Innovation Prize at Rice University Business Plan Competition - Space Prizes.

An announcement from the Lindbergh Prize organization:

Erik Lindbergh to Unveil Lindbergh Prize and STEM Education Program

Event: On the 80th anniversary of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s historic glider flights, grandson Erik Lindbergh returns to La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Gliderport to announce a new prize for the next giant LEAP in green aviation technology. The prize will serve as the focal point for an exciting new project-based science, technology, engineering and math education program. Creative Solutions Alliance, the nonprofit that Lindbergh founded, is developing the prize and education program, in partnership with Aviation High School in Seattle, Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, and others.

Lindbergh will unveil LEAP and the education program at the launch event on the soaring cliffs at Torrey Pines. The Torrey Pines Gliderport will host a two day open house with food, music and activities on March 19-20 to celebrate the launch.

When: Friday, March 19, 2010; Press Conference: 1:00 p.m. (PT)

Participants include:

/-- Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Founder of Creative Solutions Alliance
/-- Yolanka Wulff, Executive Director, Creative Solutions Alliance
/-- Scott McComb, Assistant Director / STEM Leadership, Aviation High School
/-- John Bolthouse, Executive Director, La Jolla Historical Society
/-- Robin Marien, Manager, Torrey Pines Gliderport

Where: Torrey Pines Gliderport, La Jolla, CA (www.flytorrey.com); 2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037

For more information: visit: www.lindberghprize.org