NASA News - NASA Chief Technologist To Attend Cleveland Manufacturing Event

WASHINGTON -- NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck will join agency and
Ohio officials to name nine small and medium-sized Ohio manufacturers
that will receive NASA assistance to solve technical problems with
new or existing products. The news conference will be held Wednesday,
May 23, at 11 a.m. EDT at the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth
Network (MAGNET) headquarters, 1768 E. 25th St. in Cleveland.

The news conference also will feature Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson,
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald, and NASA's Glenn Research
Center Director Ray Lugo. This initiative is part of the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy's "Strong Cities, Strong
Communities" effort. The partnership was developed as a local "Adopt
a City" program.

NASA is committed to providing 400 hours of technical assistance from
its science and engineering work force to offer potential solutions
to the selected companies for specific technical challenges they are
facing with a new or existing product. In addition to access to NASA
experts, the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are making
$450,000 in low interest rate loans available to the companies to
help with costs associated with participation in the program.

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist and
a biography of Peck, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

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NASA Invites Media To Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- More than 50 teams of undergraduate and
graduate students from eight countries will come to NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida May 21-26 to take part in the third annual
Lunabotics Mining Competition.

Practice sessions will take place May 21-22, followed by the official
competition the rest of the week. Media are invited to cover the
opening day ceremony and competition on Wednesday, May 23, from noon
- 4 p.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For access
to the facility, journalists should contact Andrea Farmer at
321-449-4318 or afarmer@dncinc.com. Requests for interviews with NASA
representatives need to be submitted to Tracy Young at 321-867-2468
or tracy.g.young@nasa.gov.

The teams have designed and built remote controlled or autonomous
robots that can excavate simulated lunar soil. During the
competition, the teams' designs, known as lunabots, will go
head-to-head to determine whose machine can collect and deposit the
most simulated moon dust within a specified amount of time.

The competition is a NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission
Directorate project designed to engage and retain students in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The
project provides a competitive environment that may result in
innovative ideas and solutions that potentially could be applied to
future NASA missions.

Video highlights of the practice and competition will air on the NASA
TV Video File. For downlink information, schedules and links to
streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

To view the competition webcast, visit:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-edge3

For more information about the competition and a list of participating
teams, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/lunabotics

Source:

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