Centennial Challenges: An Exercise in New Lunar Urbanism

In order to satisfy our base of readers who have already discovered the secret to designing new buildings and urban spaces on our own planet or those who have begun to tire of the endless discussion of places that will cease to exist in a few thousand years anyway, we encourage a look at NASA's Centennial Challenges. These competitions range from designing a dexterous and flexible astronaut's glove to extracting "breathable oxygen from a supply of lunar regolith" (???). The prize for one's efforts lands a fat cash prize of $250k for most challenges. Success guarantees you a bit more payback and recognition than a few thousand dollars a local design competition will award you for your design prowess - and provides you an opportunity to be the next Andres Duany in the emerging New Lunar Urbanism movement.

A note to any brilliant astro-physicists, engineers or astro-industrial design geniuses out there who want to unveil the ideas they've been developing in their sketchpads for a remote-controlled robot that responds to video and data communications to efficiently build structures on the moon can contact The Design Rag. In addition to our reputation as the foremost leaders in the New Lunar Urbanism movement, we'll offer you the services of accurately and thoroughly filling out an application to NASA (we can type real good). In return, the Charter for New Lunar Urbanism (under the auspices of The Design Rag) will humbly accept a $250,000 purse to facilitate the creation of a lunar design advocacy group right here in Cleveland.

To read more, go to the NASA Centennial Challenges webpage. (Remember, you heard it here first!)

For related news about NASA Glenn's role in the Constellation program to develop Ares to send astronauts to the Moon and to Mars, see NASA's release.