(4) EM Launch Competition 1000 dollar Grants still available

Jasonr, Sat Aug 05 2006, 05:26PM

There are (4) 1000 dollar grants available there are a few rules.

The time period for enteries is Thursday 08/10/06 so you do not have much time.
Use my name as a referal Jason Rollette as this is the reason for the time extention.
Grants are available on a first come first serve basis!

You MUST be able to attend the competion in Houston, Texas USA next March

Write a Proposal following information below.
Proposal format
• Five page maximum length
• Minimum 10 point Times New Roman or similar font, singlespaced Length limit includes figures and pictures.

Sections:
• Summary of proposal (200
words)
• Description of launcher
• Work plan with milestones
• Background of team members, including advisors
• Potential sources of additional funding, contributed materials, or volunteer expertise
• Submit proposal as a PDF to "pputman at lifeboat dot com" (use cute pdf writer if you don't have a method to make pdf's JR)
• File size should be less than 1 MB

see the web site for more details.


There are minimal restrictions on the launchers, as follows:

1. Energy supplied to the launcher, from capacitors, batteries, a flywheel/generator, or other power supply, is limited to 2000 J. This rule prevents unlimited expenditures on power supplies, and focuses the design work on improving the efficiency of the launcher.

2. All contestants must use the same glider, which will be supplied by the organizers at the time of contestant selection. This likewise focuses effort on launcher design.

3. Groups that use voltages higher than 120 V must submit a circuit diagram and an additional waiver.

4. The projectiles will be Estes Gnome rocket bodies ballasted to 25 g. They're 14 mm in diameter and 260 mm long, with larger diameter fins. Replacing the original fins with pop-up fins will be permitted. "Regulation" gliders will be supplied on the day of the competition, but obtaining gliders for practice is the responsibility of the competitors.

This project advances both of the Foundation's short-term goals, public education and advancement of space technology. The competitive nature of the event increases public interest, while the potential for improvement of the technology is great — many known launcher configurations have not been explored in depth, and other possibilities no doubt exist. If the contest is repeated annually, the energy limit and funding can be increased each year, up to levels useful for placing payloads into orbit.

Hope to be competing against some of you!
Jason Rollette