NASA Launches Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) Challenge
On September 21, 2006, NASA formalized its plans for an historic aviation event—The Personal Air Vehicle Centennial Challenges. Consistent with the finding of recent Congressional and National Research Council reports, NASA has committed to an expanded time frame for the annual prize flight competitions. Building upon the original one-year, $250K PAV Challenge, NASA and CAFÉ have agreed to a five-year set of competitions with purses to be awarded annually of $250K, $300K, $400K, $500K, and $550K, between 2007 and 2011.
The competition's goal is to rapidly popularize personal air travel by stimulating the emergence of consumer-attractive Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs). PAVs are two to six seat next-generation aircraft that are quiet, safe, fuel-efficient, easy to fly and capable of nearly all-weather travel. NASA's demographic studies showed that consumer-attractive PAVs can transform the U.S. transportation system, relieving surface gridlock, extending reach and saving time and fuel. NASA recognized that the current ratio of investment risk to market demand impedes the needed convergence of new technologies into PAVs.
"NASA's idea is brilliant. The market situation is ideal for an annual Technology Prize to bring about the needed breakthroughs and evolve them over 5 years. With this competition, everybody wins--sponsors, the aviation and travel industry, airports, consumers, NASA, universities--everybody," says Dr. Brien Seeley, President of the CAFE Foundation, which will host the PAV Challenge. "The amazing vehicles this will bring onto the national media stage are more than just exciting—they are vital to preserving Americans' freedom to fly."
The PAV Challenge opens team registration on November 1, 2006 and the competition begins in 2007. The non-profit, volunteer CAFE Foundation needs corporate sponsors and individual donations to enable them to stage the event. Visit: http://www.cafefoundation.org and http://exploration.nasa.gov/centennialchallenge/cc_index.html
Brien A. Seeley M.D., President
CAFE Foundation
www.cafefoundation.org
brien@cafefoundation.org
Office: 707-544-0141
Home: 707-526-3925
Cell: 707-484-8721
CAFE HQ: 707-545-2233
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