NASA Calls for Proposals

From SpaceRef:

"External organizations are sought to support Centennial Challenges (www.centennialchallenges.nasa.gov) within the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (www.exploration.nasa.gov) of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. These organizations will help with the planning, coordination, and execution of the following elements as they relate to individual challenges...

By making awards based on actual achievements instead of proposals, Centennial Challenges seeks novel and lower-cost solutions to engineering obstacles in civil space and aeronautics from new sources of innovation in industry, academia, and the public...

Flagship Challenges under consideration by NASA include prize competitions for:

A soft robotic lunar landing,
A micro reentry vehicle,
An aero-assist demonstration, and
A station-keeping solar sail.

Keystone Challenges under consideration by NASA include: "First-to-demonstrate competitions" for:

Lightweight radiation shielding,
A mobile power storage breakthrough,
Improved and new physical and chemical lunar resource processing techniques,
An advanced astronaut glove,
An autonomous drill,
An autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for cargo,
A long-duration, station-keeping UAV, and
A hybrid airship.

"Repeatable contests" for:

Advances in materials, especially nanotube tethers;
Advances in lightweight power transmission, especially beamed power;
Advances in deployable telescope technology, especially those that could be applicable to space-based observatories;
Advances in general aviation technologies, especially those applicable to other modes of air transport;
A precision landing system;
An advanced tele-robotic construction system;
Highly mobile and cooperative autonomous robots; and
A human lunar all-terrain vehicle."