NASA announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement with the California Space Authority

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MOFFETT FIELD, California – NASA announced that it has signed an agreement with the California Space Authority, Inc., (CSA) to work together on participatory science and public outreach using a simulated lunar surface environment.

Under the Space Act Agreement, CSA will establish an office at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., in NASA Research Park. This fall, NASA Ames and CSA, along with its sister organization, the California Space Education and Workforce Institute, will host the Regolith Excavation Challenge, a prize competition alert on developing improved lunar regolith handling technologies.

During the Regolith Challenge scheduled October 17-18, 2009, teams from across the country will design and build robotic machines to excavate simulated lunar soil, or else known as regolith, in hopes of winning a $750,000 prize funded by the NASA Centennial Challenges program. CSA will supply a Lunar Regolith Simulant Testbed, a sandbox containing a sand-like material that simulates the lunar surface. The test bed is used for a variety of education and outreach activities, such as the Regolith Challenge.

"The agreement with NASA Ames will provide CSA with a physical presence in the Silicon Valley and opens the door for enlarged space enterprise activities throughout the state," said by Andrea Seastrand, CSA executive director. "For the past few years, the Regolith Excavation Challenge has developed into a thriving competitive event and has incubated regolith research and innovative opportunities so this would be the chance to partner with NASA Ames Research Center."