Hi all,
(I'm going to post this on both the Space Fellowship and the N-Prize forum, and feel free to circulate and relay it.)
Well, first of all my apologies for a long absence - I can only say that life has been interesting of late!
I've been thinking a lot about what happens after this September, if nobody succeeds by then. So, on the minus side, I promised myself last time that this would be the final extension, and that repeated extensions would just be a disincentive to teams who had been working hard toward the existing deadlines.
But, on the other side of the scales... I really do want to hand out the fantastically small prize (or prizes - two categories!) one of these days. And, ultimately, it does no harm to leave the N-Prize open indefinitely, except possibly to my ego in having to admit that it's an even tougher challenge than I had believed. And my ego is the last thing that should influence my decision. People who told me it was impossible can say 'we told you so', but I can live with that and I'm confident that, someday soon, one of you will prove them wrong.
So, here's my decision, which I'll make official on the N-Prize website at some point between now and the expiry of the current deadline. The N-Prize is going to become "open", in the sense that there will be no deadline; and both prizes will remain open (that is, if someone wins in one category, the other category will remain up for grabs until someone wins it). I will also re-open the Prize to new entrants, again with no time limit.
Some people have suggested modifications to the rules, such as increasing (or removing) the budget or satellite-mass restrictions. However, I'm definitely not going to change those. First of all, that would be unfair to those teams who have been working under the existing rules. They've already stretched their ingenuity to meet the restrictions, and it would be plain wrong if a new team came in with a bigger budget and scooped them. Second, the aim of the prize was to stretch people's brains - we already know that it's possible to launch big, expensive satellites. Enough teams have gone far enough already to show that the N-Prize restrictions are not completely, absolutely impossible, even if they are extremely difficult to work within.
There have also been a few comments, here and there, suggesting that the restrictions were set precisely to ensure nobody could win. Well, I'm not a rich guy, but handing over two prizes to N-Prize entrants would be one of the greatest thrills I can imagine - certainly way ahead of anything else I could do with the money.
Other folks have commented on the microscopic size of the cash prizes, and suggested that they don't provide enough incentive. Well, they're right - the cash prizes offer no incentive when set against the amount of effort and development costs needed to win them. But that was always the case, right from the outset. Nobody is going to win the N-Prize for the money, and I cannot offer a large enough prize to make the money alone worth the effort.
The teams who are still working towards the N-Prize are excited for the same reason I am - because it would be a truly breathtaking achievement, and because a shoestring satellite launch would change the way people think about space. The cash prizes, such as they are, should be enough for the winners to throw a pretty impressive celebration party. If I tried to offer a prize that reflects my admiration for the winners-to-be, there would need to be another three zeroes.
There are lots of people out there who are smarter and richer than I am. They can, and have, offered worthwhile cash prizes for goals that are incremental and attainable. The only thing I can contribute is plenty of unrealistic optimism and the belief that, once in a while, people can reach seemingly unattainable goals when you set them apparently impossible challenges.
So, there you have it. If anyone has any comments or questions, feel free to email me (info@....). And, if anyone does make it by the current September deadline, I'll add a beer to the prize money.
Paul
N-Prize Chief Optimist