Core77

With R&D increasingly being farmed out to the masses, competition-style (i.e. the X-Prize, Darpa's Grand Challenge), deep-pocketed NASA is getting in on the action with its Centennial Challenge.

...the space agency is offering prizes as high as $5M to anyone who can solve a new series of problems that Nasa's space engineers cannot.

...The aim is to tap the largely ignored--but knowledgeable--community of space junkies and garden-shed inventors worldwide, rewarding innovation and fresh design.

...Since the contests replace traditional research grants, Nasa is prepared to reward successful participants with large sums of money--and the inventors retain commercial rights to more money further down the line.

Sounds like a bundle of cash for the right designer/engineer. What'd be even cooler is if they threw in some free rides.

To see the complete list of Challenges, click here and scroll down.

via the independent