Maine Engineer wins NASA Space Challenge

1st place winner of the 2009 NASA Astronaut Glove Challenge, Peter Homer, and daughter; Alan Hayes of Volantz, Inc.; Andrew Petro of NASA; 2nd place winner Ted Southern, and team member Amy Miller. Credit: NASA

Clara Moskowitz
Space.com

An aerospace engineer from Maine, the reigning champion of NASA's Astronaut Glove Challenge, held onto his title Thursday to win first prize in a competition to build a better space glove than those worn by astronauts today.

The winner, Peter Homer of Southwest Harbor, Maine, took home $250,000, top prize at the competition held at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Fla., close to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It was the second win for Homer, who took home first place, and $200,000, in the first-ever Astronaut Glove Challenge in 2007.

Second prize this year went to artist Ted Southern, another former competitor from Brooklyn, New York. Southern was awarded $100,000.

"It was a close decision. Both met all requirements," said Andy Petro, manager of NASA's Centennial Challenges program, which oversees the competition.

The full story HERE.