[dlavery]

Originally posted by KenWittlief but if you are an existing team who has lost their sponsor, or lost an important source of funding, then you would qualify for a NASA grant to get you through the rough times.

Originally posted by Sanddrag A team can only have two years of NASA grants ever.

Originally posted by KenWittlief that is the first year that you receive a grant from NASA, not your first year as a team you can only get the NASA grant for two years, and you are correct, you have to get other sponsors lined up obviously, you cant fund a team for only $6000.

Originally posted by KenWittlief its hard to find a HS AND a corporate sponser [sic] AND engineering mentors AND faculty mentors all at the same time to start a new team

All of the above comments are flat out wrong, and need to be corrected. None of these individuals speak for NASA, and how we support teams or issue grants.

NASA sponsors three types of grants for FIRST teams. The "regional challenge grants" are the ones with which most are familiar. These grants are given to rookie teams that attend one of the NASA-sponsored regional competition events. The rookie teams may be funded for up to two years, and must generate matching funds to receive their second year of NASA funds. During the first year of the regional event ONLY, a small number of one-year grants may be given to some veteran teams to support the new regional event. These grants are NOT for "getting you through the rough times" if you lose a sponsor. Approximately 120 of these grants, for $6,000 each, will be issued this year.

The second type of grant are those associated with the NASA University Space Grant Consortium programs. These grants are available for up to three years, and are used to encourage growth of the FIRST program in areas of the country where the population of teams is very sparse. For 2002-2004, only teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Oregon and Kansas may apply for these grants. In 2005, the list of eligible states is scheduled to change. 50 of these grants, for $10,000 each, will be issued this year.

The third type of grant is associated with teams that work directly with NASA engineers, and affiliated with the NASA field centers. These are intended to directly support the teams in the local communities around our field centers, and support our "hands-on" participation in the FIRST program. These grants are intended for long-term sustained support of the teams, and do not have a fixed duration. Approximately 18 of these grants, for between $5,000-$30,000 each, will be issued this year.

Additional details on all these options will be made public on the NASA Robotics Education web site when the applications process opens.

Yes, you can fund a team with just $6,000. It isn't easy, and it probably isn't the optimal solution, but every year there are several teams that do it successfully. Pulling together the required resources to have a successful team (an identified set of students, school support, engineers/mentors, a construction facility, etc.), isn't "easy" but no one ever said the FIRST competition was easy. Every year teams manage to do it, and every year we get more applications for the rookie team grants than we have funds to support. So there is solid evidence that at least 120 groups around the country have figured out how to get the resources need to start a team.

-dave lavery
NASA Headquarters