NASA offers $3 million prize for competition aiding long-term lunar missions
The LunaRecycle Challenge is a “two track, two-phase competition” that will help to push the boundaries of space exploration.
NASA is always looking to push towards new frontiers and the space agency is giving you the chance to be a part of that effort.
The agency is looking to increase the sustainability of longer-term lunar missions, the type that will be required to get a greater understanding of the moon. But with longer time periods comes more considerations as NASA attempts to continue its work in a sustainable way.
The LunaRecycle Challenge is a “two track, two-phase competition focused on the design and development of recycling solutions” on lunar missions. The aim of the program is to reduce solid waste, a major issue for astronauts after months and even years in space.
Contestants will need to consider “how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be minimized” while also planning for the storage, processing and recycling of waste materials created on these missions. The winner will get a share of a $3 million prize pot, with $1 million for the Phase 1 winner and $2 million for Phase 2.
Cleaning up in outer space
For many, space exploration is one of the most otherworldly, awe-inspiring professions. However the reality of life as an astronaut has many more earthy considerations, including how to dispose of the human waste that is emitted during a mission.
WIRED reports that the Apollo crews left 96 bags of waste - including urine and faeces - across six landing sites on the surface of the moon. They remain there now as a reminder of the environmental cost of space exploration, and of the need to develop news ways to deal with waste.
A NASA statement reads: “The challenge has the potential to highlight entirely novel approaches to recycling; processes that improve energy efficiency and water efficiency; processes that reduce un-usable outputs and toxic emissions; and smaller-scale solutions that could be deployed in communities in a more distributed way than recycling facilities today.”
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