NASA will pay R$17 million to anyone who solves the “space challenge”; Understands

In these first space missions, neither engineers nor aerospace experts were able to develop effective solutions for disposing of astronaut waste, an aspect that worries crews today because of the risks it poses.

As is widely known, feces and urine must be collected and stored securely to avoid contaminating the spacecraft environment. However, this task becomes more difficult due to the lack of gravity.

The American agency revealed that during the first Apollo missions, 96 bags of human waste were left on the surface of the moon. In fact, in Neil Armstrong’s first image of Earth’s natural satellite, a white garbage bag can be seen next to the Eagle module.

Recently, NASA planned to return to the Moon, with the aim of establishing a sustainable human presence. Thanks to the Artemis missions, the LunaRecycle Challenge was born, a competition that will award $3 million in prizes.

“Sustainable operation is an important consideration for NASA as we make discoveries and conduct research both offshore and on Earth,” said Amy Kaminsky, executive director of the space agency’s Awards, Challenges and Crowdsourcing Program.

What does the LunaRecycle Challenge consist of?

The competition will be divided into two categories, in which ideas will be evaluated to develop technologies that allow the management and recycling of human waste resulting from long-term space missions. The LunaRecycle Challenge will have a prize pool of $3 million, with up to $1 million available during the first phase.

The first category is called the “Prototype Building Track,” and focuses on building prototypes for the correct recycling of solid waste.

On the other hand, the second will focus on the development of virtual systems, whose function is to simulate the methodology of recycling management on the Moon. This was called “digital dual track”.

The idea is that through both categories, it is possible to transform waste into useful products, facilitating lunar exploration and contributing to the development of sustainable solutions for our planet.

However, this competition not only seeks to solve the needs of outer space, but will also implement the ideas gathered into a global waste management plan on Earth.

This challenge will be coordinated by the University of Alabama, in collaboration with the AI ​​Spacefactory, to evaluate the teams’ ability to solve 187 technology challenges for future NASA missions. The deadline to participate in the challenge is January 30, 2025. Registration can be made through the university’s website.