Do you have the solution? NASA is offering $3 million to solve this space challenge

NASA have got big plans when it comes to long-duration human space travel but they also have a big problem needing solved. If you can help provide the solution, you could be in line for a share of $3 million.

NASA focused on Moon living

One of NASA’s key objectives is building a sustained human presence on and around the Moon, which means sending astronauts to live there for a prolonged period of time. While they might spend much of their time there investigating, experimenting and doing other sciency things, they will also inevitably create what humans everywhere do: waste.

Keeping a lunar base clean and green is a complex challenge, with no garbage trucks or recycling bins outside in which to dispose of things such as food packaging, discard fabrics or science experiment materials.

This is where you come into the equation.

The Luna Recycle Challenge

NASA is looking for inventors, entrepreneurs, students and visionaries from around the world to create innovative solutions to help astronauts make the most of everything they take with them, including garbage.

The purpose of NASA’s Luna Recycle Challenge, as it has been named, is to develop energy-efficient, low-mass, low-impact recycling technologies which can be used on the Moon, and could even revolutionize recycling and encourage sustainable living on Earth.

Teams who enter the challenge can win cash prizes of up to $3 million if they are able to come up with novel solutions to transform space waste into usable products.

The challenge has two tracks:

Digital Twin Track: the development of virtual models that simulate recycling systems on the Moon, reducing the need for makeshift physical prototypes and saving substantial time and costs.

Prototype Build Track: developing real hardware, from components to complete systems, capable of recycling different types of waste on the Moon.

Teams have until 4pm ET on March 31 to register for the challenge, which they can do at NASA’s Luna Recycle Challenge website.

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