NASA will announce the winners of the final round of the LunaRecycle Challenge on Friday, August 28, at the University of Alabama’s Lee J. Styslinger Institute of Technology in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Launched in 2024, the NASA competition challenges innovators to develop advanced recycling systems for managing non-metabolizable waste during future Moon missions.
The public and media are invited to attend the LunaRecycle Challenge Technology Showcase and awards announcement. Up to 14 finalist teams will present their recycling technologies and digital twin solutions while NASA and University of Alabama leaders discuss the future of sustainable lunar exploration. Opening remarks will begin at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time on August 28 in Room 1026 of HM Comer Hall on the University of Alabama campus.
Media representatives planning to cover the event should confirm attendance by contacting the NASA Marshall Newsroom at [email protected] by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 27.
The $3 million LunaRecycle Challenge is a two-stage NASA competition focused on creating recycling technologies that reduce non-metabolizable waste and improve the long-term sustainability of lunar missions. During the final round of Phase 2, invited teams refined their physical prototypes and digital twin concepts before live testing at McAbee Construction in Tuscaloosa earlier this month.
Following the Technology Showcase, up to 11 teams will share $1.325 million in NASA prize money for their prototype and digital twin solutions. The top two physical prototypes will receive $500,000 and $225,000, while the top two digital twin solutions will earn $275,000 and $125,000. Judges may also present up to six Technical Achievement Awards to teams that excel in selected categories during the final round.
The team receiving the most votes from the public and stakeholders during the Technology Showcase will also earn the $25,000 People’s Choice Award. Winners will be announced live during the closing ceremony, which begins at noon.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the LunaRecycle Challenge. The Centennial Challenge is part of the Awards, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. For more than 20 years, NASA’s Centennial Challenges have engaged the public in solving complex problems that support the agency’s broader goals. Previous competitions have advanced innovations in robotics, additive manufacturing, power and energy, textiles, chemistry, and biology.
Phase 1 of the LunaRecycle Challenge generated record interest from innovators around the world. More than 1,200 people and organizations registered, making it the most popular competition in the 20-year history of NASA’s Centennial Challenges. A panel of 50 judges evaluated nearly 200 entries before selecting 17 Phase 1 winners representing five countries and nine U.S. states. NASA Marshall announced the winners during a livestream on its YouTube channel.
The LunaRecycle Challenge also receives support from recycling specialists at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California. The University of Alabama’s Lee J. Styslinger Jr. College of Engineering is partnering with NASA to host and conduct the competition.
For additional information about the NASA LunaRecycle Challenge, visit the official NASA website.
Source: www.nasa.gov