Notice2024-21743
LunaRecycle Challenge Phase 1
Primary source
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Published
September 24, 2024
Issuing agencies
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Abstract
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is announcing Phase 1 of The LunaRecycle Challenge, and teams that wish to compete in this public prize competition may now enter.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77896-77897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21743]
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice: 24-065]
LunaRecycle Challenge Phase 1
AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is
announcing Phase 1 of The LunaRecycle Challenge, and teams that wish to
compete in this public prize competition may now enter.
DATES: Phase 1 registration opens September 30, 2024, and will remain
open until March 31, 2025 (4 p.m. Eastern). No further requests for
registration will be accepted after this timeframe.
Other important dates, including deadlines for key deliverables
from the Teams, are listed on the Challenge website: <a href="https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/">https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/</a>.
ADDRESSES: Competitors in the LunaRecycle Challenge Phase 1 will
develop solutions and submit from their own location.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To register for or get additional
information regarding the LunaRecycle Challenge, please visit:<a href="https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/">https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/</a>.
General questions and comments regarding the program should be
addressed to Kim Krome, Centennial Challenges Program, NASA Marshall
Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812. Email address: hq-stmd-
[[Page 77897]]
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dbb8beb5afbeb5b5b2bab7b8b3bab7b7beb5bcbea89bb6bab2b7f5b5baa8baf5bcb4ad">[email protected]</a>. Phone: 256-544-1265.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NASA seeks to stimulate research and
technology solutions to support future missions and inspire new
national aerospace capabilities through public prize competitions
called Centennial Challenges. The LunaRecycle Challenge is one such
competition. Centennial Challenges are managed at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and are part of the Prizes,
Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program within NASA's Space Technology
Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.
The LunaRecycle Challenge is a prize competition with up to a
$3,000,000.00 USD total prize purse to incentivize innovative
approaches to develop and demonstrate novel recycling technologies and/
or systems to convert solid (non-gaseous, non-biological, and non-
metabolic) lunar waste streams into usable resources. This challenge
has two tracks, Digital Twin track and Prototype Build track. At this
time, NASA is opening Phase 1 of the competition, which has a
$1,000,000 USD prize purse. In this phase of competition, teams in the
Digital Twin track will design a preliminary (low-fidelity) digital
twin and visualization of their solution and teams in the Prototype
Build track will develop a detailed design of their solution. Teams are
not required to build or submit any hardware in Phase 1.
NASA is providing the prize purse for U.S. Teams, and the
University of Alabama will be conducting the Challenge on behalf of
NASA. NASA is considering a Phase 2 of the competition depending on the
outcome of the Phase 1 competition.
Summary
NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As NASA
prepares for future human space missions, there will be a need to
consider how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be
minimized as well as how waste can be stored, processed, and recycled
in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be
returned to Earth. In addition, NASA's STMD, which leads the
development and demonstration of transformational technologies, has
identified a number of research areas requiring further investment to
meet future exploration, science, and other mission needs. These
include topics such as trash management for habitation, in-space and
on-surface manufacturing from recycled materials, and digital
transformation technologies for terrestrial, in-Space, on-Surface
manufacturing and operations--all of which may be addressed through
this challenge. By utilizing open innovation strategies in this area,
NASA has the opportunity to incentivize novel solutions to the
challenges of waste in space and ensure the sustainability of future
space exploration, industrial activities, and habitats.
Through LunaRecycle challenge, NASA seeks to incentivize the design
and development of innovative, sustainable recycling solutions that can
address the types of solid waste expected to accumulate during longer-
term missions on the lunar surface.
Phase 1 of the LunaRecycle challenge is focused on incentivizing
recycling solutions for the lunar surface that maximize the amount of
waste that can be recycled from a list of waste categories and items
that are relevant to a hypothetical 365-day lunar mission. NASA is
seeking designs that minimize resource inputs; unusable outputs; and
the mass and/or volume of hardware components and systems needed for
recycling. For the Digital Twin track, NASA is also seeking highly
innovative and imaginative solutions that harness the full potential of
a digital twin. In Phase 1, Teams will have approximately six (6)
months to register and submit solutions. Phase 1 will last a total of
eight (8) months, including approximately two (2) months of judging.
I. Prize Amounts
The LunaRecyle Challenge offers a total prize purse up to
$3,000,000.00 USD (three million United States dollars) to be awarded
across two (2) phases of competition.
Prize purse for Phase 1 will total up to $1,000,000.00 USD (one
million United States dollars), with the following prize distribution:
<bullet> Up to 8 top scoring U.S. Teams in the Digital Twin Track
will receive $50,000.00 each.
<bullet> Up to 8 top scoring U.S. Teams in the Protype Build Track
will receive $75,000.00 each.
The Prize Purse for Phase 2, should there be promising submissions
in Phase 1 that demonstrate a viable approach, will be worth up to
$2,000,000.00.
II. Eligibility To Participate and Win Prize Money
To be eligible to win a prize, competitors must register and comply
with all requirements in the Official Rules. Interested Teams should
refer to the Official Challenge website (<a href="https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/">https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/</a>) for full details on eligibility and
registration.
III. Official Rules
The complete rules for the LunaRecycle Challenge, can be found at:
<a href="https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/">https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/</a>.
IV. Further Information
For general information on the NASA Centennial Challenges please
visit: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/centennial-challenges/">https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/centennial-challenges/</a>.
For general information on NASA prize competitions, challenges, and
crowdsourcing opportunities, please visit: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/">https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/</a>.
Emily Pellegrino,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-21743 Filed 9-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-13-P
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