LunaRecycle Challenge Phase 1, 77896-77897 [2024-21743]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77896-77897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[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: https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/.

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:https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/.
    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]]

[email protected]. 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:
     Up to 8 top scoring U.S. Teams in the Digital Twin Track 
will receive $50,000.00 each.
     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 (https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/) for full details on eligibility and 
registration.

III. Official Rules

    The complete rules for the LunaRecycle Challenge, can be found at: 
https://lunarecyclechallenge.ua.edu/.

IV. Further Information

    For general information on the NASA Centennial Challenges please 
visit: https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/centennial-challenges/.
    For general information on NASA prize competitions, challenges, and 
crowdsourcing opportunities, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/.

Emily Pellegrino,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-21743 Filed 9-23-24; 8:45 am]
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