NASA seeks students’ answers to moon dust problem

HUNTSVILLE – The development of lunar landing systems has exposed a rather dusty problem.

To help solve the problem, NASA is inviting college students to uncover ways to manage or prevent the problem during moon landings. At the Human Lander Challenge Forum in Huntsville in June, the agency will select up to 12 student teams to compete for solutions to the problem.

“The moon is covered with granular, rocky material called regolith, which can be lifted from the surface by rocket engines during landing and ascent,” said Ashley Korzun, principal investigator for plume surface interaction at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. “Understanding and reducing these effects are key challenges for NASA to overcome for safe lunar surface access.

“Besides creating a more challenging landing environment, disturbed lunar dust also can damage other assets NASA plans to establish on the moon’s surface, like habitats, mobility systems, scientific experiments, and other critical infrastructure.”

To establish a long-term lunar presence, NASA must address the challenges lunar dust presents to these complex missions.

NASA is asking undergraduate and graduate students to seek innovative, systems-level solutions to minimize and manage the impacts on future lunar exploration systems.

“It is our mission to have a lunar landing capability that allows astronauts to travel to the surface of the moon and back safely on a regular basis,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of Human Landing Systems at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “The challenge of managing the dust stirred up by lunar landers is a top priority, so this is a great opportunity for students to work with NASA in advancing humanity’s exploration of the moon’s South Pole region under Artemis.”

Potential solutions might include developing dust shields, creating flight instrumentation to manage plume surface interactions, finding ways to see through the dust cloud, or tracking dust during ascent and descent.

“We look forward to seeing what these teams come up with,” Watson-Morgan said.

Each team will receive a $7,000 stipend to produce a technical paper and any associated design models or prototypes. These will be presented to presented to a design review panel of NASA and industry subject matter experts.

The top three teams will share $18,000, with the first-place team receiving $10,000, the second-place team receiving $5,000, and the third-place team receiving $3,000.

Teams are encouraged to submit a non-binding notice of intent by Oct. 22.  Proposals are due March 4, 2024.

The Human Lander Challenge is sponsored by NASA’s Human Landing System Program and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.