NASA seeks ideas to address challenges lunar dust presents during spacecraft landing

NASA is currently seeking ideas from university students to address the challenges posed by plumes and lunar dust stirred up by spacecraft during landing and ascent on the Moon.

The agency aims to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon through a series of increasingly complex missions. Minimizing and managing the lunar dust is critical to the success of these missions as well as to establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon.

"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," said Ashley Korzun, principal investigator for plume surface interaction, NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

As part of the new Human Lander Challenge, NASA is inviting college students to explore ways to manage or prevent the cloud of dust that is kicked up during spacecraft landings on unprepared surfaces like the Moon. Potential solutions might include the development of dust shields, creating flight instrumentation dedicated to managing plume surface interactions, finding ways to see through the dust cloud during landing, or tracking dust during ascent and descent.

"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. We look forward to seeing what these teams come up with," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager, Human Landing Systems, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Around 12 teams will get a chance to compete at the inaugural Human Lander Challenge Forum in June 2024 in Huntsville, Alabama. Each team will receive a $7,000 stipend to produce a technical paper and any associated design models or prototypes to present in a competitive design review to a panel of NASA and industry subject matter experts.

The top three teams will be awarded a total of $18,000:

• 1st prize - $10,000
• 2nd prize - $5,000
• 3rd prize - $3,000

Proposals for the Human Lander Challenge are due March 4.