NASA is set to conclude its Watts on the Moon Challenge, a competition that aims to accelerate the development of breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies for future Moon missions. The competition forms a crucial part of the broader Artemis campaign, which seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. The challenge will wrap up with a showcase and awards ceremony on Friday, 20th September, at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Advancing Power Solutions for Artemis Missions
For astronauts to carry out long-term missions on the Moon, they will require reliable and continuous power sources. Kim Krome-Sieja, acting program manager of Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, highlighted the importance of this challenge: “To sustain a prolonged presence during Artemis missions, reliable power is essential. NASA has worked extensively on power generation technologies, and now we seek to push boundaries in power transmission and energy storage that can endure the Moon’s extreme conditions.”
The Watts on the Moon Challenge encourages the development of systems capable of withstanding the lunar environment’s extreme temperatures, including long, cold lunar nights and minimal atmospheric pressure. The innovations emerging from this challenge could also pave the way for practical applications on Earth, particularly in remote regions with harsh weather conditions, where maintaining energy grid resilience is often a challenge.
Simulating Lunar Conditions for Technological Progress
The competition represents a groundbreaking moment for NASA, as the prototypes developed during the Watts on the Moon Challenge are the first to undergo testing in a simulated lunar environment. These tests were carried out in the thermal vacuum chambers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The lunar simulation included extreme conditions such as six hours of daylight, 18 hours of darkness, and a distance of three kilometres between the power source and the user.
The ultimate goal is to identify systems that perform well in terms of the Total Effective System Mass (TESM), which measures how efficiently the system works relative to its mass. Teams with the best scores could see their designs integrated into future lunar missions, as well as serve as inspirations for energy solutions on Earth.
Awards and Recognition for Innovation
The competition’s final event will include a showcase of the innovative technologies developed by the finalist teams, each of which has refined its hardware to meet NASA’s stringent criteria. Amy Kaminski, program executive at NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, noted: “This competition was remarkable due to its unique mission parameters. Teams had to develop hardware that could withstand demanding lunar conditions, tested within NASA Glenn’s state-of-the-art vacuum chambers.”
At the awards ceremony, the team that achieves the lowest TESM score, thereby demonstrating the best efficiency-to-mass ratio, will be awarded $1 million. The second-best team will receive a prize of $500,000. Both awards are designed to inspire further innovation in space exploration technologies.
Participation and Viewing Information
The public and the media are invited to attend the grand finale of this two-phase competition. The awards ceremony will be streamed live on NASA Glenn’s YouTube channel and the NASA Prizes Facebook page. Members of the public who wish to attend in person must register before Friday, 17th September, and media representatives must confirm their attendance by 3 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, 17th September. Full details can be found on NASA’s official website.
The Watts on the Moon Challenge is part of NASA’s larger Centennial Challenges programme, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The competition is administered with support from HeroX, a platform specialising in crowdsourcing solutions for complex challenges.
For further details on this groundbreaking competition, visit NASA’s official challenge page. This report was compiled using information sourced from NASA’s official releases.
