{"id":320682,"date":"2022-12-14T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=migration&p=320682"},"modified":"2023-07-11T15:59:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T19:59:45","slug":"top-teams-advance-in-nasas-break-the-ice-lunar-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/technology\/manufacturing-materials-3-d-printing\/top-teams-advance-in-nasas-break-the-ice-lunar-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Teams Advance in NASA\u2019s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NASA has named 15 teams moving on to compete in the semifinal level of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. The $3.5 million multi-phase challenge invites problem-solvers from businesses, academia, maker communities, and more to play a role in building a lasting human presence and vibrant economy on the Moon by tapping into resources that are already there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re putting humanity back on the Moon with the Artemis missions, and this is a team effort on a global scale,\u201d said Amy Kaminski, program executive for Prizes, Challenges, and Cowdsourcing in NASA\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate. \u201cChallenges like Break the Ice are one more way for creative thinkers around the world to participate, by helping us learn to \u2018live off the land\u2019 and turn local resources into useful products like water, building materials, and even rocket fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA Announces Newest Winners in Break the Ice Lunar Challenge\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2uAkmnn3YeQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">NASA has announced the newest round of winners in its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. The first level of competition challenged solvers to submit detailed engineering designs and test plans for excavating and delivering icy lunar regolith. Fifteen winning teams will move on to build and test their designs in the next level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The second phase of competition kicked off in June with the goal of furthering development of lunar excavation and transport technologies. Level 1 challenged solvers to design a robotic system for digging and moving large quantities of icy Moon \u201cdirt,\u201d or regolith, found in the coldest, darkest places on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty-five teams from around the world submitted entries for the first, qualifying level of Phase 2 competition. A panel of government, industry, and academic experts in in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU \u2013 the technical term for using local resources \u2013 evaluated teams\u2019 entries and selected the winners based on submissions of detailed technical reports, engineering designs, and test plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The winning teams are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Aurora Robotics, Fairbanks, Alaska<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cislune Excavators, Alhambra, California<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li> Ice Busters, Olathe, Kansas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lunar Wombats, Seattle, Washington<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michigan Technological University\u2019s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab, Houghton, Michigan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Moog Inc., Elma, New York<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Moon Industry Inc., Netherlands<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OffWorld Robotic Mining Team, Aldie, Virginia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Redwire Space, Jacksonville, Florida<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Space Trajectory, Brookings, South Dakota<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Starpath, San Francisco, California<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team xTrac Planetoid Mines, Albuquerque, New Mexico<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team Chandra, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Terra Engineering, Gardena, California<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Ice Diggers, Golden, Colorado<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All 15 teams will move on to build and test full-size prototypes in Level 2. The 13 U.S. teams will receive equal shares of NASA\u2019s $500,000 prize purse for Level 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Level 3, qualifying teams will put their protypes to the test in a head-to-head onsite competition for a shot at $1.5 million in prizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs we work towards a sustained human presence on the Moon, we are committed to enabling the development and demonstration of new technologies to support the infrastructure needed for long-term human presence,\u201d said Denise Morris, acting Centennial Challenges program manager at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. \u201cTechnologies and hardware from the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge will get us one step closer to excavating icy regolith on the lunar surface, providing critical water resources and excavation activities needed to build the infrastructure on the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA\u2019s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge is a Centennial Challenge led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/marshall\">Marshall Space Flight Center<\/a> and the agency\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/kennedy\/home\/index.html\">Kennedy Space Center<\/a> in Florida. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/spacetech\/centennial_challenges\/index.html\">Centennial Challenges<\/a> are part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/solve\/index.html\">Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing<\/a> program within NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/spacetech\/home\/index.html\">Space Technology Mission Directorate<\/a>. Ensemble Consultancy supports the management of competitors for this challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/breaktheice\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/breaktheice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA has named 15 teams moving on to compete in the semifinal level of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":163549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"22-017","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"RELEASE","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11536,2862,2829,2864,2894,3343,2879,10208],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Top Teams Advance in NASA\u2019s Break the Ice Lunar 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Crowdsourcing","Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program","Space Technology Mission Directorate"],"dateCreated":"2022-12-14T20:10:00Z","datePublished":"2022-12-14T20:10:00Z","dateModified":"2023-07-11T19:59:45Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Top Teams Advance in NASA\u2019s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/technology\/manufacturing-materials-3-d-printing\/top-teams-advance-in-nasas-break-the-ice-lunar-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/btil.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2022-12-14T20:10:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA Directorates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Technology,Technology for Living in Space,Centennial Challenges,Kennedy Space Center,Manufacturing, Materials, 3-D 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