NASA offers US$3 million for solving its space waste problem

In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP)

Forget moon rocks – NASA is offering millions for anyone who can recycle solid waste and improve long-term term sustainability for lunar missions.

As part of its new Lunar Innovation Initiative, the LunaRecycle Challenge aims to solve one of the most overlooked challenges in long-duration space missions: waste management.

Announced in partnership with the University of Alabama as part of NASA’s Centennial Challenge, the space agency is calling on innovators around the globe to propose systems that recover resources from various types of garbage astronauts would generate on the moon. This includes food packaging, used clothing, broken tools and more.

The competition is split in two separate tracks: Track 1 is to design a digital model of a full resource-recovery system that can operate in harsh lunar environments. Track 2 is to build and demonstrate a working prototype of a key component or subsystem that could be used in such a system.

“We are very excited to see what solutions our global competitors generate, and we are eager for this challenge to serve as a positive catalyst for bringing the agency, and humanity, closer to exploring worlds beyond our own,” said LunaRecycle’s challenge manager Kim Krome in a news release.

Registration for participants was closed on March 25.