NASA 2004-05 Lunar ISRU Design Competition

2004-05 NASA ISRU University Design Competition

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COMPETITION GUIDELINES

Letters of Intent Due: October 17, 2004
Proposals Due: Extended to December 7, 2004

Announcement of Finalists Teams: December 20, 2004

NASA and the competition sponsors seek candidate ISRU experiment designs for potential inclusion on a lunar robotic lander or rover, anticipated for launch early in the next decade to a permanently shadowed crater at a lunar pole. The teams will be challenged to develop innovative ISRU concepts that demonstrate the feasibility of using lunar regolith as a source for oxygen, water and other commodities necessary for lunar exploration and research operations.

NASA ISRU 2004 MISSION CONTROL

Program Amendment Update (updated March 28, 2005)

The Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) and the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC), in partnership with NASA, are pleased to announce the 2004-05 Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) University Design Competition. This is a national competition, open to teams of students enrolled in accredited U.S. institutions of higher education.

If selected, you and your teammates will develop innovative ISRU concepts that demonstrate the feasibility of using lunar regolith as a source for oxygen, water and other commodities necessary for lunar exploration and research operations.

If you choose to enter, your team will compete with other student teams by writing and submitting a proposal to the NASA ISRU Design Review Committee. In so doing, you will venture into the world of proposal-writing and procurement.

From all proposals received, up to four teams will be selected to investigate Lunar ISRU concepts that are important to NASA's ISRU Design Review Committee and to design solutions addressing them.

Then, in the spring of 2005, representatives of your team will attend NASA ISRU 2004-05 Design Conference at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. This conference will provide a forum for:

the presentation of your team's work;

interaction with leading NASA, industry and university community professionals;

receipt of status reports on the progress of exploration missions and programs; and,

receipt of updates on new systems, technologies and approaches to the development of a spaceport.

Finalist team members will also get an opportunity to tour KSC facilities during the conference.

As a member of a selected team, NASA plans to incorporate innovations from your work into its engineering trade studies and evaluate them against other leading concepts.

All four student teams will receive cash awards of $1,000 (a) upon selection as a Finalist Team, and $1,000 (b) upon receipt of a satisfactory Preliminary Design Report (PDR), for a total of $2,000 each. In addition, each Finalist Team will receive $10,000 from NASA to refine their designs in preparation for the selection of a winning design in May 2005. (Contingent on NASA's receipt of federal funding for this activity.)

Teams will also receive international recognition for their contributions to NASA's Spaceport planning effort.

The 2004-05 NASA ISRU Design Competition program is jointly sponsored by Florida Space Research Institute, Florida Space Grant Consortium, and NASA, and administered by the Florida Space Research Institute and Florida Space Grant Consortium.

Last Modified: March 28, 2005