Landing in the Dark
NASA is no stranger to challenges and innovation. They put people on the Moon, sent rovers to Mars and they sent a satellite outside of our solar system. But they also challenge others to innovate. In 2005, NASA initiated the NASA Centennial Challenges to challenge the public. The program hopes to stimulate innovation in applied research, technology development, and prototype demonstration. Some past challenges include the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge, the Cube Quest Challenge, and the Space Robotics Challenge. Winners of the competition even have the opportunity to work with NASA.
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| Illustration of Crater on Moon |
Recently, NASA announced the Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge No. 1. In this challenge, challengers will create sensors to detect hazards from at least 820 feet high off the ground and process whether the landing spot is safe to land in. The winners will receive $650,000 each to further research their designs and move on to development.
The agency hopes to utilize the developed technology to assist lunar exploration that is part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and the Artemis program. NASA wants to use the developments from this challenge to explore predetermined exploration resources, like water trapped in crafters. However, because they are often in shadowed areas, NASA is hoping that challengers will develop innovative solutions to land safely.
Some ideas that NASA has for sensors that could be used include radar, lidar, and optical sensors, which can all be used together to create a three-dimensional map and map hazards. Many universities and teams will take part in the challenge. Who knows, maybe you might take part in a NASA challenge too!Illustration of Astronaut on Moon
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