NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium

Plant the Moon Challenge is now open for Summer 2021 applications!

ISGC is funding Idaho teams (first come first serve basis) to compete in the Plant the Moon Challenge! Receive either Martian or Lunar regolith (simulated soil) and determine which additives and fertilizer would allow us to grow common crops on another planet. Application deadline is May 24th. Both K-12 and Higher Education teams welcome!

Click here to access the application

NASA's Break the Ice Lunar Challenge
 

From garage inventors to university students and entrepreneurs, NASA is looking for ideas on how to excavate the Moon’s icy regolith, or dirt, and deliver it to a hypothetical processing plant at the lunar South Pole. The NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenge, is now open for registration. The competition will take place over two phases and will reward new ideas and approaches for a system architecture capable of excavating and moving icy regolith and water on the lunar surface. The mission architectures developed in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge aim to help guide machine design and operation concepts for future terrestrial and lunar mining and excavation operations and equipment for decades to come.

​

Open Date: November 18, 2020
Close Date: June 18, 2021
Awards: Up to $500K for Phase 1
Frequency: Potential for two phases

Click here for more information

Airport Cooperative Research Program University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs
 

The Competition challenges both individuals and teams of undergraduate and graduate students working under the guidance of a faculty advisor to address issues currently facing airports and the National Airspace System.  The Competition offers open-ended, real-world issues in four broad challenge areas:  Airport Operation and Maintenance; Runway Safety, Runway Incursions and Runway Excursions; Airport Environmental Interactions, and Airport Management and Planning.  The challenges can be tackled by students from many STEM disciplines; business, computer science and psychology among others.

​

Students win cash prizes and the university receives special recognition.  First place will receive $3000, second place will receive $2000, and third place will receive $1000.  First place winners present their designs at a special ceremony at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, DC and at a relevant national conference with travel expenses covered.  

Click here for more information