NASA is paying Rs 7.5 lakhs for 'water harvesting challenge' on Mars and Moon

In a unique opportunity for university-level engineering students, NASA is paying up to Rs 7.5 lakhs for a water harvesting challenge that requires participants to design hardware capable of identifying, mapping and drilling through various subsurface layers before extracting water from a block of ice in a simulated testbed. In a statement on August 11, NASA informed that while there are “hundreds of millions of tons of ice” in moon’s South Pole region, it needs processing for various purposes, such as for the astronauts to “drink it, grow plants with it, or make rocket propellant from it”. Therefore, the 2021 Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge required the eligible undergraduate and graduate student teams to design and build hardware to be able to achieve that purpose.  Read the assessment guidelines here.

NASA chief technologist, Douglas Terrier said, The water we'll find when the next men and first women explore the lunar surface for the Artemis program is liable to be mixed with contaminants that need to be removed before drinking, or use as fuel.

 He added, "Learning how to safely and efficiently prospect for and harvest water is key for sustainable human exploration – not only on the Moon but also on Mars and at other far reaches of our solar system."

NASA mentioned that the teams will be required to explore subsurface layers, then extract water from an ice block in a simulated off-world testbed. The goal would be to harvest as much water as possible from simulated slices of lunar and Martian surfaces. NASA added that the teams will also be required to make distinctions between the operations on Earth versus the Moon and Mars. 

[Participating in the 2019 NASA Mars Ice Challenge students from Northeastern University (L-R) Andrew Panasyuk, Daniel McGann, and Daniel Goldstein checking the electronics of their drilling device that will penetrate a frozen Mars surface substitute to extract water. Credits: NASA/David C. Bowman]

[Self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the "Okoruso" drilling site on lower Mount Sharp's "Naukluft Plateau" for water. Credit: NASA]

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A $10,000 (Rs 7.5 lakhs) development stipend

In the statement released on the Website, NASA asked the interested students to submit a project plan with concept design and operations by Nov. 24, 2020. The shortlisted candidates would receive a $10,000 (Rs 7.5 lakhs) development stipend to build and test their systems over the next six months. Further, they will demonstrate their projects in a three-day competition at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in June 2021. Additionally, the top-performing teams will get an opportunity to present their designs at a future NASA-chosen event or aerospace conference. Teams will be selected by December 2020. 

Assistant director for science and exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Richard (Rick) Davis, quoted by NASA as saying, “Access to water is a key consideration for space exploration.” He added, “Technological advancements that enable humans to ‘live off the land’ on distant worlds and use resources such as water, will unlock significant opportunities to explore our universe first-hand.” 

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