NASA's Lunar Loo Challenge for Designers 2020 and win up to $35,000

OPPORTUNITY DETAILS

Total reward

0 $

Nonprofit organization

herox

Deadline

17 Aug 2020

Study level

Vocational Education

Opportunity type

Competitions

Opportunity funding

Full funding

Eligible Countries

Algeria , Comoros , Egypt , Jordan , Lebanon , Mauritania , Oman , Qatar , Somalia , Syria , United Arab Emirates , Bahrain , Djibouti , Iraq , Kuwait , Libya , Morocco , Palestine , Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Tunisia , Yemen

Eligible Region

All Regions

Herox is offering NASA's Lunar Loo Challenge for Designers. NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024, and the goal is to do this in a way that uses less mass, occupies less volume, is more energy efficient. Designing and developing new lunar toilets may not be as exciting or intriguing as developing tools to support the exploration of the lunar surface, but the need is just as important.

Eligibility Criteria:

The Prize is open to anyone age 18 or older participating as an individual or as a team.
Individual competitors and teams may originate from any country, as long as United States federal sanctions do not prohibit participation
If you are a NASA employee, a Government contractor, or employed by a Government Contractor, your participation in this challenge may be restricted.
Submissions must be made in English. All challenge-related communication will be in English.
No specific qualifications or expertise in the field of waste management is required.

Prize:

This challenge has two categories: Technical and Junior.
The winners for the Technical category will be announced on September 30, and the winners for the Junior category will be announced on October 20, 2020.
The Technical category has a total prize purse of $35,000 USD.

First Place $20,000
Second Place $10,000
Third Place $5,000

The Junior category will have Public recognition, Official NASA-logoed merchandise Additional “mystery” prizes

TimeLine:

Open to submissions June 25, 2020
Submission deadline August 17, 2020 @ 5pm ET
Judging and evaluation (Technical)August 18 - September 22, 2020
Winners Announced (Technical)September 30, 2020
Judging and evaluation (Junior)August 18 - October 13, 2020
Winners Announced (Junior) October 20, 2020

Submission Questions:

Discuss in detail (6000 characters) how your design will:

work in both microgravity and lunar gravity
accommodate female and male crew
be easy to use and maintain, with low noise, low odor, and fast turnaround time
allow for transfer of collected waste to storage or external vehicle disposal

Discuss in detail (6000 characters) how your design will:

capture and contain urine, feces, vomit, diarrhea, and menses
Stabilize urine
accommodate simultaneous urination and defecation
accommodate the needs of 2 crew members for 14 days
accommodates the use of toilet hygiene products
clears previous waste content prior to next use
defines how often the collections system must be replaced or disposed of in the mission

Discuss the safety measures in place to ensure that during nominal use or in the event of a system failure:

crew handling of waste materials during maintenance or system use is minimized
crew members are not exposed to vacuum (5000 characters)

Discuss the technical maturity of your proposed toilet design (5000 characters):

What TRL would you assign it? provide a supporting rationale and/or evidence for this rating.
Why do you believe this could be developed and integrated into a lunar rover in the next 2-3 years?

About the Challenge:

NASA is already looking at ways to make currently-used space toilets smaller, lighter, and functional in lunar gravity. The process for using proposed toilet designs must be relatively straightforward. Toilets will operate in a nominal spacecraft environment with an air pressure of 14.7 psia (sea level like on Earth) or 8.2 psia Additionally, toilet designs should conserve water and help maintain a pristine environment inside the lander that is free of odors and other contaminants. Complete solutions will be ones that can support a crew of two astronauts for 14 days, while controlling odor, accommodating different types of waste (urine, feces, vomit, diarrhea, menses), and different gender users (female and male).

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