FSRI and NASA Sponsor Lunar Exploration Design Competition

University teams from around the nation will be invited during the 2004-2005 academic year to participate in a new design competition aimed at advancing NASA’s plans for lunar and Mars exploration.  The teams will be challenged to develop innovative concepts for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), demonstrating the feasibility of using lunar regolith as a source for oxygen, water and other commodities necessary for lunar exploration and research operations.

“Design competitions like this provide valuable experience to university students and faculty while generating unique and innovative design concepts for NASA,” said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance, a former astronaut who flew on two Space Shuttle science missions.

Under the ISRU University Design Competition, multi-disciplinary student teams will design experiments that may ultimately be included aboard a NASA robotic lander or rover being considered for launch early in the next decade to a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar pole.  The competition sponsors, including NASA Johnson Space Center,NASA Kennedy Space Center, and FSRI, will review initial design proposals after the first semester, in January 2005, and will select four finalists for phase two of the competition.  NASA anticipates providing $10,000 to each of the four phase-two teams to refine their designs in preparation for the selection of a winning design in April 2005. 

Competition guidelines, team criteria, and registration information can be accessed at www.FSRI.org.  FSRI will partner with the NASA-sponsored Florida Space Grant Consortium to promote nationwide university participation through consortia in other states. 

FSRI was established byFlorida’s Governor and Legislature in 1999 to promote collaboration among the state’s academic institutions, industry, and federal agencies to support statewide aerospace-related education, training, research and technology development.