University students are invited to help NASA clean up an issue pertaining to landing spacecraft on the lunar surface.

NASA’s new Human Lander Challenge invites college students to explore ways to manage or prevent the cloud of dust a spacecraft stirs up when using rocket engines to land on unprepared surfaces like the Moon. The plume surface interaction — referring to dust clouds generated when rocket engines impact the surface of the Moon during landing — can exacerbate risks caused by lunar dust on future human missions.

“Besides creating a more challenging landing environment, disturbed lunar dust also can damage other assets NASA plans to establish on the Moon’s surface, like habitats, mobility systems, scientific experiments, and other critical infrastructure,” explained Ashley Korzun, principal investigator for plume surface interaction at NASA Langley Research Center.

Undergraduate and graduate students from accredited colleges and universities in the U.S. can participate in the NASA Human Lander Challenge to help tackle the challenges of plumes and lunar dust and submit innovative, systems-level remedies to minimize and manage impacts on future lunar exploration systems. Examples of prospective solutions might include dust shields, flight instrumentation dedicated to managing plume surface interactions, or tracking dust during ascent and descent.

Each of the 12 teams selected to compete by NASA in June 2024 will receive a $7,000 stipend to produce a technical paper and any associated design models or prototypes to present in a competitive design review to a panel of experts. The top three teams will share a total prize of $18,000, with the first-place team receiving $10,000, the second-place team receiving $5,000, and the third-place team receiving $3,000.

Submit a non-binding notice of intent by October 22, 2023. Proposals are due March 4, 2024.