Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
NASA has announced the One Million Dollar Moon Base Student Challenge, inviting students from U.S. high schools and post-secondary institutions to design a lunar base. The challenge, announced on Sunday (November 8) at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, offers a $1 million prize pool for the best designs. The base will be located at the moon's South Pole and will support astronauts in living, working, and exploring the lunar surface.
According to WORLD News Group, the competition is open to students from public, private, charter schools, homeschool co-ops, and some nonprofit educational organizations like 4-H. Teams of two to five students, along with an adult coach, can participate. They will tackle challenges in six areas: power generation and storage, habitat construction, life-support systems, surface mobility, communications, and astronaut safety.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized the importance of creativity and teamwork, stating, "We're looking for students ready to think creatively, work as a team, and take on real problems connected to NASA's future on the Moon." KSLTV reports that the challenge aims to prepare students for future crewed missions to Mars by establishing a sustained human presence on the moon.
Registration for the challenge is open through January 25, 2027, via the NASA STEM Gateway. Finalists will be selected to present their concepts, and the winners will be announced in May 2027. For more information, students can visit the Moon Base Challenge website.