![](https://bigidea.nianet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023-BIG-Idea-Challenge-Call-for-Proposals-1000-×-400-px-1.png)
The 2023 BIG Idea Challenge provided undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to design, develop, and demonstrate technologies that will enable the production of lunar infrastructure from ISRU-derived metals found on the Moon. Teams were invited to submit proposals for that focused on any part of the metal product production pipeline* from prospecting to testing. Key infrastructure products desired included storage vessels for liquids and gases, extrusions, pipes, power cables, and supporting structures (i.e., roads, landing pads, etc.).
*Exclusions: Proposals that focus on drilling, excavation, or transportation will NOT be considered for selection in the 2023 BIG Idea Challenge. The challenge is not looking for concepts that focus on the recycling of landed assets into feedstock or metal products.
The Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge is an initiative supporting NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD’s) Game Changing Development Program’s (GCD) efforts to rapidly mature innovative and high-impact capabilities and technologies for infusion in a broad array of future NASA missions.
Relevant Links:
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ARTEMIS AWARD WINNER
University of Utah with Powder Metallurgy Research Laboratory
Production of Steel from Lunar Regolith through Carbonyl Iron Refining (CIR)
Advisors: Dr. Hong Y. Sohn, Dr. Michael F. Simpson, Dr. Michael L. Free
View the video of University of Utah's Artemis Award Celebration:
BEST VERIFICATION DEMONSTRATION
Colorado School of Mines
Lunar Alloy Metal Production Plant (LAMPP)
Advisors: Dr. Christopher Dreyer, Dr. George Sowers
BIG PICTURE AWARD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
with Honeybee Robotics
Artemis Steelworks: Advancing Reactor Technologies for Electrolytic Manufacturing
of In-Situ Steel
Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, Dr. Antoine Allanore, Dr. Martin Culpepper, Dr. Olivier De Weck, George Lordos
EDISON AWARD
Missouri University
of Science and Technology
Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production Through Molten Salt Electrolysis (LISAP-MSE)
Advisors: Dr. Daoru Han, Dr. Jeffrey Smith, Dr. Fateme Rezaei, Dr. David Bayless, Dr. William Schonberg, Dr. Daniel Stutts
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AWARD
Northwestern University
with Wearifi, Inc.; Rexnord Aerospace;
QuesTek Innovations LLC; and ANSYS, Inc.
ACRE: Autonomous Casting RovEr
Advisor: Dr. Ian McCue
INNOVATION AWARD
Pennsylvania State University
with RFHIC and Jacobs Space Exploration Group
Development of the Smelting with Microwave
Energy for Lunar Technologies (SMELT)
System for In-Situ Resource Processing
Advisors: Dr. Sven Bilén, Dr. Aleksandra Radlińska
PATH-TO-FLIGHT AWARD
University of North Texas with
Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes Institute, UNT;
Enabled Engineering
Solid-state Integrated Manufacturing Process for Lunar Environment (SIMPLE)
Advisors: Dr. Rajiv S. Mishra, Dr. Hector Siller, Dr. Ravi Sankar Haridas
Karen Taminger, NASA LaRC, 2023 BIG Idea Co-Chair
Kevin Kempton, NASA LaRC, 2023 BIG Idea Co-Chair
Alexander Blanchard, NASA MSFC
Dr. Cheryl Bowman, NASA GRC
Robert Carter, NASA GRC
Dr. Bill Frazier, Pilgrim Consulting
Timothy Gabb, NASA GRC
Mick Maher, Maher & Associates
Dr. Kevin Slattery, The Barnes Global Advisors
NASA Articles:
University of Utah Takes Top Honors in BIG Idea Lunar Forge
University Teams Forge Forward in NASA Moon Metal Production Challenge
NASA Seeks Student Ideas for Extracting, Forging Metal on the Moon
News Articles:
Student Receives a NASA Graduate Fellowship
Helping NASA Solve a Cosmic Conundrum
S&T Moon Metals Research Team Receives NASA Award
Northwestern Team Wins NASA Prize
Here's How to Forge Metal on the Moon
Instagram: Utah Students Just Won NASA's BIG Idea Challenge
LinkedIn: Aero Astro Launch Mass Got Ya Down? Build it Here with Artemis Steelworks
NASA Awards University of Utah Top Honours in BIG Idea Lunar Forge Challenge
Sustained Moon Exploration: Forging a Way to the Future (Leonard David: Inside Outer Space)
NASA Selects Seven Universities to Compete in the Annual Moon Metal Production Challenge
Price Engineering Students to Present Lunar Forge Project at NASA's BIG Idea Forum
Teams Forge Forward in NASA Moon Metal Production Challenge
In the NASA Moon Metal Production Challenge, teams go forward
University Teams Forge Forward in NASA Moon Metal Production Challenge
NASA Challenge Drives Students to Develop Moon-Friendly Portable Microwave System
Penn State Research Team Pushes the Limits of Lunar Innovation Starting with a Kitchen Microwave
NASA-funded Student Team Builds Microwave System to Smelt Metal on the Moon
Student Team Selected for NASA Big Idea Challenge Lunar Forge
Manufacturing Moon Metal: Missouri S&T Students Conduct Research for NASA Challenge
Engaging Universities in NASA's Mission to Develop Space Exploration Technologies in Lunar Forge
University of Utah Team Selected for 2023 BIG Idea Challenge
Mines Team Wins Award in NASA's 2023 BIG Idea Challenge
Northwestern University Team Finalist in the 2023 BIG Idea Challenge
NASA Space Grant Collaboration w/STMD and GCD Makes Strides in Team Challenge
NASA Team Takes on NASA's Lunar Challenge
Teams Forge Forward in NASA Moon Metal Production Challenge
NASA Funds Metal Production on the Moon
NASA Challenges U.S. Students to Design Vital Equipment for Moon Base
NASA Seeking Student Ideas for Extracting, Forging Metal on Moon
NASA's BIG Idea Challenge Asks for Moon Based AM Solutions
Forum results will be posted here!
Relevant Links:
Artemis Award Recipient:
Northeastern University
Technical Paper: “COBRA: Crater Observing Bio-inspired Rolling Articulator”
Advisor: Dr. Alireza Ramezani
Presentation Slides