Jump to content
Join the Alien Search, login or register FREE on Aliens and Space Forum
Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site

Exploring Deep Space: NASA Announces 2025 RASC-AL Competition 

NASA

By NASA
in NASA

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
NASA Mentor

NASA

Posted
  • Publishers
Posted

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

2025-rasc-al-graphic-thumbnail-image-1.p
NASA has officially announced the 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition.
Credit: National Institute of Aerospace

NASA has officially announced the 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, an initiative to fuel innovation for aerospace systems concepts, analogs, and technology prototyping through university engagement. RASC-AL, one of NASA’s longest-running student competitions, solicits concepts from the next generation of engineers and scientists to explore the future of deep space exploration.

RASC-AL is seeking proposals from the university community to develop new concepts that leverage innovation to improve our ability to operate on the Moon, Mars and beyond. This year’s themes range from developing large-scale lunar surface architectures enabling long-term, off-world habitation, to designing new systems that address objective characteristics and needs and leverage human-scale exploration infrastructure for new science paradigms.

Through RASC-AL, teams and their faculty advisors will design innovative solutions with supporting original engineering and analysis in response to one of the following four themes:
Sustained Lunar Evolution – An Inspirational Moment
Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign
Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot

“The RASC-AL competition is a wellspring for groundbreaking ideas,” said Dan Mazanek, Assistant Branch Head for the Exploration Space Mission Analysis Branch (SMAB) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “It fosters creativity and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in space exploration. We are looking for innovative solutions that can advance our capabilities beyond Earth’s orbit and pave the way for sustainable lunar exploration and beyond.”

Interested undergraduate and graduate university student teams and their faculty advisors should submit a Notice of Intent by October 16, 2024, and submit proposals and videos by February 24, 2025. Based on review of the team proposal and video submissions in March, up to 14 teams will be selected to advance to the final phase of the competition – presenting their concepts to a panel of NASA and industry judges in a competitive design review at the 2025 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida next June.

In addition to their research, teams are also highly encouraged to develop a prototype of part or all of their concept to demonstrate its key functions. Each finalist team will receive a $6,500 stipend to facilitate their full participation in the 2025 RASC-AL Competition, and the top two overall teams will be awarded with additional travel stipends to present their concept at an aerospace conference later in 2025.

Dr. Christopher Jones, Chief Technologist for the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) at NASA Langley, emphasized RASC-AL’s distinctive fusion of educational value with real-world experience. “RASC-AL provides students with a unique opportunity to engage directly with NASA’s vision for space exploration. Participants not only gain hands-on experience in developing aerospace concepts but also contribute fresh perspectives that the Agency can take as inspiration for future missions and technologies.”

The call for proposals is now open, with proposal submissions due by February 24, 2025. Interested student teams are encouraged to visit the official RASC-AL competition website for detailed guidelines and eligibility requirements.

RASC-AL is sponsored by the Strategy and Architecture Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and by SMAB within SACD at NASA Langley. It is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace.

For more information about the RASC-AL competition, including eligibility, complete themes, and submission guidelines, visit: http://rascal.nianet.org

Explore More

ramptheader3.jpg?w=300
5 min read

NASA Additive Manufacturing Project Shapes Future for Agency, Industry Rocket Makers

Article 3 hours ago
jsc2024e024307-1.jpg?w=300
2 min read

Earth to Gateway: Electric Field Tests Enhance Lunar Communication

Learn how engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center are using electric field testing to optimize…

Article 3 days ago
nasa-gulfstream-iii-in-greenland-arcsix.
5 min read

NASA Returns to Arctic Studying Summer Sea Ice Melt

Article 6 days ago

Share

Details

Last Updated
Aug 01, 2024

Related Terms

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Similar Topics

    • NASA
      NASA Study Reveals Venus Crust Surprise
      By NASA
      3 min read
      NASA Study Reveals Venus Crust Surprise
      This global view of the surface of Venus is centered at 180 degrees east longitude. Magellan synthetic aperture radar mosaics from the first cycle of Magellan mapping are mapped onto a computer-simulated globe to create this image. Data gaps are filled with Pioneer Venus Orbiter data, or a constant mid-range value. Simulated color is used to enhance small-scale structure. The simulated hues are based on color images recorded by the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 spacecraft. NASA/JPL-Caltech New details about the crust on Venus include some surprises about the geology of Earth’s hotter twin, according to new NASA-funded research that describes movements of the planet’s crust.
      Scientists expected the outermost layer of Venus’ crust would grow thicker and thicker over time given its apparent lack of forces that would drive the crust back into the planet’s interior. But the paper, published in Nature Communications, proposes a crust metamorphism process based on rock density and melting cycles.
      Earth’s rocky crust is made up of massive plates that slowly move, forming folds and faults in a process known as plate tectonics. For example, when two plates collide, the lighter plate slides on top of the denser one, forcing it downward into the layer beneath it, the mantle. This process, known as subduction, helps control the thickness of Earth’s crust. The rocks making up the bottom plate experience changes caused by increasing temperature and pressure as it sinks deeper into the interior of the planet. Those changes are known as metamorphism, which is one cause of volcanic activity.
      In contrast, Venus has a crust that is all one piece, with no evidence for subduction caused by plate tectonics like on Earth, explained Justin Filiberto, deputy chief of NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and a co-author on the paper. The paper used modeling to determine that its crust is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) thick on average and at most 40 miles (65 kilometers) thick.
      “That is surprisingly thin, given conditions on the planet,” said Filiberto. “It turns out that, according to our models, as the crust grows thicker, the bottom of it becomes so dense that it either breaks off and becomes part of the mantle or gets hot enough to melt.” So, while Venus has no moving plates, its crust does experience metamorphism. This finding is an important step toward understanding geological processes and evolution of the planet.
      “This breaking off or melting can put water and elements back into the planet’s interior and help drive volcanic activity,” added Filiberto. “This gives us a new model for how material returns to the interior of the planet and another way to make lava and spur volcanic eruptions. It resets the playing field for how the geology, crust, and atmosphere on Venus work together.”
      The next step, he added, is to gather direct data about Venus’ crust to test and refine these models. Several upcoming missions, including NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) and, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency), Envision, aim to study the planet’s surface and atmosphere in greater detail. These efforts could help confirm whether processes like metamorphism and recycling are actively shaping the Venusian crust today—and reveal how such activity may be tied to volcanic and atmospheric evolution.
      “We don’t actually know how much volcanic activity is on Venus,” Filiberto said. “We assume there is a lot, and research says there should be, but we’d need more data to know for sure.”
      Melissa Gaskill
      NASA Johnson Space Center
      Media Contacts:
      Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
      Victoria Segovia
      NASA’s Johnson Space Center
      281-483-5111
      victoria.segovia@nasa.gov

      Read More About Venus

      Share








      Details
      Last Updated May 09, 2025 Related Terms
      Astromaterials Venus Explore More
      5 min read How NASA is Using Virtual Reality to Prepare for Science on Moon


      Article


      2 months ago
      5 min read NASA DAVINCI Mission’s Many ‘Firsts’ to Unlock Venus’ Hidden Secrets
      NASA’s DAVINCI probe will be first in the 21st century to brave Venus’ atmosphere as…


      Article


      5 months ago
      5 min read 5 Surprising NASA Heliophysics Discoveries Not Related to the Sun


      Article


      6 months ago
      Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
      Venus



      Astromaterials



      Planetary Science



      Solar System


      View the full article
    • Space Force
      US Space Force, Italian Air Force sign statement to expand space security cooperation
      By Space Force
      U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Italian Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Luca Goretti signed a statement of understanding.

      View the full article
    • European Space Agency
      Week in images: 05-09 May 2025
      By European Space Agency
      Week in images: 05-09 May 2025
      Discover our week through the lens
      View the full article
    • European Space Agency
      Earth from Space: Northwest Sardinia, Italy
      By European Space Agency
      Image: Part of the Italian island of Sardinia is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article
    • NASA
      NASA Astronaut Anne McClain Works on Space Station
      By NASA
      NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk.NASA/Nichole Ayers In this May 1, 2025, photo taken by fellow NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain works near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk. During the May 1 spacewalk – McClain’s third and Ayers’ first – the astronaut pair relocated a space station communications antenna and completed the initial mounting bracket installation steps for an International Space Station Rollout Solar Array, or IROSA, that will arrive on a future SpaceX commercial resupply services mission, in addition to some get ahead tasks.
      Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog.
      Image credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers
      View the full article

  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...