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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Auburn University’s project, “Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER),” won top prize in NASA’s 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition Forum. National Institute of Aerospace A team from Auburn University took top honors in NASA’s 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition Forum, where undergraduate and graduate teams competed to develop new concepts for operating on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Auburn’s project, “Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER)” advised by Dr. Davide Guzzetti, took home top prize out of 14 Finalist Teams from academic institutions across the nation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University took second place overall for their concept, “Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM),” advised by Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh. The University of Maryland took third place overall with their project, “Servicing Crane Outfitted Rover for Payloads, Inspection, Operations, N’stuff (SCORPION),” advised by Dr. David Akin, Nich Bolatto, and Charlie Hanner.
The first and second place overall winning teams will present their work at the 2025 AIAA Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery (ASCEND) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in July.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University took second place overall in NASA’s 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition Forum for their concept, “Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM).”National Institute of Aerospace The RASC-AL Competition, which took place from June 2-4, 2025, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, is a unique initiative designed to bridge the gap between academia and the aerospace industry, empowering undergraduate and graduate students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world challenges in space exploration. This year’s themes included “Sustained Lunar Evolution – An Inspirational Moment,” “Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign,” and “Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot.”
“The RASC-AL Competition cultivates students who bring bold, imaginative thinking to the kinds of complex challenges we tackle at NASA,” said Dan Mazanek, RASC-AL program sponsor and senior space systems engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “These teams push the boundaries of what’s possible in space system design and offer new insights. These insights help build critical engineering capabilities, preparing the next generation of aerospace leaders to step confidently into the future of space exploration.”
As NASA continues to push the boundaries of space exploration, the RASC-AL Competition stands as an opportunity for aspiring aerospace professionals to design real-world solutions to complex problems facing the Agency. By engaging with the next generation of innovators, NASA can collaborate with the academic community to crowd-source new solutions for the challenges of tomorrow.
Additional 2025 Forum Awards include:
Best in Theme: Sustained Lunar Evolution: An Inspirational Moment
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Project Title: Project Aeneas Advisor: Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh Best in Theme: Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign
Auburn University Project Title: Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER) Advisor: Dr. Davide Guzzetti Best in Theme: Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Project Title: Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM) Advisor: Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh Best Prototype: South Dakota State University
Project Title: Next-gen Operations and Versatile Assistant (NOVA) Advisor: Dr. Todd Letcher, Allea Klauenberg, Liam Murray, Alex Schaar, Nick Sieler, Dylan Stephens, Carter Waggoner
RASC-AL is open to undergraduate and graduate students studying disciplines related to human exploration, including aerospace, bio-medical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and life, physical, and computer sciences. RASC-AL projects allow students to incorporate their coursework into space exploration objectives in a team environment and help bridge strategic knowledge gaps associated with NASA’s vision. Students have the opportunity to interact with NASA officials and industry experts and develop relationships that could lead to participation in other NASA student research programs.
RASC-AL is sponsored by the Strategies and Architectures Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and by the Space Mission Analysis Branch within the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. It is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace.
For more information about the RASC-AL competition, including complete theme and submission guidelines, visit: http://rascal.nianet.org.
National Institute of Aerospace
About the Author
Joe Atkinson
Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center
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Last Updated Jun 05, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
4 Min Read Future Engineers Shine at NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Robotics Competition
And the winner is… the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Utah Student Robotics Club won the grand prize Artemis Award on May 22 for NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Challenge held at The Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
“Win was our motto for the whole year,” said Brycen Chaney, University of Utah, president of student robotics. “We had a mission objective to take our team and competition a step further, but win was right up front of our minds.”
Lunabotics is an annual challenge where students design and build an autonomous and remote-controlled robot to navigate the lunar surface in support of the Artemis campaign. The students from the University of Utah used their robot to excavate simulated regolith, the loose, fragmented material on the Moon’s surface, as well as built a berm. The students, who competed against 37 other teams, won grand prize for the first time during the Lunabotics Challenge.
“During the 16th annual Lunabotics University Challenge the teams continued to raise the bar on excavating, transporting, and depositing lunar regolith simulant with clever remotely controlled robots,” said Robert Mueller, senior technologist at NASA Kennedy for Advanced Products Development in the agency’s Exploration Research and Technology Programs Directorate, and lead judge and co-founder of the original Lunabotics robotic mining challenge. “New designs were revealed, and each team had a unique design and operations approach.”
Students from University of Illinois Chicago receive first place for the Robotic Construction Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Challenge.NASA/Isaac Watson Other teams were recognized for their achievements: The University of Illinois Chicago placed first for the Robotic Construction Award. “It’s a total team effort that made this work,” said Elijah Wilkinson, senior and team captain at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Our team has worked long and hard on this. We have people who designed the robot, people who programmed the robot, people who wrote papers, people who wired the robot; teamwork is really what made it happen.”
The University of Utah won second and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa came in third place, respectively. The award recognizes the teams that score the highest points during the berm-building operations in the Artemis Arena. Teams are evaluated based on their robot’s ability to construct berms using excavated regolith simulant, demonstrating effective lunar surface construction techniques.
To view the robots in action from the Robot Construction Award winners, please click on the following links: University of Illinois Chicago, University of Utah, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Students from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana received the Caterpillar Autonomy Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Challenge.
NASA/Isaac Watson Students from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana received the Caterpillar Autonomy Award for their work. The University of Alabama placed second, followed by the University of Akron in Ohio. This award honors teams that successfully complete competition activities autonomously. It emphasizes the development and implementation of autonomous control systems in lunar robotics, reflecting real-world applications in remote and automated operations.
An Artemis I flag flown during the Nov. 16, 2022, mission was presented to the University of Illinois Chicago, as well as the University of Virginia in Charlottesville as part of the Innovation Award. The recognition is given to teams for their original ideas, creating efficiency, effective results, and solving a problem.
Dr. Eric Meloche from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Jennifer Erickson, professor from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden each received an Artemis Educator Award, a recognition for educators, faculty, or mentors for their time and effort inspiring students.
The University of Utah received the Effective Use of Communications Power Award and the University of Virginia the agency’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science Award.
Students from the Colorado School of Mines pose for a photo after receiving a Systems Engineering Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Competition.
NASA/Isaac Watson Students from the Colorado School of Mines placed first receiving a Systems Engineering Award. University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, came in second and third places.
This is truly a win-win situation. The students get this amazing experience of designing, building, and testing their robots and then competing here at NASA in a lunar-like scenario while NASA gets the opportunity to study all of these different robot designs as they operate in simulated lunar soil. Lunabotics gives everyone involved new technical knowledge along with some pretty great experience.”
Kurt Leucht
Commentator, Lunabotics Competition and Software Development team lead
Below is a list of other awards given to students:
Systems Engineering Paper Award Nova Award: Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia; University of Virginia; College of DuPage Best Use of Systems Engineering Tools: The University of Utah Best Use of Reviews as Control Gates: The University of Alabama Systems Engineering Paper Award Leaps and Bounds Award: The University of Miami in Florida Best presentation award by a first year team: University of Buffalo in New York Presentations and demonstrations awards: University of Utah, Colorado School of Mines, University of Miami About the Author
Elyna Niles-Carnes
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Last Updated Jun 03, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A team from South Dakota State University with their project, “Soil Testing and Plant Leaf Extraction Drone,” took first place at the 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum held May 20-21 in Palmdale, California. Advisor Todd Lechter, left, along with team members Nick Wolles, Keegan Visher, Nathan Kuehl and Laura Peterson, and graduate advisor Allea Klauenberg, right, accepted the award.NASA A team from South Dakota State University, with their project titled “Soil Testing and Plant Leaf Extraction Drone” took first place at the 2025 NASA Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, which challenged student teams to research aviation solutions to support U.S. agriculture.
The winning project proposed a drone-based soil and tissue sampling process that would automate a typically labor-intensive farming task. The South Dakota State team competed among eight finalists at the 2025 Blue Skies Forum May 20-21 in Palmdale, California, near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Subject matter experts from NASA and industry served as judges.
“This competition challenges students to think creatively, explore new possibilities, and confront the emerging issues and opportunity spaces solvable through aviation platforms,” said Steven Holz, assistant project manager for University Innovation with NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and Blue Skies judge and co-chair. “They bring imaginative ideas, interesting insights, and an impressive level of dedication. It’s always an honor to work with the next generation of innovators participating in our competition.”
This competition challenges students to think creatively, explore new possibilities, and confront the emerging issues and opportunity spaces solvable through aviation platforms
Steven holz
Assistant Project Manager for University Innovation
The winning team members were awarded an opportunity to intern during the 2025-26 academic year at any of four aeronautics-focused NASA centers — Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, or Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
“It’s been super-rewarding for our team to see how far we’ve come, especially with all these other amazing projects that we were competing against,” said Nathan Kuehl, team lead at South Dakota State University. “It wouldn’t have been possible without our graduate advisor, Allea Klauenberg, and advisor, Todd Lechter. We want to thank everybody that made this experience possible.”
Other awards included:
Second Place — University of Tulsa, CattleLog Cattle Management System Best Technical Paper — Boston University, PLAANT: Precision Land Analysis and Aerial Nitrogen Treatment Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, this year’s competition asked teams of university students to research new or improved aviation solutions to support agriculture that could be applied by 2035 or sooner. The goal of the competition, titled AgAir: Aviation Solutions for Agriculture, was to enhance production, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to extreme weather.
At the forum, finalist teams presented concepts of aviation systems that could help the agriculture industry.Students had the opportunity to meet with NASA and industry experts, tour NASA Armstrong, and gain insight into the agency’s aviation mission.
U.S. agriculture provides food, fuel, and fiber to the nation and the world. However, the industry faces significant challenges. NASA Aeronautics is committed to supporting commercial, industrial, and governmental partners in advancing aviation systems to modernize agricultural capabilities.
The Gateways to Blue Skies competition is sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s University Innovation Project and is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.
The National Institute of Aerospace has made available a livestream of the competition, as well as information about the finalists and their projects, and details about the 2025 competition.
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Last Updated May 22, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactRobert Margettarobert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, left, talks with a Youth Tech Academy Red Dragon participant at the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland supported the 26th annual FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional, April 3-6, at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. This international engineering design challenge combines the excitement of sports with the rigors of STEM.
Mavericks Team participants adjust their robot prior to their turn to compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon helped kick off this year’s event by addressing the student participants. He shared that NASA Glenn specializes in propulsion and communications, that the center is vital to the region and country, and that “the road to Moon and Mars goes through Ohio” thanks to the center’s contributions to the agency’s missions. He also highlighted several aerospace projects underway at the center and explained how engineering and math skills used in robotics apply to real-life engineering challenges.
Fifty-six teams of high school students competed in the robotics competition, which aims to inspire young people to be STEM leaders and innovators by engaging them in mentor-based engineering.
Members from the Argonauts Team cheer as their robot competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional at Cleveland State University in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA Glenn employees offered their time and expertise as mentors, machinists, or volunteers supporting FIRST Robotics teams leading up to the event as well as on competition day.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Students from Universidad Católica Boliviana “San Pablo” compete during NASA’s 2024 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The 2025 competition takes place Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, 2025, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge course in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA NASA’s annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge returns Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, with student teams competing at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge course near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Media are invited to watch as hundreds of students from around the world attempt to navigate a complex obstacle course by piloting a vehicle of their own design and production. Media interested in attending or setting up interviews should contact Taylor Goodwin in the Marshall Office of Communications at 938-210-2891 no later than 2 p.m. Thursday, April 10.
In addition to the traditional human-powered rover division, this year’s competition expands the challenge to include a remote-control division. The 2025 HERC Handbook includes guidelines for the new remote-control division and updates for the human-powered division.
Participating teams represent 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations.
The event is free and open to the public, with rover excursions from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT each day, or until the last rover completes the obstacle course.
Following the competition, NASA will host an in-person awards ceremony Saturday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. inside the Space Camp Operations Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. NASA and industry sponsors will present multiple awards highlighting team successes throughout the past eight-months-long engineering design project, including awards for best rover design, best pit crew, best social media presence, and many other accomplishments.
About the Challenge
Recognized as NASA’s leading international student challenge, the Human Exploration Rover Challenge aims to put competitors in the mindset of NASA’s Artemis campaign. Teams pitch an engineering design for a lunar rover which simulates astronauts exploring the lunar surface while overcoming various obstacles. Eligible teams compete to be among the top three finishers in their divisions, and to win multiple awards, including best vehicle design, best rookie team, and more.
The annual challenge draws hundreds of students from around the world and reflects the goals of NASA’s Artemis campaign, which will establish the first long-term presence on the Moon and pave the way for eventual missions to Mars.
The event was launched in 1994 as the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race – a collegiate competition to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. It expanded in 1996 to include high school teams, evolving again in 2014 into the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. Since its inception, more than 15,000 students have participated – with many former students now working in the aerospace industry, including with NASA.
The Human Exploration Rover Challenge is managed by NASA Marshall’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement and is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges. NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement uses challenges and competitions to further the agency’s goal of encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
To learn more about the challenge, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/
Taylor Goodwin
256-544-0034
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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