Competitions & Challenges
Competitions and Challenges for Students
Don’t miss out on student competition opportunities available from NASA. Check this page often for new additions.
Human Exploration Rover Challenge
The annual competition challenges high school and college students worldwide to create a vehicle designed to traverse the simulated surface of another world.Audience: High School and College Students Worldwide
Registration: Open
Event Date: April 17-18, 2020
Location: U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
More info here
Micro-G NExT
Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) encourages undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool or device that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge.Audience: U.S. Undergraduate Students
Selection Announcement: Dec. 2019
Event Dates: May 18-23, 2020 & June 1-6, 2020
Location: NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
More info here
Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students
NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS) Design Challenge requires student teams to design and create spacesuit information displays within an augmented reality (AR) environment.Audience: U.S. Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Selection Announcement: Dec. 2019
Event Date: April 20-24, 2020
Location: NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
More info here
Big Idea Challenge
Student teams from Space Grant-affiliated colleges and universities are challenged to design lunar payloads that demonstrate technology systems needed for exploration and science in the permanently shadowed regions in and near the Moon’s polar regions.Audience: U.S. Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Submit Proposal and Video: Jan. 16, 2020
Event Date: Oct. 6-8, 2020
Location: Space Grant-Affiliated School
More info here
Student Launch
Student Launch is a research-based, competitive, experiential exploration activity. It strives to provide relevant, cost-effective research and development of rocket propulsion systems.Audience: U.S. Middle/High School, College and University Students
Registration: Closed
Event Date: April 1-4, 2020
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
More info here
RMC: Lunabotics
Robotic Mining Competition (RMC) teams present their robot and design philosophy; submit a systems engineering paper explaining the methodology used in developing their robot and perform outreach to the under-served, under-represented students in grades 6-12 in their communities. The final event is to build a robot to simulate an off-world lunar mining mission.Audience: U.S. Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Registration: Closed
Event Date: May 18-22, 2020
Location: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida
More info here
MUREP Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC)
Minority University Research & Education Project (MUREP) Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC) is a higher education spinoff challenge established to develop new ideas for commercialization by seeking concept papers from multi-disciplinary student teams enrolled at a Minority Serving Institution (MSI).
Teams choose one NASA Intellectual Property (IP) from the provided list and submit concept papers using MITTIC challenge guidelines. Teams partnering with a NASA Small Business Company (SBC) will be given priority.
Up to 10 qualifying teams selected to participate in an online collaboration tool and are funded to travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center located in Houston for an onsite immersion experience in April of 2020. During the experience, all participants are REQUIRED to submit:
- concept paper/business plan
- explain team’s concept and business plan during a poster session
- present an oral “lightning pitch” presentation to a panel of judges
The concept paper, poster session, and oral presentation will be reviewed and evaluated using a common rubric.
One qualifying team receives travel funding for up to eight team members and one principal investigator (PI) to visit, tour, and present at NASA’s Ames Research Center and various companies in Silicon Valley, California. This experience exposes team members to research facilities and laboratories, start-up companies, and the opportunity to discuss further development.
Selected MITTIC participants receive a paid NASA Internship funded by Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) through the SBIR/STTR and Technology Transfer (TT) programs at any NASA Center. All MITTIC participants can apply.
Application open. Apply now.