NASA is going back to the Moon!

As future astronauts prepare to spend longer periods of time living and working on the lunar surface, new infrastructure, habitats, and systems will be needed to support them. However, there is one major challenge: launching supplies into space and transporting building materials to the Moon is expensive.

So, what if we could build using materials that are already there? That’s where the Build the Moon Challenge comes in.

The Build the Moon Challenge gives students the opportunity to take on these real-world questions for themselves. Using lunar regolith simulant, student teams explore how lunar materials could be transformed into useful building materials, develop and test construction methods, and put their ideas to the test.

Teams experiment with materials, build, test, and see how their structures perform. Along the way, students have to think like engineers: What works? What doesn’t? How can a design be improved? And how do you build something that can perform in one of the most extreme environments imaginable?

 

Why Build on the Moon?

With the launch of the Artemis Program, NASA is returning to the Moon to establish a permanent human presence and jump-start a sustainable lunar economy. However, launching supplies into space and transporting materials to the Moon is costly. 

To solve this challenge, NASA relies on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)—the practice of harvesting and using native materials found directly on the Moon.

On the Moon, ISRU could support several key goals for lunar exploration, including life support, power and fuel, and construction. Crew members could use raw surface materials to build habitats, landing pads, and other structures.

That brings us to one of the Moon’s most important potential building materials: lunar regolith.

It looks like dirt… but it definitely isn’t ordinary dirt! “One of the fun things about lunar regolith is that it constantly surprises you. It can flow like a granular material, compact like a soil, cling like dust, and wear down hardware like an abrasive—all at the same time,” Jared Long-Fox, Research Scientist in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida, explains.

For billions of years, meteorites have crashed into the Moon’s surface, breaking rocks down into a thick layer of loose material called regolith. In some places, this layer can be 4 to 40 meters thick.

Lunar regolith is made up of fine dust, rock fragments, volcanic glass, and other materials created by impacts on the Moon’s surface. It could be used to create concrete and 3D-printed structures, protect habitats from the Moon’s harsh environment, and even inspire new automated construction techniques right here on Earth.

“There isn’t an Earth soil or sand that behaves exactly like lunar regolith. Its unusual particle shapes, broad range of grain sizes, and space-weathered surfaces make even seemingly simple activities like driving, digging, or drilling into fascinating engineering problems,” Long-Fox adds. 

Connecting Students to NASA’s Mission

The Build the Moon Challenge connects directly to NASA’s broader mission goals for future lunar exploration.

• Applying ISRU in Practice: Students work with simulated lunar regolith and explore how it could be turned into useful building materials, putting the idea of In-Situ Resource Utilization into practice.
• Testing Construction Methods: Students get into the nitty-gritty of lunar construction by testing different construction materials and designs. They can experiment, build, test, and see how their structures perform, working through the same kinds of questions engineers face when thinking about construction in extreme environments.
• Designing for Space and Earth: The Moon is a very different place to build than Earth. Its geology, environment, and available resources create challenges that we don’t encounter here at home. Students have to think about what needs to change and what new approaches might be needed to design infrastructure for the lunar surface. The techniques and principles they explore can also apply to the future of engineering on Earth.

Building the Moon Takes More Than Imagination

Through the Build the Moon Challenge, students are taking on real questions connected to the future of lunar exploration. They aren’t just learning about the challenges of building on the Moon, they’re experimenting with materials, testing their ideas, and exploring what it could take to turn lunar resources into the infrastructure needed for future missions.

Building a future on the Moon takes teamwork and a lot more than imagination. That’s why the Build the Moon Challenge is supported by a volunteer Advisory Board with members ranging from university professors to NASA systems leads and other professionals working across the space industry. Their expertise helps connect students and educators with the real-world science, engineering, and questions behind the challenge.

The future of lunar exploration will require new ideas, new technology, and the next generation of problem-solvers.

Your students could be part of it! Register for the Build the Moon Challenge by September 13 and take on the challenge! https://btmc.competitionsciences.org/