. Plant the Moon Challenge: Spring 2026 – Institute of Competition Sciences

Plant the Moon Challenge: Spring 2026

High School, Undergraduate
Agriculture, Environment, Science, STEM
International
519
Participants
246
Teams
8
Schools
1
Badges to Earn
The Plant the Moon Challenge is for anyone daring enough to explore and stretch the limits of human possibility. We’re piggybacking off of NASA’s new lunar exploration program, Artemis, and giving you the chance to help get astronauts back to the moon. Participants in the Challenge will use the Project Guide to  choose their crop and help define their own experimental parameters to support plant growth. After an 8-week growing period, teams will submit final project reports and join the global network of researchers helping to expand our space exploration capabilities! Registration is open every Spring.

Competition Process

Each team registration comes with a 2kg container of lunar or Martian simulant, pH strips, ten KN95 masks, ten pots, and a flyer to help you get started. The lunar and Martian soil simulants are specially designed to mimic the soil of the Moon or Mars in chemistry, composition, grain size, and density. With your purchase and registration, you will also gain access to the digital Project Guide which provides in-depth guidance on each phase and task of the competition (available in August). Following the Project Guide, you will create your own experiment to examine important variables related to plant growth in the simulant. Results from your experiment will be shown to our scientific evaluators to select Best in Show winning projects! Visit www.plantthemoon.com/timeline for more details about the project tasks.

Judging Criteria

See https://www.plantthemoon.com/ for examples of past winning experiments, under "Awards".

Awards & Recognition

Best In Show for Experimental Design - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best In Show for Innovation - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Plant Growth - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Evaluation of Results - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Experimental Design - College and Professional Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Innovation - College and Professional Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Plant Growth - College and Professional Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Best in Show for Evaluation of Results - College and Professional Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Florida Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Georgia Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Iowa Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Missouri Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

North Carolina Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Puerto Rico Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

South Carolina Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Virginia Best in Show - High School Level

Team Award

This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.

Experimental Design
Experimental Design

The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures.   Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.

Participate

Website: https://www.plantthemoon.com

Managing Organization: Institute of Competition Sciences

Eligibility:
High School & University/Professional teams are all welcome to participate and will be judged & awarded according to their age division. Elementary & Middle School students can participate in Plant the Moon Challenge Jr!

Registration Dates

October 6, 2025 12:00am PDT

Registration Opens

January 18, 2026 11:59pm PST

Registration Closes