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, five KN95 masks, five 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 December). 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 www.plantthemoon.com for examples of past winning experiments, under "Awards".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!
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 5, 2026
12:00am PDT
Registration Opens
January 17, 2027
11:59pm PST