Break the Ice Challenge - NASA

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The NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge is designed to develop new technologies that could support a sustained human presence on the Moon by the end of the decade.

Under NASA’s Artemis program, the agency is eager to learn all it can about the presence of water on the Moon in advance of sending the first woman and next man to the lunar surface by the end of the decade and establishing a sustainable human presence there by the end of the decade.

NASA has identified several technology gaps related to harvesting and moving large quantities of resources on the Moon, including hardware capable of operating in the extreme cold and permanent to near-permanent darkness. Robotic systems for excavation will need to withstand the harsh environments inside permanently shadowed regions at the lunar South Pole, where ice has been observed and the targeted landing site for crewed Artemis missions.

The Break the Ice Lunar Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Centennial Challenges are part of the Prizes and Challenges program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA has contracted Ensemble Consultancy to support the management of competitors for this challenge.

NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge Winners

NASA awards $1.5 million in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, a Centennial Challenges competition for lunar regolith excavation and transportation.

A man in a yellow vest, hat, and backpack uses a controller to drive his robot up a 30 degree incline outdoors.

Break the Ice News

An external image of the Alabama A&M University Agribition Center from the front facade. The Center is a cream-colored stone building with a curved roof, floor-to-ceiling windows, and concrete steps that lead to a covered awning, framed by deep-red structural beams above. Shrubs and crepe myrtle trees frame the foreground and steps leading up to the building. Photo courtesy of AAMU Extension

NASA Taps AAMU to Host Break the Ice Challenge

NASA has selected Alabama AM University’s Agribition Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to host the final level of the agency’s , using indoor and outdoor space to ground test the finalists’ solutions.

Six Finalists Named in NASA’s $3.5 Million Break the Ice Challenge

Six teams advance to the final phase of NASA’s $3.5 Million Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.

Top Teams Advance

NASA has named 15 teams moving on to compete in the semifinal level of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.

The moon seen close up, with the right side of the moon in the shade.

NASA Opens Second Phase

NASA launched the second phase of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge to advance technology that is – quite literally – groundbreaking.

NASA Awards $500,000

13 teams from across the United States have won a share of a $500,000 prize in a competition that asked for ideas for digging and hauling icy Moon “dirt” – or regolith.

A Full Moon above the Earth's horizon

NASA Seeks Innovations

From garage inventors to university students and entrepreneurs, NASA is looking for ideas on how to excavate the Moon’s icy regolith, and deliver it to a hypothetical processing plant at the lunar South Pole.

Contact

Challenge
Kim Krome (Acting Program Manager)
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.1265
kimberly.w.krome@nasa.gov

Media Inquiries
Jonathan Deal (Public Relations Officer)
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov

Break the Ice Challenge Details

Find out details on how to enter and register the challenge, the rules and eligibility, and how you could help with lunar exploration.

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A NASA artist's illustration of Artemis astronauts working on the Moon.

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