NASA selected nine finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.
NASA has selected nine finalists out of the 45 semi-finalists in the Power to Explore Challenge, a national essay competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.
The competition asked students to learn about Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), a type of “nuclear battery” that NASA uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in our solar system and beyond. Inspired by the Planetary Science Decadal Survey, a report from the science community that prioritizes science mission concepts for NASA to consider, students envisioned a mission of their own that uses this space power system and wrote about their own power to achieve their mission goals in only 200 words or less.
Entries were split into three categories based on grade level, and three finalists were chosen in each category. The kindergarten through fourth-grade finalists are:
- Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, Connecticut
- Noelle Moore, Hamilton, New Jersey
- Luca Pollack, Carlsbad, California
The fifth- through eighth-grade finalists are:
- Ella Park, Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Rainelle Yasa, Los Angeles
- Madeline Male, Fairway, Kansas
And the ninth- through twelfth-grade finalists are:
- Audrielle Paige Esma, Wildwood, Florida
- Hasan Maharoof, Catonsville, Maryland
- Marc Epp, Rancho Palos Verdes, California
“We are absolutely impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to The Power to Explore Challenge,” said Carl Sandifer, manager for NASA’s RPS Program. “We would like to congratulate the nine national finalists, and we look forward to welcoming the winners to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a tour this summer.”
Building upon a 60-year legacy, NASA’s RPS program works in partnership with the Department of Energy to deliver power systems and technology for science missions to some of the dustiest, darkest, most distant, and harshest environments in the solar system. RPS enable NASA to explore the surface of Mars with the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, Pluto and beyond with the New Horizons spacecraft, and interstellar space with Voyager 1 and 2.
The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn more about these reliable power systems, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received nearly 1,600 submitted entries from 48 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Armed Forces.
Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event that announced the semi-finalists. Students learned about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and work together to explore.
In addition to receiving a NASA RPS prize pack, finalists will be invited to an exclusive virtual meeting with a NASA engineer and scientist to talk about their missions and have their space exploration questions answered. Winners will be announced on April 25.
About the Challenge
The challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s RPS Program Office and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.