In this challenge, teams were required to generate breathable oxygen from simulated lunar soil. Most scenarios for human activity on the Moon involve the use of its natural resources and the production of oxygen from materials on the Moon is a subject of great interest to NASA. There is a large amount of oxygen on the Moon, but it is bound up in compounds and extracting it may require large amounts of power and large, massive machinery. The regolith excavation challenge addresses the problem of digging up and moving the material. This challenge sought novel approaches to oxygen production with systems that are small, lightweight and require small amounts of power. Advancements in this field would enable much more capable human establishments on the Moon and eventually at other destinations in the solar system. The California Space Education and Workforce Institute managed this challenge for NASA.
This first-to-demonstrate challenge expired on June 1, 2009 with no winner. The challenge had been extended by an additional year in 2008.
