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Watts on the Moon

NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge seeks solutions for energy distribution, management, and/or storage that address NASA technology gaps and can be further developed for space flight and future operation on the lunar surface.

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As NASA works to extend human exploration of the solar system, unprecedented capacity for energy distribution, management, and storage will be needed to support sustained human presence and the beginning of industrial activity.

Solar energy is abundant on the surface of the Moon, but extended night hours (350 consecutive hours) and the extreme environmental temperature change from daylight to nighttime, create problems for solar power use. Earth also addresses similar issues, where demand for additional renewable energy generation, including solar, is rising, but additional power management, distribution, and energy storage solutions are needed to address issues such as intermittency and resiliency.

Not only could novel solutions make a difference in lunar and space exploration, but technologies discovered during NASA’s Watts on the Moon competition could help facilitate new power options on Earth.

The Watts on the Moon Challenge is managed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and is part of Centennial Challenges, based at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Centennial Challenges are a part of the Prizes, Challenges and Crowdsourcing program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Centennial Challenges has contracted HeroX to support the management of competitors for this challenge.

Featured Story

Four Teams Win Prizes to Advance Energy Technology for Moon Missions

NASA has selected four teams to advance to the final level of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge, which…

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Contact Us

Challenge
Denise Morris
Program Manager
denise.morris@nasa.gov

Media Inquiries
Jonathan Deal
Public Relations Officer
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov

Watts on the Moon Challenge Details

Support NASA's Phase 2 efforts to explore the solar system. This Challenge seeks solutions to transmit and store power in space.

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Crew of Two Astronauts in Space Suits Standing on the Moon Looking at the The Milky Way Galaxy. High Tech Concept of Moon Colonization and Space Travel.