Background

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program supports the Artemis Program through the development and deployment of small robotic landers and rovers. These new lunar micro-rovers will be launching over the next several years to gather information about and conduct scientific research on the lunar surface. To meet the size, weight, and power constraints of these micro-rovers, new scientific payloads have to be designed, built, and tested in time for the different launch opportunities.

Additionally, NASA would like these next generation payloads to do more than just deploy sensors and collect information about the lunar environment. Continued advancement of lunar and space exploration requires demonstrations of new technologies that can be employed outside of Earth. Miniaturized payload proposals that actively run relevant experiments, or demonstrate new instrumentation in a lunar environment are highly desirable.

Although there are already many good ideas for miniaturized payloads, the struggle is to find those good ideas which are readily reduced to practice. This challenge wants to recognize and reward payload proposals that can demonstrate near-term technical readiness, high impact, and the ability to integrate with micro-rovers.

Guidelines

The timeline for establishing a pipeline of suitable payloads is aggressive. NASA plans to launch the first of these micro-rovers in 2022. To be successful in this ideation competition, your proposed miniaturized payloads will:

Bridge one or more of the highlighted lunar strategic knowledge gaps

Have a technology readiness level (TRL) of 3 or greater

Be compatible with the new micro-rovers

The full specifications for micro-rover payloads can be found under the Resources tab (Small Lunar Payload User's Guide). Participants are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the specifications. Payloads do not have to be located on the top of the micro-rover. Additionally, note that these specifications represent the maximum limits for size, weight, power consumption, etc. NASA JPL has a strong desire for proposed payloads that are smaller and lighter than the limits described in the payload user’s guide. Key payload guidance includes:

Ability to manage external temperatures ranging from -120° to +100°C

Maximum exterior enclosed dimensions of 100mm x 100mm x 50mm

Maximum mass of 0.4Kg

There is particular interest in payloads that will help identify and characterize lunar resources, as well as those that will enable ISRU. The loose, fragmental material on the Moon’s surface is called regolith and is a product of meteoritic bombardment - it is the debris thrown out of the impact craters. Minable concentrations of resources in the regolith need to be mapped so NASA can select the best locations to send our astronauts. Important resources in the regolith include volatile compounds such as water, CO 2 , and methane. They are of special interest because they are essential for life support and can be used for propellant production. Regolith containing minerals with high concentrations of oxygen, carbon, titanium, and iron are also of interest. Sulfur is important too because it can be used as a binding agent for lunar construction. Many prospecting technologies for these minerals and elements are successfully used on Earth, but they need to be miniaturized, repackaged, and tailored for use on the Moon. Payloads are needed that can address these broad strategic knowledge gaps:

The lunar resource potential Regolith resources - identification of volatiles, minerals and elements, as well as measurements of their quality, quantity, and distribution Polar Resources - understand the regolith densities with depth, cohesiveness, grain sizes, slopes, and blockiness. ISRU production and/or testing

The lunar environment Solar activity - solar event prediction and warning Radiation environment at the lunar surface



As mentioned above, the first CLPS micro-rover is scheduled to launch in 2022, with annual launches thereafter. The goal of this and subsequent challenges on this topic is to develop a pipeline of ready-for-launch payloads. To help achieve this goal, proposed miniaturized payloads must be at TRL 3 or greater. For those unfamiliar with the definitions for the different TRLs, a table of definitions is available under the Resources tab (Technology Readiness Level Definitions). The figure below provides a graphical representation of TRLs.

Broadly speaking, TRL 3 is achieved when proof of concept is demonstrated. By TRL 6, the technology has been reduced to practice with a working prototype. To ensure that proposed payloads are sufficiently mature, a Payload Specifications and Capabilities form must be completed as part of the submission form. A view-only version of this form is available under the Resources tab. The ability to thoughtfully and responsively complete this Payload Specifications and Capabilities form is a good indicator that your proposed payload idea is sufficiently mature to fare well in this challenge.

Prize

This challenge has a total prize purse of $160,000 that will be divided among a number of winners across 2 different categories. First prize winners in each category will each be awarded $30,000, second prize winners $15,000, and third prize winners $5000.

These generous ideation prizes are intended to motivate and reward thoughtful, comprehensive submissions for miniaturized payload proposals that ideally:

Demonstrate new technology/instrumentation or run an experiment

Explore the lunar resource potential or lunar environment

Have a TRL greater than 3

Are smaller and/or lighter than the maximum limits described in the specifications guide

Please carefully review the evaluation criteria below to understand what is important to NASA.

Award Categories Prize Amount Number Of Awards Total Lunar resource potential First Prize - $30,000 1 $30,000 Second Prize - $15,000 3 $45,000 Third Prize - $5000 5 $25,000 Lunar environment First Prize - $30,000 1 $30,000 Second Prize - $15,000 1 $15,000 Third Prize - $5000 3 $15,000 Total Prize Purse $160,000 USD

In addition to the prizes discussed above, winners will also receive the following non-monetary incentives:

Opportunity to meet with NASA JPL engineers to more fully present the concept and answer any questions

A conference or onsite event that allows all prize winners to present their ideas to and interact with NASA JPL technical staff (some State Department restrictions may apply)

A press release or other publicity by HeroX and/or NASA announcing the winners

Wide promotion of the winner on social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Timeline

Open to submissions: April 9, 2020

Submission deadline: June 8, 2020 @ 5pm ET

Judging: June 8 to July 10, 2020

Winners Announced: July 14, 2020

How do I win?

To advance beyond preliminary evaluation rounds, your proposal must, at a minimum:

Present the capabilities, technical maturity, and impact of your proposed payload

Complete the Payload Specifications and Capabilities form

Note that in the submission form, you will have to select to which category/knowledge gaps your proposed payload applies. All submissions within a given category will be evaluated and ranked against one another to determine first, second, and third prize winners. If you believe your proposed payload is applicable to more than one category, select the category where you feel it will be most impactful. NASA JPL reserves the right to move a submission to a different category if they believe it has been miscategorized.

Judging Criteria

Section Description Overall Weight Proposal quality Quality of proposal: clear, concise writing; thoughtful and complete responses; realistic projections of time needed, effort expended, and outcomes attained.

High-level project plan that demonstrates a potential path for future development of proposed payload. 10 Capabilities Technical soundness of proposed payload. Likelihood that it can be successfully integrated into a micro-rover and used on the lunar surface. Clear description of new technology/instrumentation to be demonstrated, or specific experiment to be run, or other payload capability.

Likelihood that proposer/proposing team will be able to successfully develop proposed payload. 30 Technical Maturity The likelihood that proposed payload can be developed and deployed in 1-4 years 30 Impact The potential impact of proposed payload if it is successfully developed and deployed. 25 Innovation Novelty or creativity of proposed approach. Elegance of design. Clever use of existing technologies or work-around of existing limitations/constraints. 5

Your Submission

Your submission should include:

Entrant/Team information: Please enter your full name and email address. If submitting as a team, please list the full name and email address of each team member. Provide the role/expertise for each team member Submission Category: Please select the category your proposed payload best addresses: The lunar resource potential The lunar environment Proposed payload overview: Please provide an overview of your proposed payload, its capabilities, and its technical maturity. (3000 character limit, including spaces) Payload capabilities: Please discuss in detail what your payload consists of, what it does, and why this is important. Be sure to make clear the connection between the payload capabilities and their impact on bridging your selected knowledge gaps. What will be the impact of this payload if it is successfully developed and deployed? (3000 character limit, including spaces) Technical maturity: Please discuss the technical maturity of your proposed payload. What TRL would you assign it? Please provide a supporting rationale and/or evidence for this rating. Why do you believe this could be developed and deployed in 1-4 years? (3000 character limit, including spaces) Project plan: If you were to move forward and develop this proposed payload, what would your preliminary project plan look like? Please provide a timeline, a budget, and a list of any additional resources you would need. (3000 character limit, including spaces) Compliance with Small Lunar Payload User’s Guide requirements: Please discuss how your proposed payload addresses the requirements listed in the Small Lunar Payload User’s Guide. Be sure to note any exceptions or possible issues, describe why they are important/unavoidable, and offer possible mitigation strategies. (3000 character limit, including spaces) Supporting files and figures: Please upload any supporting documentation here. Examples of supporting documentation include schematics, tables, figures, diagrams, or video. Note that supporting literature should be referenced in the relevant sections, with links provided if appropriate. (3000 character limit, including spaces) Payload specifications and capabilities: Please complete the payload specifications and capabilities form to the fullest extent possible. You will insert your responses in the online form.

Note: submissions should be made by clicking the orange "Accept Challenge" button and then the "Begin Entry" button. Multiple entries are permitted, but we encourage you to focus on preparing one quality entry versus multiple entries.

Rules

Participation Eligibility:

The Prize is open to anyone age 18 or older participating as an individual or as a team. Individual competitors and teams may originate from any country, as long as United States federal sanctions do not prohibit participation (see: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx). If you are a NASA employee, a Government contractor, or employed by a Government Contractor, your participation in this challenge may be restricted.

Submissions must be made in English. All challenge-related communication will be in English.

No specific qualifications or expertise in the field of in situ or remote sensors is required. NASA encourages outside individuals and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions.

To be eligible to compete, you must comply with all the terms of the challenge as defined in the Challenge-Specific Agreement.

Intellectual Property

Innovators who are awarded a prize for their submission must agree to grant NASA a royalty free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, world-wide license in all Intellectual Property demonstrated by the winning/awarded submissions. See the Challenge-Specific Agreement for complete details.

Registration and Submissions:

Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before June 8, 2020, at 5:00 pm ET. No late submissions will be accepted.

Selection of Winners:

Based on the winning criteria, prizes will be awarded per the weighted Judging Criteria section above.

Judging Panel:

The determination of the winners will be made by HeroX based on evaluation by relevant NASA specialists.

Additional Information