CLEVELAND, February 23, 2022 (HeroX PR) — HeroX, the leading platform and open marketplace for crowdsourced solutions, today launched the NASA’s Watts on the Moon Phase 2 Challenge prize competition on behalf of NASA. In support of the agency’s return to the Moon under Artemis, which will  establish a long-term human presence at the Moon, NASA seeks innovative engineering approaches that will integrate power transmission and energy storage to support astronauts, hardware, and systems in the extremely challenging thermal and lighting conditions on the lunar surface. 

“Challenges like Watts on the Moon give us the chance to utilize the creativity of industry, academia, and the public to power our return to the Moon,” said Jim Reuter, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “I look forward to seeing how their solutions may also have important applications here on Earth and help advance similar technologies for terrestrial application and commercialization.” 

Competition Calls on Innovators to Analyze Mass Spectrometry Data from Mars to Detect Conditions for Past Life; Total Prize Purse of $30K

HOUSTON, February 18, 2022 (HeroX PR) — DrivenData, in collaboration with HeroX, have announced their newest crowdsourcing competition on behalf of NASA: Mars Spectrometry, Detect Evidence for Past Habitability. The challenge, which offers a $30,000 prize purse, seeks innovative methods to automatically help analyze and interpret evolved gas analysis-mass spectrometry data related to Mars exploration. This data is from geological samples of scientific interest to better understand the planet’s potential signs of past habitability.

Millions of Dollars to Help Accelerate Novel Approaches to Geomagnetic Data Collection for the World Magnetic Model

SPRINGFIELD, Va., September 28, 2021 (HeroX PR) — The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) just launched the Demonstration Phase (Phase 4a) of its MagQuest Challenge to develop novel data collection approaches for the World Magnetic Model.

The WMM ultimately ensures the accuracy of navigation because it corrects for differences in magnetic forces at a user’s location. The model is used by thousands of systems for mobile navigation apps and is critical for military and commercial uses around the world.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded $500,000 to seven winning teams in Phase 1 of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. The technology design competition challenged U.S. innovators, from garage tinkerers to university researchers a­nd startup entrepreneurs, to imagine a next-generation energy infrastructure on the Moon.

Sixty teams submitted original design concepts aimed at meeting future needs for robust and flexible technologies to power human and robotic outposts on the Moon. After evaluation by a judging panel, NASA announced the winners during a private awards ceremony May 20.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, under a grant from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, is running a public challenge to develop an obstacle avoidance sensor for a possible future Venus rover. The “Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover” challenge is seeking the public’s designs for a sensor that could be incorporated into the design concept.

$30K in Prizes for Improvements of Current Models to Provide Advance Warning of Geomagnetic Storms and Reduce Errors in Navigation Systems

Boulder, Colorado — December 15, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with the NASA Tournament Lab today announced its crowdsourcing challenge, “MagNet: Model the Geomagnetic Field”. The challenge, which is being implemented by DrivenData and HeroX, seeks to mitigate the impact of geomagnetic storms on navigation systems through improved forecasting by increasing the accuracy in real-time magnetic field modeling and reducing errors in the magnetic navigation systems. 

Crowdsourcing Competition Enters Second Phase with NASA Seeking Prototype Payloads, Offering $800K in Total Development Funds & Prizes

HOUSTON, October 15, 2020 (HeroX PR) — HeroX , the world’s leading platform for crowdsourced solutions, today launched the crowdsourcing competition “Honey I Built the NASA Payload, The
Sequel” on behalf of the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The challenge seeks to develop miniature payload prototypes that can be sent to the Moon to help fill gaps in lunar knowledge. Lunar resources are potentially abounding, and these prototypes can also help discover some of these key resources scientists think might be on the Moon.

An overwhelming response to the competition will help advance the design of a mechanical rover concept that could one day explore the hellish surface of Venus.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — How do you design a vehicle that can withstand the furnace-like heat and crushing pressures of Venus? One idea being explored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is a wind-powered clockwork rover, and it’s just been given a boost by designers, the maker community, and citizen scientists from around the world.

In February, NASA launched a public competition to seek ideas for a mechanical obstacle-avoidance sensor that could be incorporated into the novel rover’s design. And today, the winners have been announced.

VANCOUVER, BC, April 9, 2020 (HeroX PR) — HeroX, the leading crowdsourcing platform that solves global problems, today launched the crowdsourcing competition “Honey I Shrunk the NASA Payload” on behalf of theNASA Tournament Lab (NTL) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The challenge calls on the global community of solvers to develop miniature payloads that could be sent to the moon in the next several years to fill strategic lunar knowledge gaps. 

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Future exploration of the Moon and beyond will require tools of all shapes and sizes – from sweeping orbiters to the tiniest of rovers. In addition to current planned scientific rovers like the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover,  or  VIPER, NASA could one day send even smaller rovers to help scout the Moon’s surface.

These tiny robots would provide mission flexibility and collect key information about the lunar surface, its resources and the environment. The data collected by these rovers would be helpful for future lunar endeavors and NASA’s Artemis program.