Three U.S. university-led proposals have been selected by NASA to develop technologies for living and working on the Moon. 

This push for technological development comes as NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon through its Artemis missions, the agency’s plan to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon for long-term exploration using innovative technologies. The advancements are key to meeting the challenges of inhabiting the Moon. These efforts were selected under the second Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation, which is part of NASA’s Space Technology Research Grants program. Here, the agency supports groundbreaking research in advanced space technology by academic researchers. 

The selected projects cover three topics laid out in the solicitation: “Autonomous Construction,” in which The Colorado School of Mines will develop tools and methods for autonomous landing pad construction on the Moon’s surface; “Extracting Resources,” in which the Missouri University of Science and Technology will develop a process to extract materials from the Moon’s surface to be used towards lunar construction; and “Extremely Cold Electronics,” in which Auburn University will develop new electronics that are reliable and tolerant to extremely low temperatures.

Each team will receive up to $2 million, awarded as grants, over two years to develop their proposed projects.