a directory of ways to participate in space exploration
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MiniSpaceWorld aims to create a spectacular scale model world for space flight and astronomy. Light and sound effects, day and night simulations in the different Worlds, historical and modern vehicles in motion, and representation of future life scenes will enrich the visitors’ experience. Under the motto “Space for Everybody”, [...]
Team FREDNET is an open source, open participation and officially registered competitor in the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Everybody regardless of background and past experience can join the effort and contribute with whatever they can contribute with. There is always room and need for one more. [...]
This project is divided into two challenges: Power Beaming and Tether Strength. The Space Elevator vision will not only further space exploration and knowledge, but has the potential to shape the existential future of the human race for centuries to come. Elevator:2010 is designed to address the “social engineering” of the [...]
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to [...]

Inspired by many recent amateur weather balloon endeavors across the U.S., Hackerspaces in Space aims to turn this phenomenon into a full- fledged competition. The First Annual Space Blimp Competition challenges international hackerspaces to send a weather balloon, with payload, into near-space to capture pictures of Earth’s horizon, to return the payload safely to the [...]
The 17th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race will be held April 9-10, 2010 in Huntsville, Alabama, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Participating students will design a vehicle that addresses a series of engineering problems that are similar to problems faced by the original Moonbuggy team. [...]
The Spirit of Innovation Awards: Aerospace Exploration category challenges teams of 1-5 domestic or international high school students to solve real-world problems by creating an innovative product for use in aerospace exploration. The Aerospace Exploration category encompasses a wide variety of topics ranging from vehicles to spacesuits to planetary exploration to [...]
The 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge is designed to promote the development of glove joint technology, resulting in a highly dexterous and flexible glove that can be used by astronauts over long periods of time for space or planetary surface excursions. [...]
Join NASA’s mission to bring us to the Moon, Mars and beyond by submitting a research paper on one of the four ESMD topics listed. Your research may be used as the solution to current NASA challenges. Open to students who are United States citizens in an undergraduate or graduate studies program. [...]
An annual competition for college students to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside astronauts on the Red Planet. Former students and community members alike are encouraged to reach out to their alma matters and local universities to help form teams. [...]
Design tools and instrumentation packages for the next generation manned moon rover. The NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, the Exploration Technology Development Program, and the Advanced Planning and Partnership Office at Langley Research Center encourage college students to get involved with NASA’s return to the Moon by helping to design the tools and instrument [...]
An art and design contest sponsored by NASA that invites high school and college students to submit their work on the theme “Life and Work on the Moon”. Artists/designers are encouraged to collaborate with science and engineering students. Such collaboration is not required, but would help to ensure that the art is valid for [...]
An incentive competition designed to accelerate technology developments supporting the commercial creation of a vehicle capable of ferrying cargo or humans back and forth between lunar orbit and the lunar surface. Such a vehicle would have direct application to space exploration goals as well as the personal spaceflight industry. Additionally, the prize will help industry to [...]
ATLAS is a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. They are about to kick-start the most complex scientific project ever conceived by mankind, and would like you to witness and record its unveiling, and help them spread the news. [...]
A contest for secondary school students (grades 9-12) demonstrating, via a written report, the best use of geospatial technologies or data to study Earth. Eligible geospatial tools and data include satellite remote sensing, aerial photography, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS). Geospatial technologies and data have numerous uses in science [...]
The Regolith Excavation Challenge allows citizen inventors to participate by applying their talents to develop innovative solutions and new technologies to efficiently excavate lunar regolith.
The project is designed to promote the development of mechanical designs to excavate lunar regolith. [...]
Space settlement needs inexpensive, safe launch systems to deliver thousands, perhaps millions, of people into orbit. Sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center in conjunction with the National Space Society, each spring students (6-12th grade) send their designs for homes in space for judging by NASA engineers and scientists. Individuals, small teams of two to six, and large teams [...]
Advances in lunar regolith mining have the potential to significantly contribute to NASA space exploration operations. The Lunabotics Mining Competition uses excavation, a necessary first step towards extracting resources from the regolith and building bases on the Moon. The teams that can use telerobotic or autonomous operation to excavate the most lunar regolith simulant [...]