Moon Mining

2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge
“A record number of entrants have signed up to compete in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge and its whopping $750,000 prize money. Twenty-three teams have fulfilled the application requirements to compete in the October 17 and 18 event at the NASA Ames Research Park at Moffett Field in Mountain View. The competition requires teams to build a roving lunar excavator that can “navigate, excavate, and transfer 150 kg of simulated lunar regolith (moon dirt)” into a collector bin within 30 minutes. As part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges designed to incubate cutting-edge aerospace technology through non-traditional incentives and public competition, the competing excavators must carry their own power source and are required to be controlled remotely in a way that mimics the logistics of lunar surface communications. Each team has just one chance at the prize. Thirteen of the teams are returning to compete after having attempted in prior years.”