In the coming years, NASA will return to the Moon with multiple space agencies and commercial partners. NASA and China will send the first crewed missions to Mars and other locations in deep space in the next decade. This presents a lot of challenges, one of which is providing for basic needs for astronauts in flight. The tradition of "solving for space solve for Earth" is dedicated to addressing air-quality problems and Climate Change here at home.
HeroX launched two new incentive challenges to help NASA address their problems. The Waste to Base Materials Challenge: sustainable Reprocessing in Space seeks innovative solutions for what to do about all the waste generated during long-duration spaceflights. There is a challenge by NASA to improve air quality information to improve public health and safety.
The challenge of being sustainable.
When Earth and Mars are closest to each other in their orbits, launch windows to Mars occur. A round trip will take anywhere from a year to 18 months, which works out to a total mission duration of two to three years. There is a lot of waste that comes from a long-duration mission.
Seeks novel ways to deal with waste on spaceship for future human missions. Credit: HeroX
Mission to Mars will need to be self-sufficient due to the cost of sending missions to locations in deep space. There are solutions for providing a steady supply of food, water, and air, but there are no sustainable solutions for waste. The Waste to Base Materials Challenge is looking for ways to convert human waste, packaging, and assorted trash into things astronauts can use for the mission.
propellant, feedstock for 3D printing, and other useful materials can be used multiple times. HeroX and the NASA Tournament Lab are looking for proposals for waste-management systems that will result in little to no waste. In the long-term, NASA envisions the possibility of integrating all of the proposed processes into a single robust system that allows for a minimal amount of supplies to be used for launch.
HeroX President & CEO Kal K. Sahota said that the crowd is poised to solve intractable problems with an eye for efficiency and sustainable practices. I'm eager to see the submissions. The submissions will be evaluated based on the categories.
There is trash.
The waste is fecal.
There is foam packaging material.
Carbon dioxide is processed.
Each of the winners will be given a prize of $1,000. The judges will award a prize of $1000 to the four best ideas. The prize is open to anyone 18 or older, participating as individuals or teams, and from any country, provided U.S. federal sanctions do not prevent competition.
The challenge page at HeroX has more information about the challenge.
The challenge seeks novel ways to create accurate, high-resolution air quality estimates. Credit: HeroX
Monitoring air quality.
NASA is looking for solutions for air-quality monitoring, which is important to respiratory health today. Climate change and air pollution have become concerns over the past century due to the growing consumption of fossil fuels and industrialization. There is a danger posed by elevated levels of carbon dioxide and NO2 as well as particulate matter.
NO2 lasts less than a day in the atmosphere, which can lead to respiratory issues, asthma problems, and the formation of other harmful pollutants, such as ozone and particulate matter. PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter that is less than 2.5 micrometers in size, which can last for days to weeks in the atmosphere and can penetrate deep into human lungs, causing respiratory disease, lung cancer, and other major health concerns.
There is no single system in place that provides the public with high-resolution data on air pollutants. Millions of people are unable to make informed decisions because they can't control their exposure to airborne pollutants that could affect their health. According to the World Health Organization, 4.2 million deaths a year are caused by exposure to outdoor air pollution, making it the top environmental risk factor.
Many cities use ground monitors to monitor air quality, but they are expensive and have large gaps in coverage. NASA, HeroX, and data-science competition platform DrivenData have launched the NASA Air-athon Challenge. Greg Lipstein is the head of Business Development at DrivenData.
This is a difficult problem where better data tools can give timely information to millions of people to help them protect their health. The best approaches will automatically rise to the top of the leaderboard, as the challenge will test solutions from a global community of experts.
Air pollution is caused by human activity and industrial processes. Credit: cherwell.org
The challenge aims to develop solutions that can use low-cost sensor data and satellite imagery to provide air quality information to hundreds of thousands of people. The Los Angeles South Coast Air Basin, U.S.; Delhi, India; and Taipei, Taiwan need to have daily estimates of NO2 and PM 2.5 generated by these systems.
HeroX CEO Kal K. Sahota said that the effort prioritized the health of entire communities. I am eager to see how the crowd can improve air quality data collection.
The challenges of space exploration and life on Earth are linked by these two challenges. Researchers are developing applications for better living here at home by developing sustainable solutions for long-duration missions to locations in deep space. We are learning more about what makes Earth so special by studying and analyzing other planetary environments.
The saying goes, "Solving for space solved for Earth." We need solutions that allow for sustainable living regardless of where we are in the world.
HeroX and DrivenData are further reading.
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