Challenges
Fall 2024 - Spring 2025
NASA MITTIC Space2Pitch
The Space2Pitch Competition is an opportunity for student teams to propose spinoff startup ideas using NASA intellectual property (IP). Selected teams receive paid travel to NASA's Johnson Space Center, where they participate in private tours, networking events, and a live competition. The 1st place prize is $20,000 and a VIP trip to the MITTIC Accelerator, while the 2nd place prize is $10,000.
NASA Micro-g NExT
The NASA 2025 Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) project invites students to collaborate with Texas A&M University to design a softgoods attachment tool for microgravity operations. Selected teams will test their designs at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), gaining skills in proposal writing, research, 3D modeling, hands-on prototyping, and finite element analysis (FEA).
NASA Human Lander Challenge
The NASA 2025 Human Lander Challenge focuses on developing advanced cryogenic technologies for low-leakage components in long-duration space missions. Selected teams will travel to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to test their designs while learning thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), 3D modeling, and teamwork.
NASA MINDS
The NASA MUREP Innovative New Designs for Space (MINDS) project seeks to develop a mechanical brush for lunar dust mitigation on vital surfaces, contributing to the NASA Artemis mission. Participants will gain experience in proposal writing, budget management, 3D modeling, prototyping, and FEA.
NASA Gateways to Blue Skies
The NASA Gateways to Blue Skies competition aims to conceptualize aviation-related system(s) that can be applied to agriculture by 2035 or sooner with the goal of improving agriculture production, efficiency, environmental impact, and extreme weather/climate resilience.