Imagine moving into a brand-new neighborhood where the power grid hasn鈥檛 been built yet. That鈥檚 the challenge NASA faces at the Moon鈥檚 south pole, where astronauts must survive two weeks of darkness at a time. A team of students from University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 and 糖心视频 Hilo tackled that problem through a NASA competition, developing Project PETAL, a self-building, nuclear-powered energy system designed to support future lunar missions.

糖心视频鈥檚 Project PETAL鈥攕hort for Power Energy Transfer Architecture for the Lunar Surface鈥攚as created for NASA‘s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts鈥揂cademic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, which challenges university students to solve real engineering problems facing future space missions.

“For this competition, we鈥檙e actually the first team from Hawaiʻi in its 25-year history,” said Nathan Chong, a Waipahu High School graduate and 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 freshman who led the team.

Out of a national field, 糖心视频鈥檚 Project PETAL advanced as one of just 14 finalist teams invited to present at the Competition Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida going up against schools including MIT and Dartmouth.

Too heavy to launch: The battery problem

Instead of relying on massive batteries shipped from Earth, Project PETAL uses small nuclear reactors to generate continuous power on the Moon. Excess heat is stored underground in a vault made from lunar soil and delivered to astronauts through buried power lines.

“We had a very generic problem, but we came up with a solution that was so creative. We made something that no one has ever thought of鈥攁nd that鈥檚 what the RASC-AL judges are looking for,” Chong said with a smile.

Dress rehearsal for Mars

糖心视频鈥檚 Project PETAL is designed for more than the Moon. The technologies could also work on Mars, allowing NASA to test a reliable power system before sending humans there.

Built across the islands

The project brought together students across multiple islands. 糖心视频 惭腻苍辞补 teams focused on power systems, while 糖心视频 Hilo students worked on sustainability. The groups met online weekly and hope to compete again next year.