Fourteen university teams have been selected as finalists for NASA's 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition. This year's competition invited undergraduate and graduate students from across the nation to develop new, innovative concepts to improve our ability to operate on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Finalists will present their proposed concepts to a panel of NASA and aerospace industry leaders.
The 2025 Finalists are:
- Sustained Lunar Evolution - An Inspirational Moment:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "M.I.S.T.R.E.S.S. - Moon Infrastructure for Sustainable Technologies, Resource Extraction, and Self-Sufficiency"
- Tulane University, "Scalable Constructs for Advanced Lunar Activities and Research (SCALAR)"
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, "Project Aeneas"
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, "Project Khonsu"
- Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign:
- Auburn University, "Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER)"
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "MATER: Mars Architecture for Technology Evaluation and Research"
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, "Project Vehicles for Engineering Surface Terrain Architectures (VESTA)"
- Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot:
- Arizona State University, "DIANA – Diagnostic and Intelligent Autonomously Navigated Assistant"
- South Dakota State University, "Next-gen Operations and Versatile Assistant (NOVA)"
- South Dakota State University, "MANTIS: Maintenance and Navigation for Technical Infrastructure Support"
- Texas A&M University, "R.A.M.S.E.E.: Robotic Autonomous Maintenance System for Extraterrestrial Environments"
- University of Maryland, "Servicing Crane Outfitted Rover for Payloads, Inspection, Operations, N'stuff (SCORPION)"
- University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, "Multi-functional Operational Rover for Payload Handling and Navigation (MORPHN)"
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, "Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM)"
The RASC-AL Competition is designed to engage university students and academic institutions in innovation within the field of aerospace engineering. By providing a platform for students to develop and present their ideas, NASA aims to cultivate foundational research for new concepts and technologies for the future of space exploration. This year's RASC-AL projects include scalable lunar infrastructure and services, a lunar robot that can work autonomously or be controlled remotely, and a concept for a science or technology demonstration mission using human-scale launch, transportation, entry, and landing capabilities at Mars. All of these functions are critical to future NASA missions.
"This year's RASC-AL projects are not just academic exercises; they will contribute real solutions to some of the most pressing challenges we currently face. The competition continues to highlight the importance of innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in aerospace," said Daniel Mazanek, RASC-AL program sponsor and senior space systems engineer from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.
These finalist teams will move forward to the next phase of the competition, where they will prepare and submit a detailed technical paper outlining their designs, methodologies, and anticipated impacts. Each team will present their concepts at the 2025 RASC-AL Competition Forum in June 2025 showcasing their work to a judging panel of NASA and industry experts for review and discussion.
"The ingenuity and out-of-the-box designs showcased by these students is inspiring," added Dr. Christopher Jones, RASC-AL program sponsor and chief technologist for the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA'S Langley "We are excited to see how their ideas can contribute to NASA's ongoing missions and future exploration goals. This is just the beginning of their journey, and we are proud to be part of it."
