Watts on the Moon Challenge Awards Ceremony

Philip Lubin from H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) from The University of California gives their presentation. NASA has awarded a total of $1.5 million to two U.S. teams for their novel technology solutions addressing energy distribution, management, and storage as part of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. The innovations from this challenge aim to support NASA’s Artemis missions, which will establish long-term human presence on the Moon. This two-phase competition has challenged U.S. innovators to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies that could enable long-duration Moon missions to advance the nation’s lunar exploration goals. The final phase of the challenge concluded with a technology showcase and winners’ announcement ceremony on September 11, 2024 at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the visitor center for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Team H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) from The University of California, Santa Barbara won the $1 million grand prize in NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. Their team developed a low-mass, high efficiency cable and featured energy storage batteries on both ends of their power transmission and energy storage system. Second prize ($500,000): Orbital Mining Corporation of Golden, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna)