$3M for recycling human poop in space! Here's why NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge is crucial

Imagine getting paid in millions by NASA , and the only job you had to do was to figure out how to recycle nearly 100 bags of human waste in space!


Seems like a lucrative job opportunity?


Read on to know more!


The job profile:

NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who can propose a technology to address a unique challenge: recycling human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge invites members of the public to develop technological solutions for recycling astronauts' feces, urine, and vomit on the moon and during long-duration space flights.


Currently, there are 96 bags of human waste containing feces, urine, and vomit left behind by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. The waste was discarded to make room for lunar samples collected during the mission. The goal of the LunaRecycle Challenge is to prevent adding to this unwanted accumulation.

The selected technology will be utilized in future space missions , including potential long-term outposts on the moon.

NASA stated on its website, "NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration . As we prepare for future human space missions, we need to consider how to minimize various waste streams, including solid waste. Additionally, we must find ways to store, process, and recycle waste in a space environment, so that little or no waste needs to be returned to Earth."


NASA is currently reviewing the first round of proposals to determine which ones will advance to the next phase of the competition. The team that emerges as the winner at the end of the competition will receive a prize of $3 million.


What is LunaRecycle Challenge?

To sum everything up, NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge is a $3 million, two-track, two-phase competition focused on the design and development of solutions that can reduce solid waste on longer-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Teams may compete in either or both competition tracks.



More about the challenge:

Although the deadline for submissions for NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge closed on March 31, 2025, the excitement around this unique challenge is nowhere near dying down. The results of the first phase (Phase 1) of NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge are expected to be announced in May 2025.

The objective of such a challenge?

NASA plans to send humans back to the moon soon, through its Artemis program . In preparation, it wants to manage all forms of waste more efficiently. The agency is exploring ways to limit the amount of waste returned to Earth. The challenge is also about reducing toxic emissions and using every part of the waste for a purpose.

Hence, NASA is pushing for sustainable space exploration and future missions, and the LunaRecycle Challenge is a key part of that effort.

The initiative is meant to support long-term human presence on the moon. If waste can be processed and reused, future missions will be lighter and more efficient.