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Imagine a lunar life as common as one’s earthly existence — park the car and go inside.

Imagine what it would take to make that possible.

That kind of imagination plus a ream of lunar know-how is what a group of South ��ֱ���� State University engineering students will need this coming school year. SDSU is one of 12 universities nationwide to be selected by NASA to prepare a project for the Moon to Mars eXploration Systems and Habitation Academic Innovation Challenge sponsored by NASA’s Mars Campaign Office.

NASA sought proposals from accredited engineering programs this spring and announced July 7 that proposals from 12 universities had been accepted for projects supporting space habitats and deep space exploration missions.

Among the 11 others selected are the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University, the University of Maryland, which was a national winner in another NASA contest in June, and Michigan Tech, which, like SDSU, was one of six finalists in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge in 2024.

The teams have the 2025-26 school year to work on the projects with final submissions due by May 6. The prototypes produced by the university teams may be integrated into existing NASA-built operational prototypes.

Second time selected for Moon to Mars

SDSU’s selection carries with it a $20,000 award, according to Todd Letcher, an associate professor in the mechanical engineering department at SDSU and coordinator of the school’s NASA projects. This was only the second time SDSU has been selected for a Moon to Mars project, the last coming in 2020.

“It's a small project in terms of dollars, but X-Hab projects are fairly prestigious in terms of recognition,” Letcher said.

In December 2020, South ��ֱ���� State University was named as one of 12 national finalists for its fifth annual Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge.

Four senior mechanical engineering students developed a plan to extract water from the distant orbs and spent the winter getting it ready for a simulated competition. The finalists were tasked with designing, building and testing prototype systems capable of extracting water from ice deposits buried beneath the simulated lunar or Martian soil.

Subsequent proposals from SDSU have not been selected, Letcher said.

Three teams selected for tunnel projects

He can’t explain why this year’s proposal was selected, but he does know that SDSU will be one of three universities attempting to create a lightweight pressurized transfer tunnel.

There were eight categories that universities could choose from, including service rovers, which SDSU has extensive experience building. Letcher explained that the SDSU proposal was generated by a space systems class of 10 students ranging from freshmen to graduate students. 

An email was sent to SDSU engineering students who would be doing senior design projects this school year. They were invited to a meeting in which space class students would give a summary of the proposal options. The meeting drew 17 students, who, by a narrow margin, voted for the tunnel project, Letcher said.

“I’d have been happy doing any of them,” said Letcher, noting this is the first time the school has done this type of project.

Its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge project involved rovers and an excavator. For the last three years, SDSU has had finalists in the in Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) contest, and the teams entered some type of rover or forklift. Also, for the last three years its entry was selected as the best prototype.

A high-tech airport jetway?

Letcher said the school’s proposal isn’t long on construction details at this point. 

“We’re proposing something like an airplane jetway that is portable and can be steered. It may be about 10 meters long and must be airtight to keep the dust out. Potentially, it will need to have lights. The idea is the astronaut could go from a pressurized rover to a pressurized habitat without wearing a cumbersome space suit,” Letcher said.

Another idea students will explore is an underground tunnel with a hatch leading from the rover to the tunnel, he said.

Student team members will be selected early in fall semester for the X-Hab project. Letcher said in addition to senior design students, there could be a couple younger students who were part of the space systems class. He anticipates a team of six to develop the concept, create a CAD model and build a tabletop prototype.

Included with the NASA grant is a trip to visit a NASA center. Letcher didn’t know if the students would make that trip early in the school year to gain ideas or later in the year to demonstrate their prototype.

Other NASA opportunities

In addition to this NASA challenge, Letcher said the 2025-26 school year will include teams preparing projects for the Gateways to Blue Skies competition, which SDSU won in 2025; the Human Lander Challenge; the BIG (Breakthrough, Innovative, Game-Changing) Challenge, which awards finalists $150,000 to build and test their concepts; and up to two RASC-AL teams.

NASA states past student participants have gone on to careers in the aerospace industry, including at NASA. That has been the case at SDSU as well.