NASA announces moon design competition

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- NASA says it is offering paid internships to engineering students who have ideas on how future explorers might live on the moon.

The 2010 NASA Moon Work engineering design challenge seeks to motivate college students by giving them first-hand experience with the process of developing new technologies, the space agency said.

To participate in the contest, students must submit their original design for tools or instruments that can help astronauts live and work on the moon. Top-ranked students will be offered a chance to intern with a team from NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program.

Winning Moon Work competition entrants will also have a chance to attend field tests conducted by the Desert Research and Technology Studies Program, managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The program conducts annual tests of new technologies in landscapes that are close analogs of the moon and other harsh space environments.

NASA said students should submit a notice of intent to enter the contest by Dec. 15. Final entries for the Moon Work challenge are due May 15. All entries must be from students at U.S. colleges or universities. Although non-citizens may be part of a team, only U.S. citizens can win NASA internships or travel awards.

More information is available at http://moonwork.larc.nasa.gov.