NJIT students win $15,000 from NASA for moon solar plan
A group of NJIT students just scored $15,000 from NASA for their creative plan to power the moon using solar energy collected by a swarm of 1,100 satellites.
Presented the idea at NASA's first ORBIT Challenge in Houston, their idea tackles the tricky problem of keeping lunar missions running, even in places like the moon's south pole that face long stretches without sunlight.
NJIT students propose 6-foot satellite swarm
Their "Orbital Solar Energy Harvesting Swarm" uses six-foot-wide satellites working as a team to keep energy flowing, even if some units fail.
The students got clever with satellite formations and even used Venus's gravity to help position everything just right.
Beyond the prize, they're hoping to turn this into a startup and see how the tech could help out on Earth too: think powering data centers and more.