Crater rims are vital landmarks for planetary science and navigation. Yet detecting them in real imagery is tough, with shadows, lighting shifts, and broken edges obscuring their shape.

This project invites you to develop methods that can reliably fit ellipses to crater rims, helping advance future space exploration.

In the pursuit of next generation, terrain-based optical navigation, NASA is developing a system that will use a visible-light camera on a spacecraft to capture orbital images of lunar terrain and process the imagery to:

• detect the crater rims in the images,
• identify the craters from a catalog, and
• estimate the camera/vehicle position based on the identified craters.

The focus of this project is the crater detection process.

Natural imagery varies significantly in lighting and will impact the completeness of crater rims in the images.

Award: $55,000 in total prizes

Open Date: November 25, 2025

Close Date: January 19, 2026

For more information, visit: https://www.topcoder.com/nasa-crater-detection

NASA’s Technology Transfer Office invites entrepreneurs, innovators, and creative thinkers to apply NASA’s patented technologies to practical applications. Participants will select an existing NASA patent and develop a business or product concept that will be evaluated based on value proposition, business model viability, development feasibility, and quality of presentation. Entries should clearly demonstrate creativity, feasibility, and a compelling rationale for how the concept could create real-world impact.

Award: $13,000 in total prizes

Open Date: October 6, 2025

Close Date: December 15, 2025

For more information, visit: https://nasapatentremixchallenge.org/

The commercial aviation industry is a crucial component of the U.S. economy, playing a vital role in transporting people, intermediate/final goods, and driving demand for various goods and services nationwide. This network enhances the quality of life for the whole country and facilitates business interactions within and globally, boosting productivity and prosperity. However, the industry faces numerous challenges, particularly the need to reduce rising operational costs in a growing market to accommodate increased demand in air travel, e-commerce, and cargo sectors. Issues such as aging aircraft and components, technological advancements, and staffing shortages further complicate these challenges, hindering efforts to balance passenger safety with operational efficiency. To address these challenges, the industry needs to swiftly innovate and implement more efficient and resilient aircraft maintenance practices, including the adoption of new technologies. In the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, teams will conceptualize novel aviation maintenance advancements that can be implemented by 2035 or sooner with the goal of improving efficiency, safety, and/or costs for the industry. Teams are encouraged to consider high-potential technologies and systems that aren’t currently mainstream or highly regarded as becoming mainstream in the future, imagining beyond the status quo.

Award: $72,000 in total prizes

Open Date: Phase 1 – September 18, 2025; Phase 2 – March 13, 2026

Close Date: Phase 1 – February 16, 2026; Phase 2- May 15, 2026

For more information, visit: https://blueskies.nianet.org/competition/