A team of MIT students called CERBERUZ has won NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge, a competition to reuse and recycle waste on future long-duration lunar missions. It took first prize in both the Prototype and Digital Twin tracks.
The system separates non-biological waste, grinds it into powder and mixes plastics with a foam used in aerospace packaging. An injection moulding machine nicknamed PERSEPHONE melts the mixture and moulds composite parts. The process is mechanical and electric, uses no water or chemicals and leaves no chemical waste.
The DEIMOS digital twin models the machine and predicts problems such as warping or shrinkage, so astronauts can test parts before making them. According to MIT, there is no established recycling solution on Earth for this mix of materials.
Over the challenge the team earned $925,000, which it plans to reinvest in the MIT Space Resources Workshop’s equipment. The system could reduce resupply from Earth and let lunar outposts make spare parts and tools.
