Why NASA is offering $3,000,000 to anyone who can solve how to do this one thing in space

You could be integral to helping NASA in its future missions, as the space agency has issued a worldwide challenge.

It isn’t every day that you can become a part of humanity’s progress to the stars and beyond, but that could change for people who come to NASA with a solution for a problem.

Despite the space agency being made up with some of the brightest engineers and scientists, NASA still runs into problems - a lot of them, in fact.

And since the government agency wants help solving them, they are prepared to pay.

How much? Well, quite a pretty penny.

NASA is prepared to pay $3 million to anyone that can help them solve one of the biggest issues they expect to face as they continue to extend our reach into the cosmos.

This is particularly important due to upcoming missions, most notably a return to the moon. This mission, set for 2026, will see the first crew in over 50 years to land on its surface.

The hugely anticipated mission will see the first woman and the first person of color on the moon.

So, what problem does NASA want solved?

Well, as there are more intentions to go to the moon and beyond, they want to significantly improve the sustainability of said missions.

While NASA has worked out how to get people to the moon by now, the space agency is looking for help with improving the sustainability of long-term lunar missions - namely, how to recycle any waste in space.

NASA has big goals on the future of sustainable space travel(NASA)

The agency has set up a website titled LunaRecycle Challenge and emphasized just how important sustainability is.

A statement on the page says: “As NASA prepares for future human space missions, sustainability will be critical. The LunaRecycle Challenge asks innovators to consider how various solid waste streams can be processed and recycled in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to Earth.

“The challenge also hopes to inspire better approaches and outcomes for terrestrial recycling—through entirely novel approaches, processes that improve efficiency and reduce toxic outputs, and smaller-scale technologies that could be deployed in communities around the globe.”

NASA is willing to pay up if a team can solve this issue (Getty Stock Image)

The LunaRecycle Challenge organizers are hopeful this will breed new thinking and solutions for future issues.

The challenge manager of the scheme and acting programme manager for NASA's Centennial Challenges, Kim Krome, also said: "I am pleased that NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge will contribute to solutions pertaining to technological needs within advanced manufacturing and habitats.

“We are very excited to see what solutions our global competitors generate, and we are eager for this challenge to serve as a positive catalyst for bringing the agency, and humanity, closer to exploring worlds beyond our own.”

So get your thinking caps on and you can help NASA pave the world for further sustainable space exploration.