Help NASA Boost Power to the International Space Station
“Ye cannae change the laws of physics!” was the oft repeated cry of the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise. You are right Scotty, but as you so often did on Star Trek, you can make them work better for you.
In the real world of space exploration scientists are increasingly turning to open innovation and the crowd to help them discover more about our solar system and the Universe.
NASA’s latest open innovation challenge, The Longeron Shadowing Optimization Challenge, is a public competition to make the energy-gathering solar arrays of the International Space Station (ISS) more efficient. With more power scientists can conduct more experiments.
The International Space station is powered by the sun with its energy being captured by the station’s solar panels. But there’s a problem. The system is not working as efficiently as it could and NASA wants more power for the ISS.
The Problem
The problem is due to longerons, the long thin arms that connect the solar panels to the station. When odd numbers of longerons are in full sunlight with others in shadows cast by the space station, they bend and eventually break.
For this reason the ISS is positioned where fewer shadows are cast. However, this reduces the amount of power that can be collected from the sun.
The Solution
NASA is after a sophisticated algorithm that eliminates the shadows the ISS casts on itself at different points during its orbit. The top prize for the best solution is $10,000, with second and third placed solutions earning $5,000 and $3,000 respectively.
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