NASA continues to collaborate with global communities to solve complex challenges through crowdsourcing with a series of 25 new NASA Open Innovation Service (NOIS) contracts managed by the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The contract aims to empower NASA’s workforce by actively engaging the public to find creative solutions to difficult space exploration challenges through rapid experimentation with new methodologies, new technologies, and unique perspectives, ensuring NASA remains at the forefront of innovation while accomplishing its missions.

This is the third NOIS contract, managed by NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI), and used by NASA and other government agencies. The NOIS3 contract will provide solutions through multiple crowdsourcing tools and methodologies, which include public prize competitions, freelance tasking, technology searches, and other crowd-based methods.

The total value of the NOIS3 contract is $475 million over 10 years. There is a guaranteed $500 minimum obligation for each contract award. The base contract spans June 5, 2025, through May 31, 2027, and there are two options, the first for three years, and the second for five years. If all options are exercised, work could continue through May 31, 2035.

The awardees are:

• Blue Clarity, Vienna, Virginia
• Capital Consulting Corp., Fairfax, Virginia
• Challenge Works, London, United Kingdom
• CrowdPlat Inc., Pleasanton, California
• Design Interactive Inc., Orlando, Florida
• DrivenData Inc., Denver
• Ensemble Government Services, Hyattsville, Maryland
• Hyperion Technologies, Arlington, Virginia
• Floor23 Digital, Jackson, Wisconsin
• Freelancer International, Sydney, Australia
• HeroX, Wilmington, Delaware
• HYVE Innovate, Munchen, Germany
• Innoget, Rockville, Maryland
• Institute of Competition Sciences, San Francisco
• Loyal Source Government Services, Orlando, Florida
• Luminary Labs, New York City
• National Institute of Aerospace Associates, Hampton, Virginia
• Randstad Federal, Duluth, Georgia
• Rios Partners, Arlington, Virginia
• SecondMuse, Bernalillo, New Mexico
• TechConnect, Summerville, South Carolina
• Toffler Associates, Arlington, Virginia
• Tongal Inc., Los Angeles
• Topcocder, Indianapolis
• yet2.com Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts

NASA’s CoECI provides guidance on open innovation initiatives, helping define challenges and requirements and formulating and evaluating potential solutions. The center’s end-to-end service allows NASA and other federal agencies to rapidly experiment with new methods and solve critical problems through innovation and collaboration.

Learn more about the NASA Center of Excellence at:

https://www.nasa.gov/coeci

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Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

NASA will host a live Twitch event to highlight the ongoing Moon Mascot Challenge, which invites the public to design a zero gravity indicator for the agency’s Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon. Viewers will have the opportunity to provide real-time input to an artist who will create an example of a zero gravity indicator during the livestream. 

Zero gravity indicators are small, plush items carried aboard spacecraft to provide a visual indication of when the crew reaches space.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 13, on the agency’s official Twitch channel:

https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

The contest invites global creators of all ages to submit design ideas for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

Up to 25 finalists, including entries from a K-12 student division, will be selected. The Artemis II crew will choose one design that NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab will fabricate to fly alongside the crew in the Orion spacecraft.

During this Twitch event, NASA experts will discuss the Moon Mascot Challenge while the artist incorporates live audience feedback into a sample design. Although the design example will not be eligible for the contest, it will demonstrate how challenge participants can develop their own zero gravity indicator designs. The example will be shared on the @NASAArtemis social media accounts following the Twitch event.

The Artemis II test flight will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back. The mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface to help the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.

To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

A team from South Dakota State University, with their project titled “Soil Testing and Plant Leaf Extraction Drone” took first place at the 2025 NASA Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, which challenged student teams to research aviation solutions to support U.S. agriculture.

The winning project proposed a drone-based soil and tissue sampling process that would automate a typically labor-intensive farming task. The South Dakota State team competed among eight finalists at the 2025 Blue Skies Forum May 20-21 in Palmdale, California, near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Subject matter experts from NASA and industry served as judges.

“This competition challenges students to think creatively, explore new possibilities, and confront the emerging issues and opportunity spaces solvable through aviation platforms,” said Steven Holz, assistant project manager for University Innovation with NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and Blue Skies judge and co-chair. “They bring imaginative ideas, interesting insights, and an impressive level of dedication. It’s always an honor to work with the next generation of innovators participating in our competition.”

The winning team members were awarded an opportunity to intern during the 2025-26 academic year at any of four aeronautics-focused NASA centers — Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, or Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.  

“It’s been super-rewarding for our team to see how far we’ve come, especially with all these other amazing projects that we were competing against,” said Nathan Kuehl, team lead at South Dakota State University. “It wouldn’t have been possible without our graduate advisor, Allea Klauenberg, and advisor, Todd Lechter. We want to thank everybody that made this experience possible.”

Other awards included: 

• Second Place — University of Tulsa, CattleLog Cattle Management System
• Best Technical Paper — Boston University, PLAANT: Precision Land Analysis and Aerial Nitrogen Treatment

Sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, this year’s competition asked teams of university students to research new or improved aviation solutions to support agriculture that could be applied by 2035 or sooner. The goal of the competition, titled AgAir: Aviation Solutions for Agriculture, was to enhance production, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to extreme weather. 

At the forum, finalist teams presented concepts of aviation systems that could help the agriculture industry.Students had the opportunity to meet with NASA and industry experts, tour NASA Armstrong, and gain insight into the agency’s aviation mission.

U.S. agriculture provides food, fuel, and fiber to the nation and the world. However, the industry faces significant challenges. NASA Aeronautics is committed to supporting commercial, industrial, and governmental partners in advancing aviation systems to modernize agricultural capabilities.  

The Gateways to Blue Skies competition is sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s University Innovation Project and is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.

The National Institute of Aerospace has made available a livestream of the competition, as well as information about the finalists and their projects, and details about the 2025 competition.