SCOUTING REPORT | SDSU’s Moon mission, Pierre’s coach turned CEO, De Smet’s Dunn celebration

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A team of South Dakota State University students has been selected by NASA as one of 12 university teams to participate in the agency’s Moon to Mars program. The project is preparing for eventual missions to the Moon, which could be used as a staging area for Mars exploration.

SDSU has a track record of working with NASA. In 2020, NASA selected the university for that year’s Moon to Mars competition. In 2024, SDSU’s engineering team was one of six finalists in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. This year’s selection comes with a $20,000 award.

“It’s a small project in terms of dollars, but X-Hab projects are fairly prestigious in terms of recognition,” said Todd Letcher, an associate professor in SDSU’s mechanical engineering department and coordinator of the school’s NASA projects.

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