AVA Challenge
Home on the Moon
Starting 2026
In 2026, the Australian Virtual Astronaut Challenge will address key shortfalls identified by NASA in the endeavour to create livable habitats on Earth’s moon.
Choose from several 9-step STEM design sprints based on challenges facing Artemis & the Australian space industry.
You can join the AVA Challenge at any time throughout the year!
Scenarios
– Challenge 1: What we eat
– Challenge 2: Where we live
– Challenge 3: Going outside
Run at your own pace, using the content on this site.
AVA Challenge
Introduction | Home on the Moon
Meeting the NASA Shortfalls
Long-term human habitation.
To establish a permanent lunar base, we need to solve multi-disciplinary challenges. We explore team dynamics, the engineering design process and the overall AVA Challenge framework.
AVA Challenge
Challenge 1 | What we eat
NASA Shortfall: 1525 – Food and nutrition for Mars and Sustained Lunar
Energy, nutrition, sustainability.
How can we sustain life off-world? In this mission, you will explore the complex challenges in nutrition that face astronauts for long-term habitation in space.
AVA Challenge
Challenge 2 | Where we live
NASA Shortfall: 1601 – Enable Observation of Whole Top-to-Bottom Dynamic Ecosystems
Human habitation off-world.
The ability to make tools and instruments and apply observational data can help us build and understand our human-made lunar ecosystem.
AVA Challenge
Challenge 3 | Going Outside
NASA Shortfall: 1304 – Robust, High-Progress-Rate, and Long-Distance Autonomous Surface Mobility
Explore and discover.
How might rover and vehicle design be improved? Apply engineering skills to revolutionise mobility across lunar regolith