The Challenge Collaborative
International coordination between NASA & CSA, administered by the Methuselah Foundation.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is a prize competition launched in parallel, in Canada by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and in the U.S. by the National Aeronautics and the Space Administration (NASA) Centennial Challenges Program. Interested Canadian Applicants are invited to apply through the Impact Canada website, and U.S. and international applicants are invited to apply through the U.S. website.
NASA and CSA will each organize and manage parallel challenges, with their own distinct rules, their own prizes and eligibility, but will synchronize some activities (e.g. webinars) and employ a shared challenge statement, shared goals and shared assessment criteria. CSA has no responsibility in NASA, and NASA has no responsibility in CSA.
The Deep Space Food Challenge follows a stage-gated approach. At each Phase, different financial and non-financial incentives may be available to successful participants. At every Phase, solutions will be reviewed against the assessment criteria, and selected winners will be invited to move to the following Phase.
NASA
NASA’s mission is to drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality and stewardship of Earth
The Deep Space Food Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge. Centennial Challenges are part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and are managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The goal of NASA Centennial Challenges is to stimulate innovation in basic and applied research, technology development, and prototype demonstration that have the potential for application to the performance of the space and aeronautical activities of the agency. Centennial Challenge prizes are offered to independent inventors including small businesses, student groups and individuals. These independent inventors are sought to generate innovative solutions for technical problems of interest to NASA and the nation and to provide them with the opportunity to stimulate or create new business ventures.
CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY
The Canadian Space Agency is a federal agency responsible for managing all of Canada’s civil space-related activities. CSA is responsible for promoting the peaceful use and development of space, to advance the knowledge of space through science and to ensure that space science and technology provide social and economic benefits for Canadians. CSA is committed to leading the development and application of space knowledge for the benefit of Canadians and humanity.
The CSA is working with Impact Canada to help execute the Deep Space Food Challenge in Canada. Housed within the Privy Council Office, Impact Canada is a Government of Canada-wide effort to help accelerate the adoption of innovative funding approaches to deliver meaningful results to Canadians. Challenge Prizes, Pay-for-Success projects and Behavioral Science are its key business lines.
METHUSELAH FOUNDATION
The Methuselah Foundation is a biomedical charity established to incentivize scientific progress towards extending the healthy human lifespan. The foundation incubates and sponsors mission-critical ventures, scientific research, and competition prizes to accelerate breakthroughs in healthy human life extension. In coordination with NASA Centennial Challenges, the Canadian Space Agency, and Impact Canada, the Methuselah Foundation is the proud administrator of the Deep Space Food Challenge.