Penn State students are one step closer to helping NASA figure out what to do with trash in space.

The university’s Resource Extraction and Conversion from Lunar Anthropogenic Inputs with Microwaves (RECLAIM) team earned $125,000 in prize money in NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge, which challenged teams to develop ways to recycle waste during missions to the Moon and deep space.

The LunaRecycle Challenge is a two-phase, $3 million competition created to find solutions for recycling materials such as plastics, fabrics, foam, and metals during space missions. NASA also encouraged teams to develop technology that could have applications back on Earth.

RECLAIM was recognized as the Most Innovative team in the competition’s prototype and digital twin tracks.

For Phase 2, 14 finalist teams from across the country traveled to Alabama from August 24-28 to demonstrate their prototypes. Some teams also presented digital twins, or virtual models, of their recycling teams.

While MIT’s Composites for Extraterrestrial Recycling By Engineering the Reuse and Upcycling of Zotek (CEREBRUZ) team took home the competition’s $775,000 first-place prize, Penn State’s RECLAIM team was among the other teams recognized.

According to NASA’s competition results, the RECLAIM system uses microwaves to extract and convert materials from waste. The team received honors for its most innovative prototype and its most innovative digital twin.

Other prototype awards went to teams from Florida, California, and South Carolina. The digital twin competition also recognized teams from Colorado and New York.

NASA said the competition attracted more than 1,200 registrations during its first phase, making it the most popular competition in the Centennial Challenges’ 20-year history.

Phase 1 concluded in 2025, with nearly 200 submissions evaluated by a panel of 50 judges. Seventeen teams from five countries and nine U.S. states were selected as winners.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center managed the LunaRecycle Challenge’s Centennial Challenges program, with support from NASA centers in Florida, California, and Virginia.

With its two awards, Penn State’s RECLAIM team has shown that recycling may be just as important for the future of space travel as it is on Earth.