NASA Crater Detection Challenge
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently made headlines for its successful flyby of Earth on October 16, 2022, marking the first of three gravity assists on its ambitious journey to the Trojan asteroids. During this flyby, Lucy captured stunning images of the Moon’s surface, showcasing the intricate details of lunar terrain. However, the images also highlighted a significant challenge in planetary science: accurately detecting and mapping the rims of craters. Crater rims serve as crucial landmarks for navigation and scientific research, yet their identification in natural imagery is complicated by factors such as variable lighting, shadows, and irregular edges that can obscure their true shapes.
To address this challenge, NASA is launching a project aimed at developing innovative methods for reliably fitting ellipses to crater rims in lunar imagery. This initiative is part of a broader effort to enhance terrain-based optical navigation for future space missions. The envisioned system will utilize a visible-light camera mounted on a spacecraft to capture detailed images of the Moon’s surface. By processing these images, the system will not only detect crater rims but also identify specific craters from a pre-existing catalog and estimate the spacecraft’s position based on the identified features. The focus of this project is primarily on improving the crater detection process, which is essential for the success of future lunar exploration missions.
As part of this initiative, NASA is inviting participants to contribute their expertise and creativity to develop effective algorithms for crater detection. The challenge is set to open on November 25, 2025, and will run until January 19, 2026, with a total prize pool of $55,000 available for the best solutions. This project not only aims to advance the capabilities of lunar navigation but also encourages collaboration and innovation within the scientific community. For those interested in participating, more information can be found on the official Topcoder website dedicated to the NASA crater detection challenge. This initiative represents a significant step forward in enhancing our understanding of the Moon and preparing for future explorations beyond Earth.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured images of the Moon’s surface on Oct 16, 2022, after flying by the Earth for its first of three gravity assists.
Crater rims are vital landmarks for planetary science and navigation. Yet detecting them in real imagery is tough, with shadows, lighting shifts, and broken edges obscuring their shape.
This project invites you to develop methods that can reliably fit ellipses to crater rims, helping advance future space exploration.
In the pursuit of next generation, terrain-based optical navigation, NASA is developing a system that will use a visible-light camera on a spacecraft to capture orbital images of lunar terrain and process the imagery to:
detect the crater rims in the images,
identify the craters from a catalog, and
estimate the camera/vehicle position based on the identified craters.
The focus of this project is the crater detection process.
Natural imagery varies significantly in lighting and will impact the completeness of crater rims in the images.
Award: $55,000 in total prizes
Open Date: November 25, 2025
Close Date: January 19, 2026
For more information, visit:
https://www.topcoder.com/nasa-crater-detection
