University of Michigan Team Wins Inaugural Human Lander Challenge

A student team from the University of Michigan claimed first place in the Inaugural Human Lander Challenge hosted by NASA in 2025. The team included students from across many departments, making it a truly interdisciplinary effort to solve some of the challenges facing astronauts as they seek to make new landings on the moon and beyond.

>> Explore the Human Lander Challenge
>> Read NASA’s Press Release
>> View the Engineering Concept by University of Michigan’s Team
>> Watch the Winning Presentation on Video

Led by Advisors Chris Ruf and Mirko Gamba, the University of Michigan team developed “ARC-LIGHT: Algorithm for Robust Characterization of Lunar surface Imaging for Ground Hazards and Trajectory.” The project was made possible in part by a POWER Grant from the University of Michigan Space Institute, which funded research on the project.

Alexander Cushen, a Ph.D. student in the U-M Department of Climate and Space, served as the team lead for the project. The idea for the concept developed out of Ph.D. work by Ariana Bueno, a physics student at U-M who is interested in the challenges plume surface interaction present for landing on the lunar surface.

“When I realized NASA was leading a challenge on this topic that has been a focus for me, I encouraged my classmates to get a team together,” said Bueno. “I answered their questions about my work, and let them design a concept to answer the challenge of dust plumes on the lunar surface.”

The upperclass students on the project were excited to see that the work appealed not only to Ph.D. and master’s students, but to undergraduate students as well. Working as quickly as possible over several months, they put their minds together to develop the concept for ARC-LIGHT.

“The moon essentially has no atmosphere. It’s more of a vacuum, and it creates all this dust,” said Cushen. “Our task was to come up with some kind of technological concept that manages, mitigate or somehow interacts with the challenge of plume surface interaction.”

“Arianna has been developing a sensor to understand plume surface interaction,” he said. “So, we are using camera and lidar to get a better understanding of the landing through an algorithm.” 

Director of the U-M Space Institute Chris Ruf, who served as one of the team advisors, said he was impressed by the quality of their presentation to the judges.

“Our team really did an amazing job presenting their concept,” said Ruf. “They were very articulate in explaining the engineering and design. They should be proud of what their accomplishments.”

Each team presented their concepts, and NASA named the University of Michigan team the overall winner of the challenge. The honor includes a $10,000 monetary award. The team also included U-M students Jaykumar Adalja, Corrydon Wettstein, Mengxiang Shi, Samuel Carrico, Yuliana Garcia, and Naila Garcia.

The students hope to continue development of ARC-LIGHT in the future, as their classes and educational demands allow. They were also encouraged by their first place win in the inaugural competition hosted by NASA.

“I really hope U-M teams organize to compete in future Human Lander Challenges,” said Cushen. “It’s an excellent opportunity.”