Meet the competitors of the Horizons Challenge - a nationwide competition for multidisciplinary university student teams to pitch their ideas for the next critical problem spaces aligned with NASA's missions. Finalist teams come to NEXPLORE to refine their pitches with your feedback, preparing them to pitch live and be chosen as the topic for the 2026 Xperience Competition.

Noma’s shift from a renowned restaurant to a food laboratory showcases its adaptability and focus on innovation. This move, fueled by curiosity and a mission for deliciousness, expanded their reach beyond the fine dining model. Their success stems from collaboration between creative chefs and business generalists, a model they aim to extend to technical experts across industries to shape the menu of the future.

The journey toward 2040 will bear little resemblance to the race that culminated in 1969; this time, private companies, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers will lay the groundwork with far less federal support than during our first voyage to the Moon. Meeting this reality demands investments that ignite innovation and generate continuous economic value along the way, and by funding solutions to clearly defined gaps and challenges—rather than abstract “good ideas”—we incentivize industry to chart the roadmap first, remain mission-focused, and develop technologies tightly linked to measurable outcomes.