Written by Amy, Aaron, Christina and Casey, Year 12
We are mO=On, the breath of space exploration. And back in February we were announced as finalists of the Conrad Challenge 2025, an internationally renowned competition that invites students, aged 13 to 18, to develop entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges in either aerospace and aviation, cyber-technology and security, energy and environment, or health and nutrition. This year more than 4,000 students from more than 50 countries submitted their entries. We were the only UK team to make it to the finals and the only European team in our category.
We developed an interconnected system to sustainably Extract, Store and Transport liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen on the lunar surface, hence our name mO=On. These gases would be used by astronauts living on the Moon as breathable air as well as rocket fuel to go beyond in space to planets such as Mars. We came up with this idea as we saw the potential for life and permanent settlements on the moon.
mO=On is responsible for three main processes: extraction, storage and transport; ensuring humans on the moon can have a consistent supply of oxygen and hydrogen. The extraction of hydrogen was inspired by both a process called microwave sintering, as well as the extraction of oxygen from the electrolysis water.
Once we found out that we would be attending the finals, we had lots of work to do, from writing our power pitch to designing marketing materials for the Expo. After what felt like only a few weeks of preparation we headed to NASA’s Space Centre Houston, in Texas, to attend the innovation summit and pitch our idea to the esteemed Conrad judges.
With a very early start at 5 a.m., we arrived at school full of excitement. We made our way down to Heathrow, through security and onto our 10 hour flight, saying goodbye to astronaut Tim Peake before we left. On the extremely long flight we had plenty of time to practice our pitch as well as play some very competitive rounds of UNO. When we arrived in the US we were met with an overwhelming heat, and made our way down to NASA’s rocket park where we met the other teams and had a welcome dinner under an actual Saturn Five rocket!
After some, not very much, sleep we had our first full day of the summit – Power Pitch Day! With trepidation we walked onto the stage and pitched our innovation to the judges. All of our worries were unnecessary as the pitch went extremely smoothly and we received some really thought-provoking questions from a panel of distinguished judges. We ended the day with a well deserved takeout pizza from Little Caesars in our rooms, followed by some delicious (but bulky) crumble cookies.
On the third day the fun really began, it was Expo Day. We had our very own exhibition stall in the main plaza of Space Centre Houston, where we had the opportunity to have 1:1 conversations with judges, NASA scientists/engineers, and the general public about our innovation and research processes. We also got the chance to network with the other teams and check out their novel ideas. After the expo, we had done all we could to impress the judges so we had a delicious meal at Olive Garden, (which proved the existence of insane American portion sizes), especially enjoying their breadsticks, broccoli and mint chocolates.
The final day of the competition soon came, it was time for the results. We tucked into an amazing gala dinner spread in Space Centre Houston whilst we waited with baited breath as the results were announced. We were delighted to receive the 2025 Entrepreneur Innovator Award, also known as the Space Centre Houston award, given to the team that made a meaningful impact, had compelling marketing strategies at the Expo and inspired confidence in shaping the future. Still “over the moon” with our success we enjoyed a disco at NASA surrounded by priceless space memorabilia!
We also had a lot of fun exploring the space centre. One of the highlights was the Moon exhibition, where we had the opportunity to look at real life lunar soil samples. Throughout the trip we also met other teams from across the globe, teams from Spain, Korea and even Singapore across the different categories. It was an eye-opening experience.
Not only did we immerse ourselves with Space, we also had time to explore the surrounding area, experiencing authentic Texan culture. We visited Kema, a boardwalk area, a nature reserve, and the Mall. We even had a very fun, and competitive, game of top golf against the teachers.
And after almost a week in Texas, we sadly had to say goodbye and come back home to the UK.
We had an amazing time at the finals, met countless incredible experts and made so many new friends and connections. It was definitely worth all the hard work and many hours on FaceTime. Having the opportunity to participate in the Conrad Challenge was absolutely incredible. We learnt so much from this experience; not only about the field of space and lunar life, but also skills in confidence and resilience that will be essential for us throughout our lives, and our academic future.
Thank you to all of the teachers, staff members and experts who made this possible. With special thanks to Professor Sungwoo Lim from Surrey Space Centre, Dr Ian Mellor from Metalysis, Dr May Martin from the European Space Agency and the entire Metal Seagulls team. As well as Mr Gallacher and Dr Kewell who have supported us throughout the development of mO=On and to Miss Barbour for making the trip unforgettable.