NASA has named the six finalists in a multi-phase competition to develop lunar excavation and transport technologies designed to dig and move icy “dirt” on the lunar surface.

Starpath Robotics, Terra Engineering, The Ice Diggers, Cislune Excavators, Space Trajectory and the Michigan Technological University’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab will compete in the final round of the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, NASA said Wednesday.

During the last round of the competition, the finalists will deliver their prototypes to a NASA-designated test facility for scenario-based testing. Excavation tools will perform under reduced gravity while transportation technologies will navigate complex terrain, including craters, slopes and loose granular soil.

“Bringing the competitors to one central location is the best way to end a challenge like Break the Ice because it provides us with an opportunity to observe and test their designs in a common relevant environment,” said Mark Hilburger, a senior research engineer in the Space Technology Exploration Directorate at NASA’s Langley Research Center.

The first place will receive a $1 million cash prize and the second place will secure $500,000.

Winning teams will also get the opportunity to test their concepts at one of NASA’s Thermal Vacuum Chambers, which can simulate the Lunar South Pole’s atmospheric pressure conditions and temperature.

A Harvard University-led team working on a research program funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has created the first-ever quantum circuit with logical quantum bits that could enable scalable quantum computers in the future.

The research team is working on DARPA’s Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices, or ONISQ, program to explore the potential of Rydberg atomic qubits to accelerate fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Under the ONISQ project, the team created error-correcting logical qubits using arrays of “noisy” physical Rydberg qubits that could maintain their quantum state, making them suitable for solving diverse complex problems.

“The homogeneity of Rydberg qubits allows them to scale rapidly and also allows them to be manipulated and moved around easily using lasers on a quantum circuit. This overcomes the current error-prone methods of performing qubit operations by having to connect them sequentially, which propagates errors throughout the chip,” said Mukund Vengalattore, ONISQ program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

The Harvard team is supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California Institute of Technology, Princeton University and QuEra Computing.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark Simerly has received confirmation from the Senate to serve as the next director of the Defense Logistics Agency, succeeding Navy Vice Adm. Michelle Skubic, who is retiring in February.

The Senate also confirmed the former DLA Troop Support commander’s appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, the agency said Wednesday.

Simerly assumed responsibilities as commanding general for the Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Gregg-Adams in Virginia in July 2021 after serving as J4 director of the U.S. Forces Korea.

He previously commanded the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command in Daegue, South Korea; the 4th Sustainment Brigade and the 4th Infantry Division’s 704th Brigade Support Battalion at Fort Cavazos in Texas; and Bravo Company of the 101st Airborne Division’s 801st Maintenance Support Battalion at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Simerly was inducted into DLA Troop Support’s Hall of Fame in 2021 for his leadership during humanitarian missions and contributions in achieving a record $17.6 billion in fiscal 2018 sales.