Student Teams To Design Deep Space Exploration Technology for NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) has
picked eight teams from colleges and universities in the United States to help it with
new
technology projects for deep space exploration, including the agency's
planned
journey to Mars.
The eight teams chosen in the latest X-Hab Academic Innovation
Challenge will design systems, concepts and technologies intended
to improve
NASA's exploration capabilities, at the same time providing students
with the chance
to gain hands-on experience in technology development.
Projects the eight teams will work on through the
2015-16
academic year range from inflatable airlock structures and the
manufacture of
metals for a zero-gravity environment to deep space transit habitat
layout
studies and microgravity plant systems.
"These collaborations lower the barrier for
university
students to assist NASA in bridging gaps and increasing our knowledge
related
to exploration activities that will eventually take humans farther into
space
than ever before," said Jason Crusan, director of NASA's advanced
exploration
systems division.
Teams interested in the competition submitted
their proposals
earlier in the year. A preliminary design review will take place in
November
and the deadline for completion of the projects is May 11.
All projects will be
evaluated by
engineers and scientists in NASA's
Human Exploration and Operations Mission
Directorate, the organization that manages the agency's human
space operations
in low-Earth orbit and beyond.
Grants to fund the
projects, ranging from
$10,000 to $30,000, will be administered by the National
Space Grant
Foundation.
Higher education
institutions
participating in the project include:
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.