Ten university teams designed and built systems intended to harvest water
frozen below the surface of the Moon and Mars. The teams put their prototypes
to the test during the 2021 Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge held
September 23-25 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Taking top prize of $6,000 was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) team from Cambridge with HYDRATION III: High Yield Dihydrogen-monoxide
Retrieval And Terrain Identification On New worlds.
"I think one of the determining factors in the MIT’s excellent
performance was the test program they set up," said Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman,
MIT team faculty advisor and former NASA astronaut. "They tried to
duplicate as closely as possible the conditions they would face in the actual
competition, and that allowed them to refine the hardware, software, and
procedures. They followed the famous advice we give to anyone working on a
space project, test like you are going to fly, and fly like you tested!"
Since 2017, NASA has engaged students in exploring ways to harvest water
off Earth through its Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic
Linkage (RASC-AL) Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting
Challenge. The competition requires students to design, build, and test a
system to extract water from ice buried under an unknown number of layers of
clay, concrete, sand, and other material meant to simulate a lunar or Martian
surface. Teams must also use feedback from their drills (penetration rate,
depth, and power) to produce a digital core representing their estimation of
each layer’s depth, hardness, and thickness. These types of prospecting skills
will help inform the development of tools that could be used to harvest
sub-surface water ice for fuel and consumables on the Moon and Mars.
“Drilling into billion-year-old ice at Mars to obtain water for future
crews will be very challenging. These university teams are helping us
understand how to extract this incredibly valuable resource off Earth,” said
Richard (Rick) Davis, assistant director for science and exploration in the
Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters. “These teams have done
a tremendous job of navigating around the challenges presented by the pandemic,
and we are very excited to work with the students and see their creative
solutions for drilling at Mars”
The team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won first place and $6,000 in the Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge. Credits: NASA
The systems developed by the teams aim to inform in-situ resource
utilization (ISRU) advancements for crewed Artemis missions to the
Moon, and ultimately Mars. In-situ resource utilization is the ability to
generate products with local materials.
“The challenge allows us to examine a suite of innovative solutions
addressing a critical capability, but it also showcases the next generation of
aerospace engineers and leaders,” said Walt Engelund, deputy associate
administrator for programs in the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
at NASA Headquarters. “Shaping and connecting with the future workforce is as
important as their potential technology developments.”
Northeastern University received second place and $4,000. Recognition in
the following areas also went to:
- Lightest System Mass: University of Pittsburgh, 89.84 pounds (40.75
kilograms)
- Most Innovative Concept: University of Pittsburgh
- Most Accurate Digital Core: California Polytechnic Institute
- Clearest Water: South Dakota State University
- Best Technical Poster: MIT
- Best Technical Paper: Northeastern University
- Most Water Collected: MIT
During the competition, teams mounted their technology prototypes on
individual test stations composed of 4-foot-tall commercial fishing coolers
filled with, unknown to them, 600-pound ice blocks, 200-pounds of aerated
concrete, 250-pounds of a sand and rock mixture, and over 100 pounds of
pitcher’s mound clay. They were given one day to set up and test their systems
and two days to conduct operations to penetrate the soil and rocks and extract
water from the ice (earning more points for water collected during autonomous,
“hands-off” operations). Teams were judged on their water extraction in both
operations methods, as well as water clarity and accuracy of their core
composition. NASA judges also rated teams on their technical paper and poster
presentation which described how the systems could be adapted for possible use
on the Moon and Mars.
U.S. industry is an important partner to NASA as they work together to
explore the Moon and Mars. Honeybee Robotics, a returning industry sponsor of
the challenge, is also developing space mining technologies. Honeybee subject
matter experts help guide the development of the challenge and are judges
during the competition.
“Being able to be here with the students is refreshing. Seeing their ideas
on such a vital aspect to space exploration causes new thinking for those of us
in the trenches,” said Dean Bergman, director of business development at
Honeybee Robotics. “The thinkers of today are going to be the space explorers
of tomorrow. We are honored to support their efforts and the innovation this
forum brings to NASA and to industry working on ISRU.”
Other industry partners include Aercon LLC and Pancopia Inc.
The 2021 RASC-AL Special Edition Moon to Mars Ice and Prospecting Challenge
is sponsored by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist, Science Mission Directorate, Space Technology
Mission Directorate, with support from the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at Langley. The
competition is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace.
To learn more about RASC-AL Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice &
Prospecting Challenge, visit:
http://specialedition.rascal.nianet.org
For more information about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/university-teams-demonstrate-cool-new-technologies-for-the-moon-mars
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