Students Will Help Solve Space Exploration Challenges
NASA has launched a competition which will involve university
students in helping to solve space exploration challenges. The
RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage)
contest, sponsored by NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace
(NIA), seeks engineering ideas that could potentially provide
solutions to issues faced by current NASA projects.
"RASC-AL is born out of the desire to get new, creative,
innovative ideas outside the traditional box," said Pat Troutman,
Strategic Analysis Manager at NASA's Langley Research Center. "If
you never innovate, you never progress."
Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to select one of
four themes for their project: Near-Earth Object Flexible Mission
Architecture Designs; Earth Orbit Debris Mitigation and Satellite
Servicing Missions; Human-Focused Mars Mission Systems and
Technologies; and Lunar Outpost to Settlement Architectures.
"RASC-AL puts forth real-world problems as themes that NASA is
actually facing at the current time," said Doug Craig, Strategic
Analysis Manager at NASA Headquarters. "They are very relevant, and
very timely. This gives students a better understanding of what's
going on outside of the universities and gives them solid
experience getting up to present to a large group of their
peers."
In addition to addressing the technical aspects of these themes,
the 2012 RASC-AL competition includes focused criteria on
reliability and human safety options, including a variety of human
health components that teams may address. NASA and NIA are also
looking for students to generate novel methods of engaging the
general public in human exploration missions, and will require that
students conduct education and public outreach as part of their
project.
Interested student teams are invited to submit a Notice of
Intent by Nov. 11 and a five-page summary of their proposed project
and educational outreach plan by Jan. 20, 2012. The RASC-AL
Steering Committee, made up of NASA and industry judges, will
review each team's abstract and announce the finalists by Feb. 15,
2012. Selected teams will fully develop their proposed solution to
the design challenge, and present to NASA and industry experts at
the 2012 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Fla., in June. Teams
presenting at the forum will receive funds to help with travel
expenses and registration fees.
As many as 10 undergraduate teams and five graduate teams may be
selected to compete against each other at the forum. The June forum
provides faculty and students the opportunity to network with NASA
and industry experts, introduce concepts and data from the
competition into NASA exploration program planning, and increase
the NASA-university-industry linkage.