Offers Chance To Be Involved With Future Missions
On the eve of
the space agency's 50th anniversary, NASA announced a new contest
that challenges college-level students to design tools or
instrument packages that could be used on the next generation of
human-driven moon rovers. Students will have the opportunity to
engage in NASA's return to the moon by designing equipment that
will help astronauts accomplish tasks on the lunar surface.
Moon explorers will need to navigate in darkness around the
moon's south pole and collect lunar regolith, or moon dust, for
on-site analysis and radiation detection. They will need to
communicate with Earth, a lunar outpost and spacecraft orbiting the
moon. Moon inhabitants also will conduct video surveys of the
moon's surface for transmission back to Earth, and practice rescue
and the safe return of astronauts to their outpost from
sorties.
Moon dust has the potential to serve as an on-site resource for
building materials, water and oxygen. However, because of its
structure, the dust can damage space suits, rovers and other
equipment. The particles have sharp, jagged edges and contain
microscopic shards of glass. Tool or instrument designs that can
withstand the sharp-edged particles could help future astronauts
and might earn students an internship at a NASA facility.
The contest is open to full-time students enrolled in accredited
post-secondary institution such as universities, colleges, trade
schools, community colleges and professional schools in the United
States or its territories. Individuals or teams may apply, and
interdisciplinary teams from across departments and institutions
are encouraged.
NASA plans to invite contest winners to the next set of lunar
technology mission tests planned for the summer or fall of 2009.
Paid internships also are planned as student awards. The contest
continues NASA's tradition of investing in the nation's education
programs and ties into the agency's goal of strengthening NASA and
America's future workforce.
To participate in the contest, students must submit a notice of
intent to NASA by December 15, 2008, with final papers due May 15,
2009. Specific details about how participation in the NASA
University Design Contest in Exploration Systems, including
submission requirements, can be found at the FMI link below.