USU Engineering Students Foresee a Future Mars Landing

 

Graduate students Ben Bodrero, Jessica Gregory, Aaron Jones, John Salmon, Erik Siggard and Juan Stromsdorfer received first place at NASA's Revolutionary System Concepts Academic Linkage contest. The team was comprised of students from the Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments, and edged out last year's first-place winner, the Georgia Institute of Technology. The students worked with faculty mentor Todd Mosher and received the award for their design of a modular lunar base concept that demonstrated technologies for an eventual Mars landing.

 

"Our hard work this semester paid off," said Bodrero. "This award will enhance my resume and will help me get a job that I really want. It was so exciting to be admired by peers in the industry."

 

The students were asked to address the theme of human robotics and technology, a theme that coincides with President Bush's vision for the United States in space and his plans for NASA to embark on crew and robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. They were also asked to consider sustainability and to design something that would be long-term and continuous, offering an extended human presence on bodies outside of Earth's orbit.

 

"Our modular planetary platform is a hexagonal, habitable platform that, when connected to other platforms by a passageway, can form a base to be used for continuous human presence on Mars or the Moon," said Siggard. "Our platform includes a habitat, power source, lab, rover, storehouse and greenhouse, making it versatile in many environments."

 

As first place winners, the team will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to a professional conference of its choice. The team received the win after being critiqued by a panel of judges drawn from NASA, industry and academia.

 

"It was my first time at a NASA sponsored conference," said Salmon. "I met more individuals from the space community who inspired me to further my studies in this very challenging and interesting field."

 

RASCAL is an initiative of NASA and the Universities Space Research Association. The RASCAL competition provides an opportunity for student design teams to present revolutionary research design projects to peers, representatives from NASA and industry.

 

The team has been asked to present its research in August at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronuatics national conference in California.