Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Members of the 45th Civil Engineer Squadron compete in Readiness Challenge X
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Following eight months of intense research, design, and prototyping, six university teams presented their “Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations” concepts to a panel of judges at NASA’s 2024 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge forum.
The challenge, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Office of STEM Engagement, seeks novel ideas from higher education on a new topic each year and supports the agency’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative in developing new approaches and innovative technologies to pave the way for successful exploration on the surface of the Moon. This year, teams were asked to develop low Size, Weight, and Power inflatable technologies, structures and systems that could benefit future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
Taking top honors at this year’s forum receiving the Artemis Award was Northwestern University with National Aerospace Corporation & IMS Engineered Products, with their concept titled METALS: Metallic Expandable Technology for Artemis Lunar Structures. The Artemis Award is given to the team whose concept has the best potential to contribute to and be integrated into an Artemis mission.
The Northwestern University BIG Idea Challenge team developed METALS, an inflatable metal concept for long-term storage of cryogenic fluid on the Moon. The concept earned the Artemis Award, top honors in NASA’s 2024 BIG Idea Challenge.Credit: National Institute of Aerospace The Artemis Award is a generous recognition of the potential impact that our work can have. We hope it can be a critical part of the Artemis Program moving forward. We’re exceptionally grateful to have the opportunity to engage directly with NASA in research for the Artemis Program in such a direct way while we’re still students.”
Julian Rocher
Team co-lead for Northwestern University
METALS is an inflatable system for long term cryogenic fluid storage on the Moon. Stacked layers of sheet metal are welded along their aligned edges, stacked inside a rocket, and inflated once on the lunar surface. The manufacturing process is scalable, reliable, and simple. Notably, METALS boasts superior performance in the harsh lunar environment, including resistance against radiation, abrasion, micrometeorites, gas permeability, and temperature extremes.
Northwestern University team members pose with lunar inflatable prototypes from their METALS project in NASA’s 2024 BIG Idea Challenge. Credit: Northwestern University We learned to ask the right questions, and we learned to question what is the status quo and to go above and beyond and think outside the box. It’s a special mindset for everyone to have on this team… it’s what forces us to innovate.”
Trevor Abbott
Team co-lead for Northwestern University
Arizona State University took home the 2024 BIG Idea Challenge Systems Engineering prize for their project, AEGIS: Inflatable Lunar Landing Pad System. The AEGIS system is designed to deflect the exhaust gasses of lunar landers thereby reducing regolith disturbances generated during landing. The system is deployed on the lunar surface where it uses 6 anchors in its base to secure itself to the ground. Once inflated to its deployed size of 14 m in diameter, AEGIS provides a reusable precision landing zone for incoming landers.
Arizona State University earned the Systems Engineering prize for their BIG Idea Challenge project: AEGIS: Inflatable Lunar Landing Pad System. Arizona State University
This year’s forum was held in tandem with the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium’s (LSIC) Fall Meeting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where students had the opportunity to network with NASA and industry experts, attend LSIC panels and presentations, and participate in the technical poster session. The consortium provides a forum for NASA to communicate technological requirements, needs, and opportunities, and for the community to share with NASA existing capabilities and critical gaps.
We felt that hosting this year’s BIG Idea Forum in conjunction with the LSIC Fall Meeting would be an exciting opportunity for these incredibly talented students to network with today’s aerospace leaders in government, industry, and academia. Their innovative thinking and novel contributions are critical skills required for the successful development of the technologies that will drive exploration on the Moon and beyond.”
Niki Werkheiser
Director of Technology Maturation in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate
In February, teams submitted proposal packages, from which six finalists were selected for funding of up to $150,000 depending on each team’s prototype and budget. The finalists then worked for eight months designing, developing, and demonstrating their concepts. The 2024 BIG Idea program concluded at its annual forum, where teams presented their results and answered questions from judges. Experts from NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and other aerospace companies evaluated the student concepts based on technical innovation, credibility, management, and the teams’ verification testing. In addition to the presentation, the teams provided a technical paper and poster detailing their proposed inflatable system for lunar operations.
Year after year, BIG Idea student teams spend countless hours working on tough engineering design challenges. Their dedication and ‘game-changing’ ideas never cease to amaze me. They all have bright futures ahead of them.”
David Moore
Program Director for NASA’s Game Changing Development program
Second-year mechanical engineering student Connor Owens, left, and electrical engineering graduate student Sarwan Shah run through how they’ll test the sheath-and-auger anchor for the axial vertical pull test of the base anchor in a former shower room in Sun Devil Hall. Image credit: Charlie Leight/ASU News The University of Maryland BIG Idea Challenge team’s Auxiliary Inflatable Wheels for Lunar Rover project in a testing environment University of Maryland Students from University of Michigan and a component of their Cargo-BEEP (Cargo Balancing Expandable Exploration Platform) projectUniversity of Michigan Northwestern University welders prepare to work on their 2024 BIG Idea Challenge prototype, a metal inflatable designed for deployment on the Moon.Northwestern University Brigham Young University’s Untethered and Modular Inflatable Robots for Lunar Operations projectBrigham Young University California Institute of Technology’s PILLARS: Plume-deployed Inflatable for Launch and Landing Abrasive Regolith Shielding projectCalifornia Institute of Technology The Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations theme allowed teams to submit various technology concepts such as soft robotics, deployable infrastructure components, emergency shelters or other devices for extended extravehicular activities, pressurized tunnels and airlocks, and debris shields and dust protection systems. National Institute of Aerospace NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate sponsors the BIG Idea Challenge through a collaboration between its Game Changing Development program and the agency’s Office of STEM Engagement. It is managed by a partnership between the National Institute of Aerospace and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Team presentations, technical papers, and digital posters are available on the BIG Idea website.
For full competition details, visit: https://bigidea.nianet.org/2024-challenge
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Space Technology Mission Directorate
Game Changing Development Projects
Game Changing Development projects aim to advance space technologies, focusing on advancing capabilities for going to and living in space.
NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative
Get Involved
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Abigail Reigner, a systems engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, supports the agency’s research in electrified aircraft propulsion to enable more sustainable air travel. Behind her is a 25% scale model of NASA’s SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan aircraft concept used to test and demonstrate hybrid electric propulsion systems for emission reductions and performance boosts in future commercial aircraft.
Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Abigail Reigner spent most of her childhood miles away from where her family called home, and where there was little trace of her Native American tribe and culture.
Belonging to the Comanche Nation that resides in Lawton, Oklahoma, Reigner’s parents made every effort to keep her connected to her Indigenous heritage and part of a community that would later play a key role in her professional journey.
“My parents were really adamant on making sure my brother and I were still involved in the Native American traditions."
Abigail Reigner
“My parents were really adamant on making sure my brother and I were still involved in the Native American traditions,” Reigner said. “We would go down to Oklahoma often in the summertime, spending time with family and staying immersed in our culture.”
Both her parents come from a teaching background, so Reigner was surrounded by hands-on learning experiences early in life. As a school teacher, her mother would participate in local outreach events each year, talking and interacting with students. Her father, a middle school technology education teacher, taught Reigner how to use computer-aided design (CAD) and helped introduce her to the world of engineering at a young age.
These unique experiences helped spark Reigner’s curiosity for learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and connecting with others in her community who shared these interests. Reigner says she never takes her upbringing for granted.
“I feel pretty lucky to have grown up with so many educational opportunities, and I try to use them as a way to give back to my community,” Reigner said.
After participating in various engineering and robotics classes in high school and realizing a career in STEM was the right fit for her, Reigner went on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.
During her time there, she joined the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) where she got the unique opportunity to connect with other Indigenous students and mentors in STEM fields and gain leadership experience on projects that eventually set her up for internship opportunities at NASA.
“The opportunities I got through AISES led me to get an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the summer of 2021, and then an eight-month co-op the following year working in the center’s materials science division,” Reigner said.
Through AISES, Reigner also met Joseph Connolly, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland who was looking to recruit Indigenous students for full-time positions in the agency. Upon graduating from college, Reigner joined NASA Glenn as an engineer in the summer of 2024.
Abigail Reigner (top far left) and Joseph Connolly (middle far right) pose with NASA employees while staffing a booth at an American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) conference to help recruit Indigenous students to the agency. Credit: Abigail Reigner Today, Reigner works as a systems engineer supporting NASA Glenn’s efforts to test and demonstrate electrified aircraft propulsion technologies for future commercial aircraft as part of the agency’s mission to make air travel more sustainable.
One of the projects she works on is NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD), where she supports risk-reduction testing that enables the project to explore the feasibility of hybrid electric propulsion in reducing emissions and improving efficiency in future aircraft.
“It’s always good to know that you’re doing something that is furthering the benefit of humanity,” Reigner said. “Seeing that unity across NASA centers and knowing that you are a part of something that is accelerating technology for the future is very cool.”
“I really feel like the reason I am here at NASA is because of the success of not just the Native American support group here at Glenn, but also Natives across the agency.”
Abigail Reigner
The growing community of Native Americans at NASA Glenn has fostered several initiatives over the years that have helped recruit, inspire, and retain Indigenous employees.
Leveraging some of the agency’s diversity programs that provide educational STEM opportunities for underrepresented communities, the Native Americans at NASA group has encouraged more students with Indigenous backgrounds to get involved in technical projects while developing the skills needed to excel in STEM fields.
“The Native American support group at NASA has been around since the mid-to-late 1980s and was actually one of the first Native American employee resources groups at the agency,” Connolly said. “Through this, we’ve been able to connect a number of Native employees with senior leaders across NASA and establish more agencywide recruitment efforts and initiatives for Native Americans.”
These initiatives range from support through NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) to help recruit more Indigenous students, to encouraging participation in hands-on learning experiences through projects such as NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) and the agency’s involvement in the First Nations Launch competition, which helps provide students with opportunities to conduct research while developing engineering and team-building skills.
The efforts of the Native American community at NASA Glenn and across the agency have been successful in not only creating a direct pipeline for Indigenous students into the NASA workforce, but also allowing them to feel seen and represented in the agency, says Connolly.
For Reigner, having this community and resource group at NASA to help guide and support her through her journey has been crucial to her success and important for the future of diversity within the agency.
“I really feel like the reason I am here at NASA is because of the success of not just the Native American support group here at Glenn, but also Natives across the agency,” Reigner said. Without their support and initiatives to recruit and retain students, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Explore More
7 min read Six Ways Supercomputing Advances Our Understanding of the Universe
Article 4 days ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Chief Counsel Named to CSU Law Hall of Fame
Article 6 days ago 1 min read NASA Encourages Careers in STEM During Event
Article 6 days ago View the full article
-
By NASA
On Sept. 20, 2024, four students experienced the wonder of space exploration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, taking part in an international competition that brought their work to life aboard the International Space Station.
Now in its fifth year, the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) continues to push the boundaries of robotics, bringing together the world’s brightest young minds for a real-world test of programming, problem-solving, and innovation.
The Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) students tour the Gateway Habitation and Logistics Outpost module at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/Helen Arase Vargas The stakes reached new heights in this year’s competition, with 661 teams totaling 2,788 students from 35 countries and regions competing to program robots aboard the orbiting laboratory. Organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the challenge provided a unique platform for students to test their skills on a global stage.
Meet Team Salcedo
Representing the U.S., Team Salcedo is composed of four talented students: Aaron Kantsevoy, Gabriel Ashkenazi, Justin Bonner, and Lucas Paschke. Each member brought a unique skill set and perspective, contributing to the team’s well-rounded approach to the challenge.
From left to right are Kibo-RPC students Gabriel Ashkenazi, Lucas Paschke, Aaron Kantsevoy, and Justin Bonner. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas The team was named in honor of Dr. Alvaro Salcedo, a robotics teacher and competitive robotics coach who had a significant impact on Kantsevoy and Bonner during high school. Dr. Salcedo played a crucial role in shaping their interests and aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), inspiring them to pursue careers in these fields.
Kantsevoy, a computer science major at Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, led the team with three years of Kibo-RPC experience and a deep interest in robotics and space-based agriculture. Bonner, a second-year student at the University of Miami, is pursuing a triple major in computer science, artificial intelligence, and mathematics. Known for his quick problem-solving, he played a key role as a strategist and computer vision expert. Paschke, a first-time participant and computer science student at Georgia Tech, focused on intelligence systems and architecture, and brought fresh insights to the table. Ashkenazi, also studying computer science at Georgia Tech, specialized in computer vision and DevOps, adding depth to the team’s technical capabilities.
AstroBee Takes Flight
The 2024 competition tasked students with programming AstroBee, a free-flying robot aboard the station, to navigate a complex course while capturing images scattered across the orbital outpost. For Team Salcedo, the challenge reached its peak as their code was tested live on the space station.
The Kibo-RPC students watch their code direct Astrobee’s movements at Johnson Space Center with NASA Program Specialist Jamie Semple on Sept. 20, 2024.NASA/Helen Arase Vargas The robot executed its commands in real time, maneuvering through the designated course to demonstrate precision, speed, and adaptability in the microgravity environment. Watching AstroBee in action aboard the space station offered a rare glimpse of the direct impact of their programming skills and added a layer of excitement that pushed them to fine-tune their approach.
Overcoming Challenges in Real Time
Navigating AstroBee through the orbital outpost presented a set of unique challenges. The team had to ensure the robot could identify and target images scattered throughout the station with precision while minimizing the time spent between locations.
The Kibo-RPC students watch in real time as the free-flying robot Astrobee performs maneuvers aboard the International Space Station, executing tasks based on their input to test its capabilities. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas Using quaternions for smooth rotation in 3D space, they fine-tuned AstroBee’s movements to adjust camera angles and capture images from difficult positions without succumbing to the limitations of gimbal lock. Multithreading allowed the robot to simultaneously process images and move to the next target, optimizing the use of time in the fast-paced environment.
The Power of Teamwork and Mentorship
Working across different locations and time zones, Team Salcedo established a structured communication system to ensure seamless collaboration. Understanding each team member’s workflow and adjusting expectations accordingly helped them maintain efficiency, even when setbacks occurred.
Team Salcedo tour the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility with their NASA mentors (from top left to right) Education Coordinator Kaylie Mims, International Space Station Research Portfolio Manager Jorge Sotomayer, and Kibo-RPC Activity Manager Jamie Semple. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas Mentorship was crucial to their success, with the team crediting several advisors and educators for their guidance. Kantsevoy acknowledged his first STEM mentor, Casey Kleiman, who sparked his passion for robotics in middle school.
The team expressed gratitude to their Johnson mentors, including NASA Program Specialist Jamie Semple, Education Coordinator Kaylie Mims, and International Space Station Research Portfolio Manager Jorge Sotomayer, for guiding them through the program’s processes and providing support throughout the competition.
They also thanked NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement for offering the opportunity to present their project to Johnson employees.
“The challenge mirrors how the NASA workforce collaborates to achieve success in a highly technical environment. Team Salcedo has increased their knowledge and learned skills that they most likely would not have acquired individually,” said Semple. “As with all of our student design challenges, we hope this experience encourages the team to continue their work and studies to hopefully return to NASA in the future as full-time employees.”
Pushing the Boundaries of Innovation
The Kibo-RPC allowed Team Salcedo to experiment with new techniques, such as Slicing Aided Hyperinference—an approach that divides images into smaller tiles for more detailed analysis. Although this method showed promise in detecting smaller objects, it proved too time-consuming under the competition’s time constraints, teaching the students valuable lessons about prioritizing efficiency in engineering.
The Kibo-RPC students present their robotic programming challenge to the International Space Station Program. NASA/Bill Stafford For Team Salcedo, the programming challenge taught them the value of communication, the importance of learning from setbacks, and the rewards of perseverance. The thrill of seeing their code in action on the orbital outpost was a reminder of the limitless possibilities in robotics and space exploration.
Inspiring the Next Generation
With participants from diverse backgrounds coming together to compete on a global platform, the Kibo-RPC continues to be a proving ground for future innovators.
The challenge tested the technical abilities of students and fostered personal growth and collaboration, setting the stage for the next generation of robotics engineers and leaders.
The Kibo-RPC students and their mentors at the Mission Control Center. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
As Team Salcedo looks ahead, they carry with them the skills, experiences, and inspiration needed to push the boundaries of human space exploration.
“With programs like Kibo-RPC, we are nurturing the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation,” said Sotomayer. “It’s not far-fetched to imagine that one of these students could eventually be walking on the Moon or Mars.”
The winners were announced virtually from Japan on Nov. 9, with Team Salcedo achieving sixth place.
Watch the international final round event here.
For more information on the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge, visit: https://jaxa.krpc.jp/
View the full article
-
By NASA
Name: Matthew Kowalewski
Title: Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) Lead Instrument Systems Engineer
Formal Job Classification: Aerospace Engineer
Organization: Instrument and Payload Systems Engineering Branch (Code 592)
Matthew Kowalewski is the lead instrument systems engineer for NASA’s Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS). Photo courtesy of Matthew Kowalewski What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
As the DraMS lead instrument systems engineer for NASA’s Dragonfly mission, I lead the coordinated technical development, integrating systems and making sure communications across subsystems is maintained within the instruments as well as with the lander. I enjoy the diversity and complexity of this instrument.
What do you enjoy most about your current position as the DraMS lead instrument systems engineer?
I started this position in March 2023 and it has been like drinking from a fire hose ever since, but in a good way. The complexity of the instrument and the number of subsystems means this is really three separate instruments in one, and that makes my job exciting. I have to keep up with a range of disciplines across everything that Goddard does including mechanisms, lasers, mass spectrometers, gas flow systems, mechanical systems, thermal systems and electrical systems.
I am always challenged and excited by those challenges too. Everything we do is necessary to meet the broad science requirements. Our goal is studying prebiotic chemistry on the surface of Titan.
What is your educational background? Why did you become an aerospace engineer?
I have a B.A. in astronomy and physics from Boston University and a master’s in physics from Johns Hopkins University.
As a child, I was more interested in astronomy and physics. In college, I developed an extreme interest in experimental physics including the engineering required to perform these experiments.
How did you come to Goddard?
After college, I worked in missile defense for a private company supporting the Midcourse Space Experiment. After three years, in 1998, my wife and I wanted to move closer to family, so I came to Goddard as an instrument engineer supporting the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth Probe (TOMS/EP) mission. I have also supported the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on Aura, The Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) on Suomi NPP and JPSS, various airborne field campaigns, and the New Opportunities Office.
What interesting field work did you do prior to joining DraMS?
I largely did field work supporting Earth science research and new business development. We flew remote sensing instruments on high altitude aircraft in the United States, Costa Rica, South Korea [whose official name is the Republic of Korea], and Canada. Most field campaigns lasted about a month where we were housed in hotels or military bases. While supporting the New Opportunities Office, we developed instrument and mission concepts, evaluated and prioritized technologies, and fostered relationships with industry, universities, and other government organizations.
How do you lead across multiple teams?
I lead a large team engineers and technicians spanning across over six teams. Communication is the key. I rely on the expertise of our systems team and all of the subsystem leads. We have daily and weekly meetings where everyone is heard and they are free to approach me whenever they have concerns.
I try to encourage open discussions including contrarian thoughts and ideas. I listen to all the options and opinions in an attempt to make the best-informed decision. Then I move forward with my decision.
In a cost- and schedule-constrained environment, like most missions are, we cannot get stuck in the decision-making process. At some point, a decision needs to be made and the team then moves forward.
Where have you traveled for work?
I have been to multiple NASA centers and military bases in this country. In addition to Costa Rica, South Korea and Canada, I have also been to the Netherlands and France for mission development.
What is the most memorable moment you have had at Goddard?
In 2003, I was supporting the space shuttle Columbia mission, STS-107. We had a small payload in the shuttle cargo bay called a Hitchhiker. I was second shift in the Hitchhiker mission operations center. I got to interact with the astronauts both prelaunch and on orbit. It meant a lot to me. My last shift was just prior to their reentry. It really impacted me when I learned, after my shift, that the shuttle disintegrated with all hands lost.
I had the honor of meeting these astronauts. It reminded me of the importance of the work that we do as we continue sending astronauts into orbit for missions.
When you mentor someone, what do you advise them to do?
I tell them to learn as much about everything that they can. For example, if they are an engineer, they should learn about science and other disciplines because a broad knowledge base will help them in the future. They will also learn why building a small piece of hardware is important for accomplishing the mission’s science goals. An electrical engineer building a circuit is actually building something for a far larger purpose.
It is also very important to get along with others. We work with others every day, in all aspects of our lives, and we have to understand their perspectives and respect their opinions. There is more to our jobs than building things. Establishing relationships with others is what truly allows us to accomplish our goals.
What do you do for fun?
I have four kids and enjoy spending time with them. I coach soccer, mentor a robotics club, and participate in endurance swim races. This is my second year as a mentor to my son’s robotics club, which participates in an annual, national robotics competition to build a robot from scratch. This year we have a highly mobile, fast robot with a multi-jointed arm to manipulate objects. I think we have a good shot at going to nationals.
Who would you like to thank?
I wish to thank my wife Angie for supporting me over all these years as my career developed. She was often home alone with four kids during long stints of travel. I would not be where I am without her.
I also owe much to my mentors, Scott Janz, Glenn Jaross, and Jay Al-Saadi for all their guidance, support and opportunities over the many years. Nobody can work alone, no matter how smart you are.
What is your “five-word or phrase memoir”? A five-word or phrase memoir describes something in just five words or phrases.
Understanding. Compassionate. Persistent. Hard-working. Curious about too many things.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 12, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
People of Goddard Dragonfly Goddard Space Flight Center People of NASA View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
The Space Resources Challenge was launched last week, an opportunity for innovators to pioneer the technologies that will help humankind live and work sustainably on the Moon.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.