NASA Challenge Invites Students to Design Exploration Systems

[baa...@earthlink.net]

April 3, 2014

NASA Challenge Invites Students to Design Exploration Systems

College and university students have an opportunity to help design systems
for future space habitats and exploration systems through NASA's Exploration
Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge. Applications for the fifth
annual challenge will be accepted through April 30.

The project will challenge students to design and implement new prototype
systems that may advance exploration capabilities. To take part in the X-Hab
Challenge, student teams submit their plan for the design, manufacture,
assembly and testing of their system. These plans will be evaluated by the
agency's Exploration Augmentation Module (EAM) team, a new agency activity
under the Advanced Exploration Systems division of NASA's Human Exploration
and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in
Washington. The AES division pioneers development and demonstration of new
technologies for future human missions beyond Earth's orbit.

The EAM consolidated several existing activities to fine-tune its effort to
develop prototype systems that augment Orion's habitation and spacewalking
capabilities for extended deep space missions. Orion is NASA's
next-generation spacecraft designed to carry astronauts beyond low-Earth
orbit, including to an asteroid and Mars. Orion's first uncrewed test flight,
Exploration Flight Test-1, is scheduled to launch later this year.

Previous X-Hab Challenge projects included an inflatable loft for crew
sleeping quarters, plant growth systems, stowage systems and habitat layout
designs. This year, students may choose projects from a variety of areas such
as power distribution systems, advanced avionics, inflatable structures,
additive manufacturing and food production systems.

"We look forward to another imaginative group of X-Hab projects for the 2015
Challenge," said Lora Bailey, EAM project manager at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston. "Our team of engineers and scientists around the agency
benefits from the enthusiasm, energy and creativity of the university teams,
and the teams benefit from the real world experiences of collaborating with
NASA experts and following a project from design through implementation."

The X-Hab Challenge is part of a continuing effort to engage and retain
students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The
challenge is managed for the EAM project team by the National Space Grant
Foundation. Teams selected for the challenge will receive a monetary stipend
to assist in producing functional products based on their designs.

For more information on the X-Hab Challenge, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/x-hab

For more information on NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jb...@nasa.gov

Tracy Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
tracy....@nasa.gov

Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
nicole.c...@nasa.gov