Three U.S. university-led proposals have been selected by NASA to develop technologies for living and working on the Moon. This push for technological development comes as NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon through its Artemis missions, the agency’s plan to send the first.
Representative Image | Pic: Pixabay
As NASA aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, the agency is looking to the US universities for lunar-focused research to bring about advancements in onsite resource utilisation and sustainable power solutions.
The US space agency on Monday said that it has selected six project proposals under its first-ever Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation. Our inaugural LuSTR opportunity targeted two technology areas within NASA s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative that are essential to the agency s Artemis program, which will land the first woman and next man on the Moon, Walt Engelund, Deputy Associate Administrator for programmes in NASA s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) said in a statement.
Washington University to develop lunar resource utilization technology for NASA
Newswise Power and in-situ resources are two things humans will need as they explore deep space. How future astronauts use these commodities depends on the technology at hand. That’s why NASA is looking to U.S. universities including Washington University in St. Louis for lunar-focused research to bring about advancements in in-situ resource utilization and sustainable power solutions.
NASA announced March 8 that it has selected scientists at Washington University to build a rover-mounted drill sensor to quantify the 3D distribution of water at the moon’s south pole. A laser probe located at the bottom of the drill, capable of analyzing regolith, would quantify the amount of water and other chemicals present beneath the surface.
As NASA aims to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, the agency is looking to the US universities for lunar-focused research to bring about advancements in onsite resource utilisation and sustainable power solutions.The US .