NASA teams with students to test a 3D printed launching pad slashgear.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from slashgear.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When it comes to the future of space exploration, it is only fitting that the next generation of engineers and scientists play a vital role in imagining that future. A team of undergraduate students from 10 colleges and universities across the United States â members of the Artemis Generation â are turning their creative ideas into reality. They designed a reusable landing pad that could be 3D printed from materials found on the Moon.
The novel concept â called the Lunar Plume Alleviation Device, or Lunar PAD â focuses on solving the problems caused when the force of an engineâs powerful exhaust meets the dusty lunar surface. The design features a series of petal-like channels that send exhaust upward and outward, minimizing the amount of dust lofted during launch and landing. The student team presented a paper on the Lunar PAD concept Jan. 12 at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauticsâ 2021 SciTech Forum.