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Updated March 9th, 2021 at 19:52 IST

NASA ropes in US universities for lunar-focused research under LuSTR opportunity

NASA is going to rely on US universities for assistance to fulfil its aim of landing the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.

Reported by: Akanksha Arora
NASA
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NASA is going to rely on US universities for assistance to fulfill its aim of landing the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. NASA, on its official website said that two things needed by the humans to explore deep space will be power and in-situ resources. It further added that the agency is looking to US universities to bring about advancements in in-situ resource utilization and sustainable power solutions. As of now, NASA has shortlisted six project proposals under its first-ever Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation.

Walt Engelund, deputy associate administrator for programs in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), said, “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”. He added, “The systems developed by U.S. universities could make future exploration more accessible, robust, and exciting”.

NASA being helped by US universities 

As per NASA, the farther human explorers travel into space, it will be more important to create the products using local material. NASA is researching and developing systems for the moon as it aims to demonstrate in-situ resource utilization technologies on the Moon, using it as a testbed for Mars. NASA has selected three universities, including, the  University of Texas in El Paso, Washington University in St. Louis, and Michigan Technological University in Houghton. These universities will help in researching innovative ways to identify resources, like water, on the Moon, and inventive designs for extraction and utilization equipment.

According to the official website, the University of Texas will research an advanced thermal mining approach that could release, trap, and transport water vapor found on the Moon. The team is led by principal investigator Ahsan Choudhuri. Washington University will build a rover-mounted drill to quantify the 3D distribution of water at the Moon’s South Pole. The research lead will be Principal investigator Alian Wang. Michigan Technological University will adapt a heated percussive cone penetrometer. This will help in characterizing the strength of lunar soil, or regolith. These universities will be further assisted by University of California in Santa Barbara, Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Ohio State University in Columbus.

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Published March 9th, 2021 at 19:28 IST

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