Student-designed spacewalk tools: From the training pool to the ocean floor
2016-08-24
Little did students at Los Medanos College know, testing their spacewalk tool prototype in NASA’s training pool was just the first step on a journey that would take it to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
A team of 11 Los Medanos College engineering and physics undergraduate students designed the Isolate Regolith Inspection Sampler (I.R.I.S.) tool as part of NASA’s Microgravity Neutral Buoyancy Experimental Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) activity. Micro-g NExT challenges undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge related to NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission. The overall experience includes hands-on engineering design, test operations and public outreach.
Student teams travel to Houston with their prototypes for the test operations portion of the activity at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL)—a 6.2-million-gallon indoor training pool used to simulate microgravity conditions during spacewalks. Professional divers test the tools as students direct them from the Test Conductor Room of the NBL facility, and real spacewalk tools engineers are there to offer feedback.
During Los Medanos College’s testing in early June, NASA engineers were impressed and wanted to see more.
“Their design was like nothing I had ever seen,” said NASA spacewalk tools engineer Adam Naids. “The innovative design solution was not only unique, but it worked really well.”
An upcoming NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) expedition offered the perfect opportunity for Naids and his colleagues to explore the I.R.I.S. tool’s capabilities in another analog environment. From July 21 to Aug. 5, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists would be living 60 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Aquarius habitat located about 6.2 miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. The NEEMO 21 Expedition was set to focus on evaluating tools and techniques for future spacewalks on a variety of surfaces and gravity levels ranging from asteroids to the moons of Mars, and even the Martian surface.
“We wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to get more feedback on the tool, this time from astronauts,” Naids said. “We seamlessly embedded the I.R.I.S. tool into our NASA-developed tool kit and shipped it down to Florida.”
Astronaut and aquanaut Reid Wiseman tested the I.R.I.S. tool as a NEEMO 21 crew member and shared his excitement on social media.
“Student-developed tools contributing to a NASA analog mission give the students extra motivation to complete STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degrees,” said Micro-g NExT Activity Manager Trinesha Dixon. “That real-world application of solving engineering challenges facing human deep space exploration is the exciting aspect of the Micro-g NExT experience.”
Because Micro-g NExT encourages students to design with real space exploration challenges in mind, there was a clear path to remove obstacles for an opportunity that would further connect the students’ work to NASA’s missions. Enabling change in the way tools are usually integrated into the NEEMO-developed tool kit ultimately made the Micro-g NExT program and the NEEMO program more successful at exemplifying JSC 2.016.
You never know where an engineering design might take you! NASA is inviting undergraduate students to participate in the next round of Micro-g NExT proposals beginning Aug. 24. JSC’s Office of Education is hosting a series of online information sessions to answer your burning questions about this cool research and development opportunity. Learn more at: https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov
Hayley Fick
NASA Johnson Space Center
A team of 11 Los Medanos College engineering and physics undergraduate students designed the Isolate Regolith Inspection Sampler (I.R.I.S.) tool as part of NASA’s Microgravity Neutral Buoyancy Experimental Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) activity. Micro-g NExT challenges undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge related to NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission. The overall experience includes hands-on engineering design, test operations and public outreach.
Student teams travel to Houston with their prototypes for the test operations portion of the activity at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL)—a 6.2-million-gallon indoor training pool used to simulate microgravity conditions during spacewalks. Professional divers test the tools as students direct them from the Test Conductor Room of the NBL facility, and real spacewalk tools engineers are there to offer feedback.
During Los Medanos College’s testing in early June, NASA engineers were impressed and wanted to see more.
“Their design was like nothing I had ever seen,” said NASA spacewalk tools engineer Adam Naids. “The innovative design solution was not only unique, but it worked really well.”
An upcoming NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) expedition offered the perfect opportunity for Naids and his colleagues to explore the I.R.I.S. tool’s capabilities in another analog environment. From July 21 to Aug. 5, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists would be living 60 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Aquarius habitat located about 6.2 miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. The NEEMO 21 Expedition was set to focus on evaluating tools and techniques for future spacewalks on a variety of surfaces and gravity levels ranging from asteroids to the moons of Mars, and even the Martian surface.
“We wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to get more feedback on the tool, this time from astronauts,” Naids said. “We seamlessly embedded the I.R.I.S. tool into our NASA-developed tool kit and shipped it down to Florida.”
Astronaut and aquanaut Reid Wiseman tested the I.R.I.S. tool as a NEEMO 21 crew member and shared his excitement on social media.
“Student-developed tools contributing to a NASA analog mission give the students extra motivation to complete STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degrees,” said Micro-g NExT Activity Manager Trinesha Dixon. “That real-world application of solving engineering challenges facing human deep space exploration is the exciting aspect of the Micro-g NExT experience.”
Because Micro-g NExT encourages students to design with real space exploration challenges in mind, there was a clear path to remove obstacles for an opportunity that would further connect the students’ work to NASA’s missions. Enabling change in the way tools are usually integrated into the NEEMO-developed tool kit ultimately made the Micro-g NExT program and the NEEMO program more successful at exemplifying JSC 2.016.
You never know where an engineering design might take you! NASA is inviting undergraduate students to participate in the next round of Micro-g NExT proposals beginning Aug. 24. JSC’s Office of Education is hosting a series of online information sessions to answer your burning questions about this cool research and development opportunity. Learn more at: https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov
Hayley Fick
NASA Johnson Space Center
Astronaut Reid Wiseman tests Los Medanos College’s spacewalk tool prototype on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean during the latest NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission, NEEMO 21. Image Credit: NASA
Students from Los Medanos College designed the Isolate Regolith Inspection Sampler spacewalk tool prototype for NASA’s Micro-g NExT activity. Image Credit: NASA
Los Medanos College students tested their spacewalk tool prototype with professional divers at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in early June. Image Credit: NASA
The students directed divers testing their spacewalk tool prototype from the test control room at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Image Credit: NASA