Cal Poly’s Team Pyxis and Team Lunar Lads have been selected to move into Phase II of NASA’s 2023 Micro-g NExT challenge.
Team Pyxis was selected to compete in the Surface Autonomous Vehicle for Emergency Rescue (SAVER) challenge. The team advisors are Mechanical Engineering Professor Peter Schuster and Computer Engineering Chair Lynne Slivovsky. The team consists of seniors Mac Coltelli (ME), Josh Alderson (CPE), Jake Alt (CPE), Kobe Hayashi (ME), Sebastian Rivero (ME), Addison Sandvik (CPE) and Brian Wong (ME).
Team Lunar Lads was selected to compete in the Dust-Tolerant Handle Extension Mechanism challenge. The team advisor is Mechanical Engineering Professor Peter Schuster. The team consists of seniors Andrew Reese (ME), Sam Potter (ME), Matt Redmond (ME) and Dylan Weiglein (ME).
Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) challenges undergraduate students to design, build and test a tool or device that addresses an authentic, current space exploration challenge. The overall experience includes hands-on engineering design, test operations and public outreach. Test operations are conducted in the simulated microgravity environment of the NASA Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). Teams will propose design and prototyping of a tool or simulant identified by NASA engineers as necessary in space exploration missions. Professional NBL divers will test the tools and students will direct the divers from the Test Conductor Room of the NBL facility. Micro-g NExT provides a unique opportunity to contribute to NASA’s missions. The 2023 Micro-g NExT challenges focus on astronaut training, Orion crew safety, extravehicular activities (EVA) operations for missions to the International Space Station and lunar EVA operations during the Artemis missions.
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