UND/NASA Research

[GeauxSioux]

NASA tests Mars space suit in Argentine Antarctica

A NASA team has tested a space suit in a setting with extreme conditions akin to some of those found on Mars -- an Argentine base in Antarctica -- for possible use on a visit to the Red Planet.

The NDX-1 space suit, designed by Argentine aerospace engineer Pablo de Leon, endured frigid temperatures and winds of more than 47 mph as researchers tried out techniques for collecting soil samples on Mars.

De Leon, who heads the space suit laboratory at the University of North Dakota in the United States, said Antarctica was ideal for sample collection as it is one of the least contaminated places on earth and will also give clues about the suit's impact.

"Mars is a mixture of many different environments: deserts, and temperatures and winds like in Antarctica," De Leon said. "So we try to take bits of different places and try to see if our systems can withstand the rigors of Mars if we go there."

[GeauxSioux]

Best place to put this rather than starting a new thread..... NASA Announces Lunabotics Mining Competition Winners

During the competition, teams remotely controlled excavators, called lunabots, to determine which could collect the most simulated lunar soil during a specified timeframe. The first place mining competition team was Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada. The Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence winner was the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

Winners in other competition categories are:

On-Site Mining Award Winners: University of North Dakota and West Virginia University

[jimdahl]

Students Win NASA Moon Robot Competition

By all appearances the Raptor team from the University of North Dakota, one of 34 American teams in the competition, was in a prime spot to win after the first day. Its robot collected 379.6 pounds (172.2 kilograms) of material.

The rover looked like a miniaturized front end loader.

"It's a proven, robust design that