We design, build and test in-situ resource utilization technologies to support living off the land on the Moon and Mars.
- Pale Red Dot (Sep 2022 - Jun 2023)
- Polis-based Architecture for the Long-term Exploration of the Red planet, with Exciting and Diverse Developmental Opportunities to Thrive
- Finalist for the NASA 2023 RASC-AL Competition
- Theme challenge: develop a Mars human exploration architecture that can enable astronauts to live on the surface of Mars for at least 7 years with minimal resupply from Earth.
- Approach: aim for thriving, not just surviving, using a large architecture of two villages and 36 crew, supported by an extensive makerspace on Mars and in-situ resource utilization.
- Energy-rich, water-rich, food-rich, time-rich and capability-rich
- Video summarizing the concept
- MIT ARTEMIS Steelworks Project (Sep 2022 -)
- A finalist team entered in the NASA 2023 BIG Idea Challenge
- Design and build challenge. Ends with a demonstration of our hardware at NASA's Glenn Research Center in November 2023.
- Objective: to design, develop, and demonstrate technologies that will enable the production of lunar infrastructure from ISRU-derived metals found on the Moon.
- BART & MARGE (Oct 2021 - Jun 2022)
- Bipropellant All-in-one in-situ Resource utilization Truck & Mobile Autonomous Reactor Generating Electricity
- A fully mobile & fully integrated double-fault tolerant architecture to produce methane and oxygen propellant on Mars
- 2022 NASA's RASC-AL Forum, First Place Overall and Best in Theme, 20-23 June 2022, Cocoa Beach, FL
- Proposal video (2 min), technical paper, poster, and final presentation video (~45 min) describing the BART & MARGE concept
- WORMS (Feb - Nov 2022)
- Walking Oligomeric Robotic Mobility System
- Modular robot architecture for lunar exploration and infrastructure development
- 2022 NASA's BIG Idea Challenge, Finalist, 16-18 November 2022, Pasadena, CA
- Proposal video (Jan 2022, 3 min) and development video (Oct 2022, ~4min) describing the WORMS concept
- SELTI (2021-2024)
- Self Erecting Lunar Tower for Instruments
- For science and line-of-sight support to small rovers exploring lunar permanently shadowed regions
- In active development under a Space Act Agreement with NASA Langley Research Center
- Lab hours: Tue ~5-9pm, weekly meeting: Wed 5-6pm
- HYDRATION III (2019-2021)
- High-Yield Dihydrogen monoxide Retrieval And Terrain Identification On New worlds
- For Moon and Mars prospecting and water production from subsurface ice
- NASA's Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge. Awards: First Place, Most Water Collected, Best Technical Poster
- NASA video (~10 min) of interview of MIT team members at the competition finals
- MELLTT (2019-2021)
- Multifunctional Expandable Lunar Lightweight Tall Tower
- For line-of-sight support to small rovers exploring lunar permanently shadowed regions
- NASA's BIG Idea Challenge. Awards: Path to Flight Award, Industry Collaboration Peer Award
- MELLTT trailer (1 min), tech demo video (3 min) and final presentation (28 min)
- HYDRATION (2018-2019)
- High-Yield Dihydrogen monoxide Retrieval And Terrain Identification On New worlds
- For Moon and Mars prospecting and water production from subsurface ice
- NASA's Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge. Award: Best Technical Paper
- HYDRA (2017-2018)
- High-Yield Dihydrogen monoxide Retrieval Assembly
- For Mars water production from subsurface ice
- NASA's Mars Ice Challenge. Award: Best Technical Paper
- MARINA (2016-2017)
- MAnaged Reconfigurable In-space Nodal Assembly
- For a commercially owned and operated space station in low Earth orbit
- NASA's RASC-AL Forum. Award: First Place in the Graduate Division
