Students from Colorado School of Mines are headed to NASAs Langley Research Center this summer for a competition that is out of this world.
Team DREAMR short for Drilling Rig for the Exploration and Acquisition of Martian Resources is the fourth Mines team in four years to qualify for the one-of-a-kind collegiate aerospace competition.
The all-mechanical engineering team has wasted no time in getting started remaking last years Mines rig into their own the team stripped out and replaced all the electrical and control systems over winter break shortly after learning they qualified for the finals.
In addition to adding a programmable logic controller, the team is also planning to integrate a heat exchanger into the drilling and extraction subsystem, tapping into the power of forced convection in hopes of increasing the amount of water they can ultimately pull out.
The Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge is a special edition of NASAs Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL), a series of university-level engineering design competitions sponsored by NASA and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace to engage students and faculty in real-world aerospace work.