Planning That Trip to Mars? Students to Present Recommendations to NASA

For the second consecutive year, a team of Duquesne students has reached the finals in NASA’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts—Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition.

Open to undergraduate and graduate students studying fields with applications to human space exploration, the competition enables students to incorporate their coursework into real aerospace design concepts and work together in a team environment.

The seven Duquesne students are from a variety of schools and programs, including biomedical engineering, nursing and natural and environmental sciences. They’ll travel to Coco Beach, Fla., next month to present their innovative concepts and use case scenarios for NASA’s Gateway before a panel of NASA and industry experts. 

Under the themed category Gateway Logistics as a Science Platform, the team will present their project, Solar Orbital Logistics Forecasting and Radiation Module (SOLFARM) Thursday, June 20. Their presentation will be live-streamed online at https://livestream.com/viewnow/rascal-forum/.

The team’s project looks at developing the technical details needed to identify where radiation is located in the atmosphere and how to combat it to safely land astronauts on Mars. Duquesne will compete against a group of students from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.