Michigan Tech’s PSTDL Earns an Invite to the Marshall Space Flight Center Following the NASA Break the Ice Challenge Performance

Michigan Tech’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab participates in the NASA Brea the Ice Lunar Challenge at Alabama A&M University. Last week the Michigan Tech Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab competed in the Break the Ice Challenge against universities and industry companies. In 2020 NASA started the Break the Ice Challenge and asked competitors to propose robotic systems that can use resources on the lunar surface to aid astronauts living on the moon.

Even though Michigan Tech’s 16 students and professor Paul van Sustane did not place in the competition’s final round. The group will earn an invite to the Marshall Space Flight Center’s Thermal Vacum facility. Michigan Tech’s PSTDL students will join Break the Ice challenge winner Terra Engineering and runner-up Starpath Robotics to continue testing and development with the robotics. Break the Ice Challenge manager Naveen Vatcha says that the center looks forward to hosting the three organizations so they can continue to work on systems within a state-of-the-art facility.

 Those interested in learning more about the Michigan Tech Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab and the NASA Break the Ice Challenge in 2024 can find more details here.

Learn more about the Michigan Tech Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab here.