But the ability to harvest and use that water is another obstacle to its purification.
“Access to water – wherever you are – is crucial for the future study of human space,” said NASA chief technologist Douglas Terrier.
The teams design and build hardware that can identify, map and drill through various underground layers, and then extract as much water as possible. possible from a 600-pound ice block in an out-of-this-world test bed.
Leclere, who will graduate with barrier and master steps in the spring of 2022, said the Cal Poly prototype will use a rotating hammer and a masonry drill bit to create a hole in the Martian or lunar soil.
A small hand drill then drives a heating probe into the loose soil, where it melts ice using a cartridge heater and a hot waterjet. The extracted water is brought to the surface by a peristaltic pump.
Semifinalists will receive $ 5,000 stipends to begin building their systems in the next three months, with judges selecting the finals in March.
Finishers will then receive an additional $ 5,000 stipend to showcase their systems to a panel of judges comprising NASA engineers and researchers along with industry experts.
In addition to Cal Poly, semifinalist schools include Auburn University, Colorado School of Mines, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, South Dakota State University, Stevens Institute of Technology and New York State University Polytechnic Institute.
Completing the list are Texas A&M University, University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Northeastern University working with Design Automation Associates and San Diego State University working with Collins Aerospace.