Written by: Zachary Riffle June 4, 2018 Provided by Dr. John Steadman of the University of South Alabama, a member of the Alabama Space Grant Consortium. Congratulations go to our Affiliates at the University of South Alabama for being awarded for two of this year's NASA X-Hab Challenges. The X-Hab Challenge which is administered by the National Space Grant is a program designed to provide opportunities for research and innovation in a wide variety of technological challenges faced by current and future human exploration. The teams who have been awarded will spend the 2018-2019 year developing their proposed systems into fully functioning prototypes for evaluation in May 2019. It should also be noted that USA is the only university to be awarded two positions. The two proposal from USA are listed below: Automation Infrastructure for Gateway Biological LaboratoryStudents will focus on the automation and power management of an uncrewed biological laboratory for the gateway, with a special focus on energy-efficient computing and software design. Autonomy enables mission operations with minimal support from a crew or mission control on Earth. Undergraduate Elective Class Evaluating Ionic Liquids for Closed Air RevitalizationStudents will evaluate the use of two custom synthesized ionic liquid solutions for carbon dioxide capture in a closed air revitalization system. A majority of the breathing air for astronauts is recycled within the spacecraft or habitat, and a key part of this process is the removal of exhaled carbon dioxide. For more information and the original article click here.
