Students from The Ohio State University have developed a novel cryogenic refueling system for use in long-term space exploration beyond Earth's orbit.
NASA's Human Lander Challenge is an annual competition that invites university groups to explore innovative solutions to help support future astronaut missions to the moon and Mars. This year, participants created solutions for super-cold liquid propellant storage and transfer technologies, critical apparatuses vital to spacecraft propulsion and human life support systems.
Among all entrants, 12 student teams were chosen as finalists and brought to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to showcase their projects. After presenting their prototypes to a panel of NASA and industry experts, the agency announced that the Ohio State group who began their work in March with their project, the autonomous magnetized cryo-couplers with active alignment control (AMCC-AAC), was named Best Prototype.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott was the overall winner and recipient of a $10,000 award. The second place team, Old Dominion University was awarded $5,000, while the third place team, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received $3,000.
"Our project is unique in the sense that we want to future-proof the system," said Max Heil, the team's project manager and an undergraduate student in aerospace engineering at Ohio State. "If you're going to colonize Mars, you're going to need technology that is pretty universal."
While current technologies allow cryogenic liquids to be stored for short periods, scientists are looking for ways to improve the efficiency and reliability of these systems because long-term human spaceflight will require them to function effectively for weeks or even months.
Unlike other propellant transfer technologies, the AMCC-AAC is designed to eliminate the need for constant human interaction when performing refueling missions in space, said Heil. In space, safely transferring liquid propellant between two spacecraft can be challenging, but this team's prototype suggests such issues could be solved by using AI to fully automate the process.
"AI is so adaptable, it can do just about anything," said Heil. "The beauty of the system is there are different ways that we could utilize it, so that's why we're really excited about it."
Using a combination of LIDAR distance measurements, cameras, onboard human landing system sensors and artificial intelligence algorithms, their system would achieve autonomous coupling via robotic cooling rods. In this way, the Ohio State team's solution would work to mitigate misalignment during cryogenic docking and reduce opportunities for potential propellant leakage, said Heil.
Although implementation of these promising technologies may be years away, if adopted, the AMCC-AAC would also benefit NASA's Artemis Program in its push to return humans to the moon as well as the agency's planned operation of Gateway, an outpost in lunar orbit that will act as both a scientific hub and fuel outpost for sustained deep space exploration.
After the event, participants also had the opportunity to connect with other subject matter experts working on NASA's Human Landing System capabilities. Some reflected on how the chance to polish unique ideas for future spaceflight risks inspired new interest in the field.
"This started as more of a small hobby for me, but Ohio State's support for space technology and research has turned it into a real passion," said Zafar Shaik, another member of the team and an undergraduate student in aerospace engineering at Ohio State. "I don't know if I would have gotten this far without the university's big push into space."
Overall, many in the group hope that the experience opens doors for upcoming Ohio State students to get involved in NASA's Human Lander Challenge and, more widely, helps them jump-start fulfilling careers in the emerging commercial space sector.
"Ohio State has invested quite a bit into the space industry, and the rise in the amount of people that want to work in it is growing so rapidly," said Heil. "So to imagine our project could be implemented on future mission systems is really rewarding for our whole team."
The group was advised by Ohio State's John Horack, a professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Other engineering members of the team include Rahul Ravishankar, Will Rueter, Kevin Subin, Nishanth Kunchala, Anastasia Anikina, Ryan Endicott, Artur Leonel Machado Ulsenheimer, Shiv Amin and Tejdeep Somi Reddy.
