Student team design provides NASA with not one, but two options

This year’s NASA Micro-g NExT challenge was to create handles for an existing cart used for extravehicular activity on the moon. It had to be adjustable, so astronauts of varying heights and sizes could use it comfortably, and it needed to be dust tolerant for lunar surfaces. The proposal submitted by a team from Illinois Space Society’s Micro-g NExT was selected and tested by divers in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory – the 40-foot-deep pool in Houston where astronauts train for spacewalks.

Aerospace undergrad Alana Falter was this year’s team lead on ATHENA -- Adjustable Tool-cart Handle for Efficient Navigational Assistance. She said the team decided to create not one set of handles, but two, along with tandem gears to allow the user to switch from one to the other.

“Honestly, we wanted to see if there were circumstances where it would be easier to use one kind of handle over another,” Falter said. “We were thinking of grip and muscle fatigue, because one handle style used mostly chest muscles, but with another, it’s more about your shoulders. We wanted to provide some options that could relieve some fatigue.”

She explained when pushing a lawnmower or shopping cart your hands rest on top of it. They added the second set of vertical handles to see if they would be better for pulling the cart up and down a crater, for example.

Although Falter admitted it was a bit over-engineered, theirs was the only team that offered dual adjustment options and they were happy with the results, even though it added a second layer of difficulty.

“We had two mechanisms, which makes everything more complicated, because then that's two mechanisms that need to be safe; two mechanisms that need to actuate effectively; two mechanisms that need to be dust-tolerant – so, that definitely made life harder.”

She said the biggest problem component was a custom part called the t-valve. It was an integral part of the design because it connects the top mechanism to the bottom mechanism. They didn’t have the resources to have it fabricated in metal so the team 3D printed the part in plastic.

“It’s one of the highest stress components and it cracked multiple times.”

After one of the breaks, because they had used an epoxy to join the parts, the only way to disassemble it was to destroy most of it and re-3D print all the parts that broke.

“We took a step back after that experience. We understood why it cracked. Now, how can we fix it so that if this ever happens again it’s easier to take apart?”

Falter said the team added holes for bolts rather than using epoxy. It worked and the fabrication was complete. Until the week before finals, the piece cracked again because they’d tightened the bolts too much.

“A lot of awesome team members worked hard to change the surface that the bolts contacted so the stress was dissipated over a larger area. That was the final version we took to test week in Houston, and we had no cracking after that.”

About the actual test in NBL, Falter said “Everything went well. No major issues. Both of our actuation mechanisms worked. The diver really liked it. We were able to complete all of, our test objectives. Because it was intended to be used on the moon, we also got to go to the simulant development laboratory and test it with lunar dust until failure, so that was cool. And at a career fair during the week, the team got to present to astronaut Nicole Mann.”

Falter said although Micro-g NExT isn’t a competition, they do give several awards.

“Over the school year, we went to local schools like Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary school, worked at Illinois Space Day, Science Olympiad at Parkland College, Engineering Open House, Urbana Free Library and lots of events with Women in Aerospace.

“We did 10 outreach events with a total estimate of 1,500 people. Just recently, I learned we received the Micro-g NexT Pay it Forward Award.”

Falter said she’s proud of what they accomplished and what they learned along the way.

“There are other teams who fabricate in-house like we do, but a lot of teams also send their stuff out to machine shops. I think it's really, valuable for our members to get experience manufacturing, so even if the parts might not be the best, they're gaining those skills, they're learning how to water jet, they're learning how to use a drill press. I think that's more valuable than having a perfect device.”

She also stressed what a young team they are.  Falter was a junior and the oldest member of the team.

“Traditionally, Micro-g has been a good steppingstone for underclassmen to gain technical and manufacturing skills. I was freshman on the 2024 team and got the opportunity to be the one who directly communicates with the diver. One of my sub leads, Max Alchin, is a freshman, so I wanted to give that opportunity to him.

“I got a lot out of my experience on the team as a freshman and hope the freshman this year did, too. I like to say Micro-g has low onboarding. For a lot of other team challenges, it’s the same project every year so you need to know a lot of background. Micro-g changes every year. Is it helpful to have background? Absolutely, but it doesn't bar you from going and figuring things out, and learning how to CAD, learning how to 3D print and all.

“The thinking behind the challenges is there is a gap of some sort and student teams could bring ideas to fill it. If there’s a good idea, NASA might adopt it.”

Team members who contributed to the final report and their majors are Alana Falter, aerospace; Max Alchin, systems engineering; Katelyn Czarnowski, systems engineering, Tiana Foreman, aerospace; Lillian Hunt, aerospace; Isabel Obert, aerospace; Casimir Pawlowski, aerospace; Sarah Gottis, geology; Logan Krussell, aerospace; William Witt, aerospace; Maggie Brummel, aerospace; Madelina Avila, molecular and cellular biology; Freya Luo, materials science; and Taranpreet Singh, astronomy.

The team’s faculty advisor was Mickey Clemon from the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering and their NASA mentor was Alexis Gangeme.