Help Student Finalists Win NASA Competition
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Hello there!
We are the team leaders for the SALVARE team in the NASA-run RASC-AL 2022 competition. Our team is a mixed graduate/undergraduate team of 29 students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (USA) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Since November 2021, we have collaborated to research and design a mission concept to build a self-sustaining architecture that will create and store rocket propellant for future crewed missions on Mars. (more detailed information at the bottom)
RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage) is a NASA-sponsored competition that aims to collect new ideas from students for future NASA mission concepts. The NASA Artemis program, which will take humanity to the moon again, was developed from a RASC-AL proposal.
We are the team leaders for the SALVARE team in the NASA-run RASC-AL 2022 competition. Our team is a mixed graduate/undergraduate team of 29 students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (USA) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Since November 2021, we have collaborated to research and design a mission concept to build a self-sustaining architecture that will create and store rocket propellant for future crewed missions on Mars. (more detailed information at the bottom)
RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage) is a NASA-sponsored competition that aims to collect new ideas from students for future NASA mission concepts. The NASA Artemis program, which will take humanity to the moon again, was developed from a RASC-AL proposal.
In March 2022, our proposal was selected by NASA from a sea of national submissions. We are 1 of 15 finalist teams chosen to present our epic mission concept to NASA and cream-of-the-crop aerospace industry leaders at the RASC-AL forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida on June 20-23, 2022. Our presentation will also be live-streamed by NASA for you to watch!
We are also super pumped to compete in the forum's volleyball tournament in which we will take on the other 14 teams purely for the glory (no seriously, some of us have even signed up for a volleyball masterclass to train for this)!
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Unfortunately, NASA cannot provide enough funds for the entire team to attend the conference. However, the strength behind our project is the team behind it and we want as many members as we can to participate.
Our team is comprised of 29 students across the world. Our Embry-Riddle students are traveling from Arizona, California, Italy, Florida, and Singapore. Our Politecnico di Milano team is coming from Italy (including our beloved Greek co-team leader).
This forum and presentation are critical for us as students to participate in because it provides enormous industry exposure. Furthermore, the forum directly provides recruiting opportunities and events. Lastly, the top two winning teams of the competition will be awarded a stipend to present at an additional aerospace conference. NASA also benefits from this competition by using these mission concepts to help advance technology readiness and potentially turn our concepts into a reality in future NASA missions!
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Unfortunately, NASA cannot provide enough funds for the entire team to attend the conference. However, the strength behind our project is the team behind it and we want as many members as we can to participate.
Our team is comprised of 29 students across the world. Our Embry-Riddle students are traveling from Arizona, California, Italy, Florida, and Singapore. Our Politecnico di Milano team is coming from Italy (including our beloved Greek co-team leader).
This forum and presentation are critical for us as students to participate in because it provides enormous industry exposure. Furthermore, the forum directly provides recruiting opportunities and events. Lastly, the top two winning teams of the competition will be awarded a stipend to present at an additional aerospace conference. NASA also benefits from this competition by using these mission concepts to help advance technology readiness and potentially turn our concepts into a reality in future NASA missions!
THE SCHOOLS WE ARE COMPETING AGAINST
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.)
- University of Puerto Rico
- University of Central Florida
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Maryland
- University of Texas at Austin
- Tulane University
- University of Maryland
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- West Virginia University
FUNDING BREAKDOWN
- Funds needed for: 3 hotel nights ($568/room total), airfare, shared car rental/Uber to hotel, conference registration ($375/person), 3 meals not covered by conference registration, and team shirts!
- RASC-AL has given us a $6,000 stipend which is only enough to cover 3 members (which has already been subtracted from our GoFundMe goal).
- We need a minimum of $5700 to fund the travel and attendance of our 7-person leadership team.
- To fund the complete 29-person team, we will need $32,000.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
In short, we are designing a system that will create rocket fuel using natural resources on Mars so that future missions will not need to transport fuel from Earth.
Further details on our theme and other themes included in the competition are included in the links below.
NASA'S ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT US In short, we are designing a system that will create rocket fuel using natural resources on Mars so that future missions will not need to transport fuel from Earth.
Further details on our theme and other themes included in the competition are included in the links below.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-university-teams-to-tackle-moon-mars-exploration-challenges
RASC-AL COMPETITION WEBSITE
https://rascal.nianet.org/
Fundraising team: SALVARE (3)
Nikki Smith-Cielo
Organizer
Claremont, CA
Sotiris Zormpas
Team member
Vittorio Baraldi
Team member