![]() ![]() After all teams had completed the testing for their challenge, the divers provided feedback on the useability and success or failure of their device. The testing objectives for this challenge included attaching a scoop tool mechanism to the extension handle and scooping various materials from a simulated lunar environment staged on the NBL pool floor. In the afternoon, five teams completed the same process for the EVA Dust-Tolerant Extension Handle Mechanism, with a different hard hat diver. The testing objectives included installing a zip tie around a variety of objects, such as a bundle of cables and a handrail that were attached to a task board. Team members practiced clear communication and direction-giving skills, walking the diver through the testing process while observing the diver and testing environment on multiple screens. During each 10-minute test session, the student team instructed a hard hat diver on the use of their tool from the NBL’s test conductor room. In the morning, seven teams tested their zip tie installer prototypes. These challenges called for students to design a device that could install a zip tie during a spacewalk and a tool attachment for an extendable handle that could be used during lunar sampling missions, respectively. ![]() Testing for two challenges – the EVA Zip Tie Installer and EVA Dust-Tolerant Extension Handle Mechanism – occurred on June 6. The students ended the day by touring the NBL pool deck, control room, machine shop, and suit lab with members of the NBL dive staff. After lunch, five Micro-g NExT alumni participated in a panel-style presentation, offering invaluable insight and advice to the 2023 cohort. Retired NASA astronaut and current Boise State University faculty advisor Steven Swanson briefed the students on the importance of communication in preparation for the following day’s testing events. Students made final alterations to their tools based on the feedback and action items received during their virtual safety reviews, practiced their testing operations plan, and took group and team photos on the pool deck. Upon arriving at the NBL on June 5, students were welcomed by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement and NBL staff. ![]() 2023 Micro-g NExT participants and staff kick off Prototype Test Week with a group photo in the high bay at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Those challenges focused on astronaut training, Orion crew safety, EVA (extravehicular) operations for missions to the International Space Station, and lunar EVA operations during the Artemis missions. Comprised of 110 students from 14 different institutions of higher learning across the United States, the teams were onsite to direct NBL divers to test prototype tools they designed in response to one of the four 2023 Micro-g NExT Challenges. Seventeen teams of undergraduate students traveled to NASA’s NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Lab) in Houston, June 5-7, to test their prototypes for NASA’s Micro-g NExT (M icrogravity Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams) challenge. ![]()
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