petri dishes

Nasa has agreed to fund eight university-led proposals to study advanced technologies that will help the agency address challenges during its manned mission to Mars, as well as other planetary destinations.

These technologies will focus on solar cell operations at high-temperatures, synthetic biology applications, and tensegrity-based space structures for space exploration.

Selected proposals include robust planning for dynamic tensegrity structures, synthetic biology for recycling human waste into food, andnutraceuticals.

Additionally, it covers materials, lightweight and flexible metal halide perovskite thin films for high-temperature solar cells, dynamics and control of tensegrity space manipulators.

"Investment in these technologies and technologists is essential to ensure Nasa and the nation have the capabilities necessary…as we journey to Mars."

Proposals also include advanced algorithms for aero-thermodynamic simulations of planetary entry vehicles on emerging distributed heterogeneous computing architectures, reduced order modelling for non-equilibrium radiation hydrodynamics of base flow and wakes, engineering cyanobacteria for the production of lightweight materials, and high-temperature InGaN-based solar cells.

The agency will provide around $200,000 a year for up to a possible three years of research.

Nasa space technology mission directorate associate administrator Steve Jurczyk said: "These early career researchers will provide fuel for Nasa’s innovation engine.

"Technology drives exploration, and investment in these technologies and technologists is essential to ensure Nasa and the nation have the capabilities necessary to meet the challenges we will face as we journey to Mars.

"The faculty selected and their colleagues help assure a robust university research community dedicated to advanced space technology development."

The Early Career Faculty proposals are supported by Nasa’s space technology research grants programme.

The programme aims to accelerate new technologies that support future science and exploration needs of Nasa.

Image: The petri dishes containing designer microbes lit by LED lights. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.