Space Exploration

In a significant step toward human-crewed space missions to the moon or Mars, NASA has awarded a grant of up to $15 million over five years to a new research institute led by the University of California, Davis. The HOME (Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration) Space Technology Research Institute will develop enabling technology for spacecraft and deep-space bases of the future.

A student team from the UC Davis Space and Satellite Systems club was one of five university teams invited to present their plans for a Mars greenhouse at the NASA Langley Research Center last Tuesday, April 23. The UC Davis students entered the Martian Agricultural and Plant Sciences project for this year’s BIG Idea Challenge, organized by the National Institute of Aerospace in collaboration with NASA.

When Sarah O’Meara arrived at UC Davis she had little experience writing software and had never conducted an experiment involving human subjects. Now, the mechanical and aerospace engineering doctoral student has a passion for both and is on track for a career that combines them in her research on robots that could one day lend a hand to astronauts and others operating under challenging conditions.