Pitt team finishes third in NASA challenge

A University of Pittsburgh team finished in third in the 2021 Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge.

The competition featured ten university teams that designed system prototypes to harvest water frozen beneath the surface of the Moon and Mars. The teams put their systems to the test Sept. 23-25, 2021 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Va.

Pitt’s project, the Vaporizer of Underground Liquid for Consumption by Astronaut coloNists (VULCAN), was designed to collect subsurface ice through a process of drilling, boiling and vapor extraction.

It received recognition for the Most Innovative Concept and Lightest System Mass, at just 89.84 pounds.

Undergraduate team leaders included Fernando Tabares, chief engineer; Cole Bowman, mechanical lead; Sushmit Acharya, electronics lead; and Andrew Horton, digital core lead. Other undergraduate team members included: Ansh Baxi, Patrick Bobko, Caira Borchers, Zachary Colimon, Jack Cornell, Marissa DeFallo, Sam Hunn, Elliot Kerachsky, Elizabeth Mountz, Benjamin Moyer, Ronald Musto and Justin Olah. Matthew Barry worked with the team as faculty advisor, and Ismael Mercier of Boeing served as industry advisor.

Visit NASA to learn more.