NASA MICRO-G NEXT 2021

LUNAR MODULAR OPERATIONS TOOL HOLSTER (LUNAMOTH)

NASA Micro-g NExT is a program designed to provide undergraduate students with experience designing, building, and testing hardware intended for use by astronauts. LunaMOTH is a spacesuit quick attachment mechanism intended to allow lunar astronauts to quickly attach and detach tools from the xEMU spacesuit. The design is intended to be a lunar dust tolerant and easy to use replacement for the existing ISS quick release mechanism. I served my team as lead engineer managing all CAD and 3D printing activities.

LUNAMOTH FEATURES

LunaMOTH consists of two components: the Suit Side and the Tool Side. The Suit Side connects to the xEMU spacesuit on it's utility belt. The Tool side is attached to the desired tool. The Tool Side slots into the top of the Suit Side and clicks into place to secure the tool to the spacesuit. LunaMOTH is made from dust resistant Stainless Steel.

LUNAR DUST TOLERANCE

Open faces and standoffs used to allow dust to pass through the design without entrapment

BALL-DETENT LOCKING

Simple yet secure locking mechanism that requires no secondary action

ASTRONAUT FRIENDLY

Rounded edges prevent pinching and guide rails aid in simple out of sight attachment

NASA TESTED

Due to the Pandemic in 2021, LunaMOTH was shipped to NASA JSC for testing in the NBL. I remotely directed the test divers to conduct our operations plan. The divers repeatedly performed attachment and detachment of their tool, while noting ease of use. They also tested the dust tolerance of the mechanism in dust simulant. Overall NASA was highly satisfied with the simplicity and ease of use of LunaMOTH, with very little criticism.

REAL TIME OPERATIONS

Remote test conduction from Daytona to Houston over video and audio feed

SIMULATED LUNAR CONDITIONS

The NBL diver was weighted to lunar gravity and wore EVA spacesuit gloves for realism

NASA ENGINEER FEEDBACK

Positive feedback provided for the simplicity and ease of use of the design

LESSONS LEARNED

During the 2021 Micro-g NExT Challenge, I participated as lead engineer but learned to take more of a hands off approach to team leadership. I learned to put trust in my Team Leader to effectively guide the team through the challenge, and this allowed me to focus primarily on the engineering of LunaMOTH. I continued to apply my CAD and 3D printing skills to put our team at an advantage early on in the proposal process by having functional prototypes.