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NASA Awards Grants to Minority-Serving Institutions to Support Artemis Space Tech

A rover in five different positions with spotlights on each position

NASA is moving forward on the Artemis mission’s promise to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon and to have robust human and robotic presence there. To make it happen, NASA is working with diverse partners in industry and academia to develop the innovative technologies needed to explore more of the Moon than ever before.

Within academia, Minority Serving Institutions, or MSIs, represent and shape talent historically overlooked in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. By investing in MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, NASA aims to seek different perspectives and build a more diverse and competitive workforce for the agency and the nation.

NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Space Technology Artemis Research, or M-STAR, initiative has awarded cooperative agreements to seven MSIs for projects that will support agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and advance lunar technologies. Nearly $3.5 million will be distributed to the selected universities over two-years.

The agency established M-STAR to strengthen the research capacity and infrastructure of MSIs in areas of strategic importance to NASA and to enhance the capabilities of MSIs to participate in STMD funding opportunities. In 2020, NASA awarded 16 M-STAR planning grants to 15 MSIs to develop implementation plans to respond to STMD opportunities and solicitations. Of the seven institutions selected for full grants, five previously received a M-STAR planning grant, which were not a requirement to be selected. M-STAR is managed at NASA’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement, which comprises Marshall Space Flight Center, Stennis Space Center and Michoud Assembly Facility.

M-STAR is aligned with the agency’s Mission Equity, a comprehensive assessment ensuring that NASA is accessible to all Americans, including communities historically underserved across the country. Because when NASA brings everyone to the table, the universe is the limit.  

The recipient institutions and their proposed projects are:  

Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, North Carolina*
Active and On-demand Multi Robot Perception (AOMRP)
This project aims to develop multi-robot perception, a technology that utilizes highly specialized image sensors, to support NASA’s use of autonomous multi-robot systems performing scouting missions on the surface of the Moon or other planets.

Florida International University (FIU), Miami*
Sustainable Power Generation and Secure Distribution Systems for NASA Artemis Mission
FIU will conduct innovative research and educational efforts in two areas of importance to NASA’s lunar exploration approach: sustainable power generation and secure distributions systems.

Howard University, Washington, D.C.
Raman Cube Rover (R3R) for Enabling Lunar Science and Exploration: Integrating Technology Development with STEM Engagement
Working with an industry partner, Howard will develop an efficient telescope system for in-situ analysis of lunar regolith using a method called standoff Raman spectroscopy.  

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces*
MUREP Advancing Regolith-related Technologies & Education (MARTE)
MARTE aims to meet the critical needs facing many MSI research and educational efforts in three key areas of importance to NASA: access to reliable and affordable regolith simulants, testing facilities that simulate relevant environmental conditions, and analog testing sites.

San Diego State University, San Diego
Propellant-Optimal Integrated Entry and Powered Descent Guidance for Human-Scale Mars Missions
This project aims to develop the methods and algorithms for integrated optimal entry, descent, and landing guidance for future human missions to Mars with pin-point precision.

University of Arizona, Tucson*
Advancing Site Preparation, Excavation and Mining Technologies in Support of Future Lunar Missions
This initiative focuses on enhancing autonomous robotics by utilizing a neuromorphic architecture, a system that mimic the human nervous system.

University of Central Florida, Orlando*
Forging a Trajectory for STEM Readiness in Space Technology
The university will enhance STEM readiness among MSI students by facilitating a suite of scientific and educational efforts to support the technology capabilities needed for NASA’s Artemis mission, such as advanced robotics, advanced materials for extreme environments, and simulation for entry, descent, and landing technologies.

Institutions with an asterisk (*) received M-STAR planning grants in 2020.

About MUREP

Administered through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, MUREP supports the training and development of students and faculty at minority-serving institutions in STEM fields. MUREP awards are established to strengthen and develop these institutions’ research capacity and infrastructure in areas of strategic importance and value to NASA’s mission and national priorities.

For more information about MUREP, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/minority-university-research-education-project/

About STMD

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is responsible for developing the new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions.

For more information about STMD, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/index.html