Asee peer logo

Capstone Design Project Experience: Lunar Ice Extraction Design

Download Paper |

Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Aerospace Engineering Education

Tagged Division

Aerospace

Page Count

17

DOI

10.18260/p.26442

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/26442

Download Count

791

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Steven Anthony Zusack Purdue University: Engineering and Technology

visit author page

Recent graduate with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Currently working as an Intern at NASA Johnson Space Planning to enter graduate school in the Fall of 2016 for a master's in Aero/Astro Engineering at Purdue University. Aspirations of pursuing PhD in the field of Aerospace Engineering with a focus on aerospace systems.

visit author page

biography

Raveena Patil Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

visit author page

Recent graduate with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and will pursue M.S. in Aerospace Engineering starting Spring 2017

visit author page

biography

Sean Lachenman Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

visit author page

Recent graduate of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis with a BSME.

visit author page

biography

Chanel Antoinette Johnson Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

visit author page

I am a recent graduate from the Atlanta University Center Dual Degree Engineering Program. The Dual Degree Engineering Program affords students the opportunity to obtain both a liberal arts education and a professional engineering education. In the program, the student spends a minimum of three academic years at Spelman College and two academic years at a participating engineering school. I majored in Mathematics at Spelman College and Mechanical Engineering at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. I am currently a full time System Engineer for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Southern California. My academic aspirations is to continue my education by receiving my Master in Systems Architecting and Engineering.

visit author page

biography

Peter J. Schubert Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

visit author page

Schubert is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and serves as the Director of the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy (www.lugarenergycenter.org) and the faculty advisor for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at IUPUI. He holds 40 US Patents, a Professional Engineering License (Illinois), and has published over 95 technical papers and book chapters. Schubert has managed research projects from USDA, NASA, DOE, and DoD.

visit author page

biography

Nathan McDaniel

visit author page

Senior in mechanical engineering at time of writing. Deeply interested in robotics and vehicle control. Hoping to develop cheaper and more versatile control methods for mobile robots.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

STUDENT PAPER

A group of senior undergraduate students came together as part of a non-traditional capstone design project. The assignment was to take part in the NASA RASC-AL competition and required adjustment to the class curriculum. Two examples are that a direct point of contact from the customer would not be possible as there is no specific person at NASA meant to act as the customer and the submission deadline was after the semester concluded. The students were all from the mechanical engineering department and had a fascination with space technology but came from vastly different demographic backgrounds representing multiple spheres of diversity. This diversity brought unique and unexpected approaches to the project. The project required close interaction of the group throughout and after the semester to accomplish a very difficult goal: the design of a full scale lunar ice extraction facility capable of running autonomously and producing at least 100 metric tonnes of ice per year. The operational plan is to be accompanied by a detailed budget and launch plans to begin taking effect in 2025. Having no experience working with one another prior to this project, the group was required to quickly develop a productive team ethos to address such a large challenge. The aim of this study is to assess the outcomes and reactions during a project from a diverse group of students attempting to complete an unusual capstone design. Accompanying this are pre-, intra-, and post-project surveys to assess effectiveness of the group on key project issues. The primary research questions to answer are: does the perception of the group regarding effectiveness positively correlate with the feelings of ownership of the project and feelings that the individual students’ passions are being considered. Further, because the competition is staged and set to go on the full academic year, the students are interviewed regarding plans on continuing the project beyond the current semester when the majority of the team will have graduated.

Zusack, S. A., & Patil, R., & Lachenman, S., & Johnson, C. A., & Schubert, P. J., & McDaniel, N. (2016, June), Capstone Design Project Experience: Lunar Ice Extraction Design Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26442

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2016 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015