Palak Patel, a stellar graduate student working in necstlab since 2020, was part of the MIT team that took first place in the 2021 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkages (RASC-AL) (RASC-AL) Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge competition!  (Contest link: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/university-teams-demonstrate-cool-new-technologies-for-the-moon-mars) 

Ten university teams designed and built systems intended to harvest water frozen below the surface of the Moon and Mars. The teams put their prototypes to the test during the 2021 Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge held September 23-25 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia. The team’s project, HYDRATION III: High Yield Dihydrogen-monoxide Retrieval And Terrain Identification On New worlds, was cited for Most Water Collected (24,335 mL) and Best Digital Poster (link: http://specialedition.rascal.nianet.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-MMIP-MIT-Digital-Poster.pdf). Congratulations to the team: George Lordos, Roland de Filippi, Prakash Manandhar, Palak Patel, Fabio Castro, Tao Sevigny, Sophie Yang, Eric Bui, Marcellin Feasson; and their advisors: Jeffrey Hoffman, Olivier de Weck, Martin Culpepper, Herbert Einstein, and Michael Hecht.

Congratulations, Palak!

Palak also gave a presentation to necstlab which has some really good pictures and more information about the competition - check it out here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11s82nnzQlpq-L2tvl7npW2IhrnqxIlVU/