NASA to award $100K prize for designing aerosol sensor
NASA has announced a USD 100,000 grand prize for designing a low-cost and lightweight aerosol sensor that can monitor air quality on Earth as well as in space environments. Breathable air is necessary to sustain humans both on Earth as well as in space. Tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols, can contribute to a variety of health problems, such as asthma and respiratory tract irritation.
To ensure the health of humans living on Earth as well as those traveling in spacecraft to explore the solar system, aerosol sensors are needed to monitor air quality and alert engineers when action is necessary.NASA is working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to sponsor the Earth and Space Air Prize competition for a solution that could improve air quality and health in space and on Earth.
The challenge is to promote development of robust, durable, inexpensive, efficient, lightweight, and easy-to-use aerosol sensors for space and Earth environments. The competition asks teams or individuals to design and develop specialised sensor technology that has the potential to be useful in spaceflight as well as on Earth anywhere outdoors in a community where people may be exposed to airborne particles.
“Particulate monitoring is a gap in NASA’s technology …read more