THE PROJECT

Objective: Participating in the 2015 Micro-g NExT challenge, I designed and manufactured the above interpretation of a 'Float Sample Grabber'. An initiative by NASA as part of their 5-year Mission to Mars project, the device was needed to collect individual rock samples from a low-level orbiting asteroid. Samples would need to be collected and stored separately to avoid cross-contamination. The design included a removable revolving cartridge that contained each individual sample along with its arcade-like collection claw. The 3D printed prototype was presented in Houston and tested successfully by astronaut trainees at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. 

THE DRAWINGS