SDSU technology could head to the moon

SDPB Radio | By Lori Walsh,

Ellen Koester, Ari Jungemann

Published August 2, 2023 at 7:44 AM CDT

SDSU Break the Ice Lunar Challenge — Space Trajectory team members pose by the excavator wheel that will be used in their Break the Ice Lunar Challenge project. Members are, from left, Max Selbach, Ben Louwagie, Tom Neumeister, John Ziegelski, Devin Lundberg, Parker Brandt, adviser Todd Letcher, Brock Heppner, Tate Mueller, Austin Lohsandt, Elaine Hines and Allea Klauenberg. Not pictured are Ben Diersen, Zac Bergjord, Dante Tarabelsi, Carter Waggoner and Eric Derr.

This interview originally aired on In the Moment on SDPB Radio.

A group of student engineers at South Dakota State University gained the attention of NASA. Their entry in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge could move us one step closer to living on Mars.

Todd Letcher, Ph.D., is an associate professor in mechanical engineering and and the project adviser. He joined In the Moment to discuss the logistics of living in space and how his team's technology could excavate water for astronauts from lunar ice crystals.