Mane Engineering Issue 11 - December 2018 | Page 15

NASA CREATES YET ANOTHER ROBOT

NASA’s engineers will be creating a prototype of a robotic factory that will aim to create water, oxygen and fuel on the surface of Mars using the local resources. It is known as in situ resource utilisation (ISRU) system. Most of the equipment is being worked out on the moon. This aids in identifying any risks before sending the system over to Mars.

A layer of loose solid material covering the foundation of a planet is also known as Regolith. The robot itself is called RASSOR or Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. RASSOR fills up its bucket drums and drives onto a processing facility where it seals itself and begins to heat up. Any present water molecules are collected using a condensation tube.

Some might say Mars is bone dry but depending on where you dig, one might find some parts of Mars to have dense masses of ice water below the surface. Not only is the water drinkable, but it is also an ingredient for fuel.

The idea for the rocket-fuel factory is to set up a viable source of fuel and water before human missions to Mars begin. The teams at NASA are trying to figure out how to grow things such as potatoes on Mars.

Would you want to be one of the first humans to habitat Mars?

Recyclable clothing – step up

The North Face

In other news, researchers are now turning plastic bottles into ultralight polyethylene terephthalate (PET). We will soon be able start wearing our recyclables thanks to the engineering faculty at the National University of Singapore.

Plastic bottles are commonly made from PET.

In recent news it has been made clear that global

warming is an urgent issue, landfills of rubbish are

being washed up on our shores, the glaciers are melting and it

began to worsen due to the increase of globalisation. With the

help of recycling we can attain ourselves some guilt free clothing.

The annual consumption of plastic bottle is on the rise and by 2021 will have increased to half a trillion. PET clothing can be used to make clothing for firefighters, it is more affordable, weighs less and can be safer. It takes 450 years for plastics to degrade! Throwing our plastics in the allocated bins will allow us to reduce the amount of waste populating the planet.

Step aside The North Face, a new jacket made from recyclables will be taking the fashion industry by storm!

DECEMBER 2018 | MANE ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING | 15