First place at an international conference on space
A winning solution for keeping astronauts on the Moon
May 31, 2022
Ghita El Anbri, completing her Bachelor’s in Business Administration at HEC Montréal, and Polytechnique Montréal students Ugo Mahue and Vincent Therrien took 1st place in the poster competition at the Space Resources Week international conference, for their innovative solution to establish astronauts on the Moon.
The event, organized by the European Space Resources Innovation Centre and held in Luxembourg from May 3 to 5, brought together experts from various agencies and companies working in the space field, including NASA, the Canadian and European Space Agencies, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and researchers from leading educational institutions worldwide
Utilizing the Moon’s resources
The lunar mission of the 3 members of the winning team started as a multidisciplinary project-course with 18 other classmates at the 2 Montréal university-level institutions. The Canadian Space Agency served as a mentor for the project, intended to find a way of utilizing the Moon’s resources. This initiative fits in with NASA’s Artemis mission, intended to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon so as to explore more of its surface.
Vincent Therrien, Ghita El Anbri and Ugo Mahue.
The entire class modelled an “astromobile” that makes the best use of regolith (the dust on the Moon’s surface) to create a lunar base using thermoplastic bags.
The students conducted feasibility and cost analyses for their solution, a study of different markets, and sealing tests with high-performance polymers. Using an industrial process to fill and pile up bags makes it possible to minimize the quantity of materials to be sent from Earth, as well as the energy necessary.
Ghita El Anbri, Ugo Mahue and Vincent Therrien represented the team at the conference in Luxembourg, summarizing their results in poster form and giving a 1-minute presentation. They won 1st place in a field of some 30 participants.
The winning group wishes to thank the following people for their valuable support:
- Élodie Allain, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting Studies, HEC Montréal
- Olivier Duchesne, doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal
- Frédérick Gosselin, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal
- Annie Guérard, Full-time Lecturer, Department of Marketing, HEC Montréal
- Andrew Hayes, Engineer, CSA
- David Lessard, Master’s in Mechanical Engineering candidate, Polytechnique Montréal
- Claire Poitras, Full-time Lecturer, Department of Logistics and Operations Management, HEC Montréal
- Marie-Josée Potvin, Manager, Engineer Development Program and Senior System Engineer, CSA