{"id":59192,"date":"2014-07-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-engineering-student-helping-nasa-get-to-mars\/"},"modified":"2014-07-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T00:00:00","slug":"uri-engineering-student-helping-nasa-get-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/07\/uri-engineering-student-helping-nasa-get-to-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 engineering student helping NASA get to Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tInternship has Westerly resident working on new fuel cell<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 15, 2014 — Patrick Brown always wanted to be an astronaut. He may never make it to space, but the technology he\u2019s helping to develop just may help humans reach Mars.<\/p>\n


\nThe 溏心vlog免费B站 chemical engineering student from Westerly is interning at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is part of a team developing a new solid oxide fuel cell system that is lighter and more robust than anything in existence. The system takes methane \u2013 which can be produced from natural resources on Mars \u2013 and converts it to hydrogen, which can power fuel cells that generate electricity. For it to work, the team must understand exactly how to extract hydrogen from methane and how to do it on a planet never closer than 34 million miles away.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSure, a chemist could explain how these reactions work,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut the engineering side tells you how these things fit into a practical piece of technology you can bring into space.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFor Brown and the research team, weight is the most important factor. It costs NASA about $10,000 to place a single pound of material into space. That\u2019s why hefty and limited power batteries are not an option for a Mars trip.<\/p>\n


\nAfter weight comes sustainability and reliability. NASA cannot practically resupply a spacecraft hurtling toward Mars. Using methane will eliminate the need for resupply trips. Meanwhile, a complex series of tests and prototypes will ensure the fuel cell and its attached systems can withstand the extreme temperatures and forces of space.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019ve learned it\u2019s amazing how much work goes into making something that might not seem that complex,\u201d Brown said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just call AAA for a tow. It comes down to intensive testing and development to make sure it\u2019s going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBrown\u2019s team is vying to have its fuel cell on a Mars rover scheduled to be launched around 2020 and land on the Red Planet. He said that if the team is selected, the fuel cell system will be loaded on the rover \u2013 sister to the Mars Curiosity \u2013 and receive the ultimate test of its abilities.<\/p>\n


\nEven if the fuel cell never reaches Mars, Brown said the paid internship has been a field day for a space buff like him. In the office next door, researchers work on warp speed \u2013 how to travel faster than the speed of light. On the same campus, mission control keeps watch over the International Space Station.<\/p>\n


\nBrown brought a broad-based chemical engineering background to his internship \u2013 even if it did take him a while to settle on an academic career.<\/p>\n


\nAfter high school Brown, now 27, enrolled in the Air Force Academy, decided it wasn\u2019t for him, and entered Colgate University. He ultimately transferred to the 溏心vlog免费B站, where he expects to graduate in December.<\/p>\n


\nBrown says he\u2019s happy with his decision to attend 溏心vlog免费B站 and pleased it provided a foundation for him to intern at NASA, a place he hopes to work one day.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt\u2019s the mystery of the unknown,\u201d Brown said of his attraction to space. \u201cWe occupy the smallest piece of the physical universe and we\u2019ve only been around the shortest time. The bulk of existence does not involve human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPhoto submitted by Patrick Brown<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Internship has Westerly resident working on new fuel cell KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 15, 2014 — Patrick Brown always wanted to be an astronaut. He may never make it to space, but the technology he\u2019s helping to develop just may help humans reach Mars. The 溏心vlog免费B站 chemical engineering student from Westerly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}