Did you hear? Our very own Norco College students are participating in the NASA Spacesuit Technology Challenge. One of 22 schools selected to participate. Both Norco College and RCC are the only two teams representing community colleges, the rest are highly ranked universities around the US.

The virtual student presentations for the NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technology for Students (NASA SUITS) challenge is set for Thursday, June 11 at noon EDT.

NASA SUITS, one of NASA's Artemis Student Challenges, tasks teams of college and university students to design and create spacesuit information displays within augmented reality environments. The challenge provides students with an authentic engineering design experience that will engage them in the innovative science critical to NASA's Artemis program, which will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. The students' work with the challenge may improve how astronauts communicate with mission control on the ground as they perform moonwalks. These human-autonomy enabling technologies are necessary for the increased demands of lunar surface exploration.

Media will be able to view the presentations using Microsoft Teams collaborations software and will have the opportunity to ask questions following the presentations. Media who wish to attend virtually must contact Wendy Avedisian in the newsroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston by 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, either by phone at 281-483-5111 or e-mail at wendy.k.avedisian@nasa.gov for instructions on how to join.

Student teams participating in the 2020 challenge include:

  1. Boise State University in Boise, Idaho
  2. Chapman University in Orange, California
  3. Columbia University in New York City
  4. Duquesne University in Pittsburgh
  5. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida
  6. Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
  7. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore
  8. Kent State University in Kent, Ohio
  9. Norco College in Norco, California
  10. North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina
  11. Riverside City College in Riverside, California
  12. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico
  13. Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey
  14. Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
  15. University of Akron in Akron, Ohio
  16. University of Baltimore
  17. University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida
  18. University of Colorado, Boulder
  19. University of Massachusetts Boston
  20. University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan
  21. University of North Texas in Denton, Texas
  22. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia

Artemis Student Challenges are managed by the NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. The program helps support the agency education policy of using NASA's unique missions and programs to engage and encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math careers.

To learn more about NASA SUITS, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/artemis.html

For more information about NASA's STEM Engagement programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/

Norco College NASA Suits students are scheduled to present at 12:15 pm. JOIN AS AN ATTENDEE TO WATCH HERE!