Hardware Podcasts

94. NASA’s Plan to Crash Land on Mars

The Next Byte Podcast · 1 Nov 2022 · 26m

What this episode covers

Hosts Daniel and Farbod discuss NASA's SHIELD (Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device) project, which aims to crash-land payloads on Mars by borrowing automotive safety technologies. They explain how crumple zones and sled testing principles allow the lander to survive impacts of 110 mph and 1 million newtons, a method originally developed for the Mars Sample Return mission to bring samples back to Earth. The hosts also highlight Gilmour Space's use of the Duro PLM platform to manage complex aerospace engineering and regulatory compliance.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
NASA, Gilmour Space
Products
SHIELD
Tools
Duro, SolidWorks, Onshape

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Being an Engineer · 52m

    S1E58 NASA, Systems Engineering, and Sending Robots to Space | David Oh

    David Oh, former flight director for the Mars Curiosity rover and current systems engineering manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), discusses the complexities of deep space missions. He details the technical challenges of the Curiosity landing, including the autonomous Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) sequence and the 'sky crane' mechanism, as well as the unique physiological and logistical demands of living on 'Martian time.' Oh also outlines the rigorous proposal process for the Psyche mission to a metal asteroid and explains how systems engineering and risk management mitigate the high failure rates of interplanetary travel.

    Careers & educationMechanical engineering
    8 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 57m

    Ep078: Happy B-Day MP3, Eavesdrop on a Mars Probe, Shadowcasting 7-Segments, & a Spicy Commodore 64

    Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss a variety of hardware hacks, including decoding telemetry from the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, a wireless SD card reader using an ESP8266, and a plasma cutter collision detection system based on exact constraint design. They also review a mechanical shadow-casting 7-segment display, a Commodore 64 used to control a meat smoker, and a 4-axis stencil printer for PCBs. The episode concludes with a retrospective on the 25th anniversary of the MP3 format and a discussion on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rapid reflight records.

    Embedded firmwareMechanical engineering
    8 chapters

  • How I Built This · 37m

    Shooting for the moon with Steve Altemus of Intuitive Machines

    Steve Altemus, co-founder and CEO of Intuitive Machines, explains how he left NASA in 2013 to build a commercial space company focused on lunar exploration. He details the development of the NovaC-1 lander, the company's business model of selling payload delivery services for roughly $1 million per kilogram, and their partnership with SpaceX using Falcon 9 rockets. Altemus discusses the technical challenges of landing on the moon's rugged terrain, the legal framework of the Artemis Accords, and his strategy of accepting failure as a necessary part of iterating toward reliable lunar infrastructure.

    Starting a product companyPricing, margins & unit economics
    8 chapters

  • Robot Talk · 33m

    Episode Two - Space Robotics: out of this world

    Xander Hall of Airbus Defence and Space explains the engineering challenges of in-orbit assembly and the RemoveDEBRIS mission, which tested harpoons, nets, and drag sails to capture space junk. Dr. Arthur Bouton from the University of Surrey discusses the Marcel lunar rover, a wheel-legged hybrid designed to navigate steep obstacles and loose soil more effectively than passive rovers. Stephanie Pau of the Hamlyn Centre at Imperial College London explores wearable technology in spacesuits, focusing on integrating sensors for brain-computer interaction and improving wearability for astronauts.

    Robotics & autonomyMechanical engineering
    5 chapters

  • Hackaday Podcast · 59m

    Ep 245: The Silver Swan, ET's Umbrella Antenna, Model Tanks vs Space Shuttle Tires

    Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi discuss the winners of the Halloween Hack Fest, including Scott Duckworthy's cable-suspended 'flying ghost' automaton. They review several hardware hacks: a homebrew umbrella antenna for NOAA satellites, a fail-safe power/data circuit, and NASA's use of a remote-controlled WWII tank to deflate space shuttle tires. The episode also covers the new image import feature in KiCad 7 for reverse engineering PCBs and controlling oscilloscopes via SCPI.

    EDA & CAD toolsWireless & RF
    10 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Next Byte Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.