Can humans live on the moon? Associate Professor Thomas Filburn of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) thinks that one day we can, and he now has a grant from NASA to help make it happen.

Filburn and Ramesh B. Malla, an associate professor of geomechanics in civil engineering at the University of Connecticut, submitted a proposal through the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium to NASA for research dollars under Phase One of the NASA Ralph Steckler Space Grant Colonization Research and Technology Development Opportunity. They recently were notified that their proposal is one of just 18 proposals from around the United States selected by NASA to receive money under the program. Among the other recipients were professors at MIT, Penn State, and U.C.-San Diego.

Under their grant, Filburn and Malla will work on creating a lighter, more efficient lunar habitat module by designing the life support system in collaboration with the habitat structure. Filburn, who is director of the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, has worked on various life support systems for use in space. Malla is an expert in lunar soil and has worked on lunar structural design.

In order for astronauts to survive on the moon, they would need a lunar habitation module filled with oxygen and other life-sustaining elements. Machines can create that earth-like atmosphere, but currently all of the necessary equipment is extremely heavy. Filburn and Malla will investigate how integrating the life-support system design into the design of the lunar outpost habitation module can help meet the launch weight limit for the Ares V, the cargo launch component of the Constellation program, and minimize power needs and volume.

Students from the University of Hartford, UConn, and Capital Community College will assist the two professors on the project. The University of Hartford is the lead institution in the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium.

"I am excited that University of Hartford students have the chance to continue to support NASA research missions," Filburn said. "Our students have been collaborating with NASA on interesting and challenging projects for nearly 10 years. This latest grant is evidence of the confidence that NASA has in the ability of U of H students to produce technically accurate, novel solutions to very difficult engineering tasks."

Filburn, Malla and the students will conduct their research during the course of this academic year. NASA will then determine the scientific and technical merit of the project. Teams from more than a dozen other schools are also conducting research, but if Filburn and Malla's work is among the four most promising projects, NASA will continue to fund its development.