Team Falcons develops tools for NASA’s moon exploration

Cerritos College’s student team, Team Falcons, was selected to advance to phase II of NASA’s 2025 Micro-g NExT challenge, making it the only community college team in the nation to reach the final stage of the highly competitive event. This is the third time Cerritos College’s student team has advanced to phase II, following successes in 2021 and 2022.

NASA’s Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) is part of the Artemis Student Challenges. In this program, undergraduate students create and test a tool or device that solves a real challenge in space exploration. This challenge allows students to develop a necessary tool for NASA. Contestants will test their designs during a simulated mission at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas, where astronauts practice for spacewalks.

Team Falcons, made up of 13 students from diverse majors, is developing a tool designed to help astronauts join overlapping softgoods (textiles) from one side while conducting extravehicular activity (EVA) on the Moon. They created an inspiring design proposal and outreach plan. Over the next few months, they will collaborate with a NASA mentor to refine their design and build a prototype for testing at the Johnson Space Center, potentially contributing to future space missions.

“Participating in Micro-g NExT allows our students to apply classroom knowledge to real NASA missions,” said Janet Mclarty-Schroeder, chair of physics, astronomy, and engineering. “Despite having fewer resources than many university teams, our students excel and demonstrate the strengths of our community college programs.”

Cerritos College provides various student programs through NASA and hosts the NCAS (NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars) program, which is open to all majors. In 2024, a group of Cerritos College students won a national award in NASA’s Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, making them the only community college winners.

Team Falcons: Rachel Alvarado, Victor Anguiano, Anthony Bueno, Brigitte Carranza, Danielle Diaz, Andrew Escobedo, Sharlize Lemus, Randall Ollman, Kimberly Ramirez, Michelle Perez, Athanasia Tomaras, Lucia Miguel-Vargas, and Raymond Vieta
Mentors: Janet McLarty-Schroeder and Allen Bakalyar

Follow Team Falcons’ adventures on Instagram, X, and YouTube.