This April 25, 2026, the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility (NBRF) and Advanced Robotics Development Lab (ARDL) will be giving tours/demonstrations throughout the day (10am-4pm) as part of the University of Maryland's annual Maryland Day. This event is free and open to the public every year on the last day in April. Expect to see divers and robots in our neutral buoyancy tank, drive robots around in the ARDL, and get the chance to experience hands-on the research that we do!

AEROS summer intern's present their work at UMd's summer research symposium!

AEROS/ASPIRE researchers working with the SSL this summer just recently presented their research at the end-of-summer research symposium! SSL has been supporting three AEROS scholars, Mikołaj Kostrzewa, Kassandra Perez-Rivera, and Avery Pierson. Their work involves developing autonomous rover navigation capablities without the need of GPS or satellites for the moon (or mars), an augmented reality heads-up-display (HUD) for astronauts on the lunar surface, and developing an earth-analog lunar excavation rover for in-situ testing! Read more about their work (and the other AEROS Scholars) here!

SSL research heads to Prague, then Vegas! for ICES 2025 and AIAA ASCEND 2025 Confereces

The SSL and it's researchers traveled to two back-to-back conferences this July, the International Conference On Evironmental Systems (ICES), and the AIAA ASCEND Conference, in Prague and Las Vegas, respectively! What was on the agenda? BioBot, BioBot, and more BioBot! Research presentations involved BioBot field test results and future research focuses, current backpack testing results (and what it might mean for future space suits) and of course, representing UMd and the Department of Aeroespace Engineering!

Summer begins! Congratulation to all the SSL students who graduated this year (2025)!

Congrats to Romeo Perlstein, Spencer Quizon, Rowan Quintero, for completing their undergraduate careers at UMd! Romeo, Spencer, and Rowan all graduated with a bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering, with Romeo focusing on space, Spencer focusing on space/hypersonics, Rowan focusing on air/hypersonics - Congrats again! Congrats also to Rahul Vishnoi and Christopher Kingsley, who both graduated with a Masters of Science, Rahul with his M.S. in Computer Science, and Chris with his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering! While acting as the SSL software team lead and main software developer for VERTEX, Rahul's also conducted research involving the use NASA's Core Flight System (cFS) and neural networks (like, AI), combining the two systems to demonstrate the usability and feasbility of AI for space applications! Rahul is moving on from SSL and headed to Texas to develop flight software at Intutive Machines - leaving behind a passionate and eager software team to fill his big shoes. Christopher was focused on advancing the human interfaces of VERTEX, leading a research teams on the design of the rover's control panel and ingress/egress system, and helped develop and and build AIRWHEEL, as well as supporting multiple on-going SSL projects and research! Christopher is headed to Northup Grumman to help advance the future of space! Finally, Big congrats to Dr. Charlie Hanner, who successfully defended his Ph.D thesis and graduated with his doctoral degree! Charlie is finishing out his SSL career by working as a post-doctoral researcher this summer, supporting summer dives, research, and VERTEX testing! Charlie's thesis was based on the unique and novel suspension system of VERTEX, and developing a ML-derived control scheme to more directly control it and account for distrubances, like lunar potholes! Charlie has also acted as the labs research dive coordinater (as he is the most senior diver... other than Dr. Akin), machinist, and one of the go-to persons when it comes to design questions. Congrats again to Dr. Hanner and all of the graduates this year from the SSL!

Backpack testing in neutral buoyancy - how heavy can spacesuit suits get? 

The SSL is currently testing how different backpack weight affect astronaut movement in lunar and martian gravity! Check out our social media to see updates and testing!

Winter begins! TERP-RAPTOR team and SSL researchers head to the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum to present!

This winter, several members of the SSL traveled to Orlando, Florida to attend the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition! These members included the TERP-RAPTOR team, who presented their concept and development of a cubesat to flyby Apophis and collect visual data! Other research involved robotic teleoperation using the MGA Exoskeleton (MGAXOS).

SSL team heads to Vegas to present at NASAs BIG Idea Challenge Forum

This past November (2024), the SSL AIRWHEEL team traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to present at the BIG Idea forum. The SSL is now continuing development and exploration of inflatable wheels and the AIRWHEEL concept!

Summer begins! Congratulation to all the SSL students who graduated this year (2024)!

Congrats to Rahul Vishnoi and Ryan Mahon and Justin Rhoads for completing their undergraduate careers! Rahul graduated with a bachelors degree in Computer Science with a concentration in Machine Learning, Ryan graduated with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Justin graduated with a bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering! Justin has accepted a position with SpaceX as a Starlink Enterprise Integration & Test Engineer, Rahul is pursuing a masters degree in Computer Science, and Ryan is pursuing a master degree in Aerospace Engineering! Rahul and Ryan are both also continuing their research at the SSL as graduate researchers. Congrats Rahul, Ryan, and Justin! Big congrats as well to Dr. Nicholas Limparis! Dr. Limparis defended his thesis earlier this month, and successfully earned his Doctor in Philosphy in Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. Nick is continuing his educational career as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Maryland. Congrats Nick!

SSL VERTEX/BioBot team heads to NASA Goddard for field test

This past week (4/15), the SSL VERTEX/BioBot team took the rover to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to conduct field test of system upgrades. The upgrades included some mechanical upgrades to VERTEX's swing arms, suspension, and the BioBot arm, as well as new software and electronics. This field test also included the new MX-C+ suit, a modified MX-C suit that has upgraded suit arms and legs similar to what will be on the upcoming MX-D suit!

SSL Team Gets Accepted into the NASA 2024 Big Idea Challenge

The Space Systems Lab's proposal for the NASA 2024 Big Idea Challenge was accepted! A team comprised of PhD, graduate, and undergraduate students will begin designing AIRHWEEL: Auxilary Inflatable Rover Wheel Hub Expaning Exploration Locations. AIRWHEEL is a inflatable + rigid wheel design for rovers, where an inflatable inner wheel is situated in the wheel hub of a rigid wheel, and can be deployed to assist the rover in navigating loose terrain. See the proposal video (made by our Charlie Hanner) here!

VERTEX/BioBot System Development

Researchers at the SSL have been finalizing the development of the VERTEX rover and the BioBot system as a whole. To read more about the VERTEX/BioBot system and the BiobBot concept itself, see here. Below are update videos provided by our own Charlie Hanner on his YouTube channel and the SSL's YouTube channel:

• VERTEX rover intial rollout
• VERTEX rover suspension upgrade 
• VERTEX rover drive testing part 1
• VERTEX rover drive testing part 2
• BioBot ARMLiSS (BioBot arm) assembly and initial test 
• VERTEX wheel spin testing - FULL SPEED
• VERTEX first driving and steering testing
  • Full length video
• VERTEX rolling around in the snow
• BioBot ARMLiSS (BioBot arm) development

You can also find updates on the SSL's social media pages, found under Contact Us

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