The Cerritos Community College team calls its project F.I.R.E. Its proposed approach would drop biodegradable pellets from autonomous, uncrewed drones; NASA says their ingredients would combine on the ground to form a foamlike fire retardant. The team aims to demonstrate that a prototype can put out a controlled fire, and the research is at an early stage. [S1]
The six students want to support firefighters and wildland fire managers, and have discussed the idea with firefighters to get feedback on how it could work in the field, NASA says. The work is intended to address fires affecting communities in Southern California. [S1]
The research challenge had previously selected participants from four-year institutions, NASA says. For the Cerritos students, the award offers a chance to build hands-on: the team had presented the idea at NASA's 2024 Gateway to Blue Skies competition and won its Future Game-Changer award before applying for the research grant. [S1]
Source documents
- NASA University Research Program Makes First Award to a Community College Projecthttps://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/programs-1st-award-to-community-college/