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>> WE HAVE A NEED AT NASA
FOR MINIATURIZED PARTICLE
ACCOUNTING INSTRUMENTS,
OR AEROSOL INSTRUMENTS.
AND, UH, WE'RE LOOKING
TO GET THAT TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT STIMULATED
TO THE POINT WHERE WE WILL HAVE
SOMETHING THAT WE CAN USE
IN SPACE FLIGHT.
WE HAVE A PARTNER IN
THIS CHALLENGE, THE
ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION.
THEIR MISSION IS TO IMPROVE
THE HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES.
AND SO THEY WANT, UH, UH,
A PARTICLE INSTRUMENT THAT
HAS A LOT OF THE SAME QUALITIES
THAT A SPACECRAFT PARTICLE
INSTRUMENT WOULD HAVE.
>> WE ARE FOCUSING ON BUILDING
A MUCH MORE ROBUST CULTURE
OF HEALTH IN AMERICA.
UM, AND THAT MEANS WORKING WITH
ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE
AND PARTNERS.
WE SAW NASA AS
ONE OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, AND IT ACTUALLY TURNED OUT
TO BE A PRETTY INTERESTING FIT
WITH THEIR OWN INTERESTS
IN LOOKING FOR INNOVATIONS
THAT WORKED ON SPACE
AND ON THE EARTH.
>> FOR THE ISS, IT'S LIKE
A-A CAN OF AIR THAT'S BEEN THERE
FOR 17 YEARS.
NO FRESH AIR.
WE NEED TO HAVE THAT SMALL,
ROBUST, MAINTENANCE-FREE
INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE PARTICLES
ON THE SPACE STATION.
AND SO WE HAVE THAT SYNERGY
BETWEEN THE EARTH APPLICATION
AND THE SPACE APPLICATION,
AND THAT'S COMBINED IN
THE EARTH AND SPACE AIR PRIZE.
>> WE HAD 20 PROPOSALS COME IN,
AND A PANEL OF JUDGES, INCLUDING
NASA AND FOUNDATION MEMBERS.
UM, DOWN-SELECTED THAT
TO THREE.
THOSE THREE FINALISTS WERE
EACH GIVEN $50,000
TO BUILD A PROTOTYPE
BASED ON THEIR PROPOSAL,
BASED ON THEIR TECHNOLOGY.
THOSE THREE PROTOTYPES WILL BE
IN OUR TEST CHAMBER TOGETHER,
AND WE WILL GO THROUGH
A SERIES OF CHALLENGES WHERE
WE'RE GENERATING AEROSOLS
IN THE CHAMBER.
>> SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAD TO
KEEP IN MIND FOR SAMPLING
ON THE-THE SPACE STATION
ARE, UM, A LITTLE DIFFERENT
FOR WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY
CONSIDER FOR SAMPLING
HERE ON EARTH.
>> THERE IS A GROWING INTEREST
IN UNDERSTANDING, UM,
AIR QUALITY AT THE COMMUNITY
LEVEL, AT A NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL,
AT THE LEVEL OF A SCHOOL.
AND THERE AREN'T A LOT OF
GREAT SENSORY DEVICES
OUT THERE TODAY THAT CAN DO SO
IN A BROAD WAY AND-AND
A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY.
>> I JUST RETURNED FROM
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
FIRST-EVER AIR POLLUTION
CONFERENCE IN GENEVA.
AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT
A LOT OF, UH, LOW COST
OR LOWER COST SENSOR SOLUTIONS,
AS, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR
THE THIRD WORLD OR FOR
LESS AFFLUENT COUNTRIES,
COST IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR.
UM, BUT WHAT THEY'RE STRUGGLING
WITH IS THAT THERE'S A LOT OF
LOW COST, LOW QUALITY SENSORS.
SO TRYING TO IDENTIFY LOW COST
BUT HIGH QUALITY SENSORS,
WHICH IS REALLY
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
>> THIS CHALLENGE GIVES US
THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE
NOT JUST EVOLUTIONARY AEROSOL
TECHNOLOGY, BUT REVOLUTIONARY
AEROSOL TECHNOLOGY
AT OUR DISPOSAL AT NASA.
THERE'S NEW THINGS THAT
WE CAN'T BUY THAT ARE BEING
DEVELOPED IN THIS CHALLENGE.
>> OUR END GOAL IS REALLY
TO ADVANCE TECHNOLOGY
FOR AREA MONITORING
AND PERSONAL MONITORING, UM,
SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND
MORE ABOUT PEOPLE'S EXPOSURES
TO AEROSOLS AND REALLY
MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO CREATE
A HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT
FOR PEOPLE ON THE SPACE STATION
AND HERE ON EARTH.
>> WE DESIGNED A NEW
AEROSOL TECHNOLOGY THAT
CAN BASICALLY MEASURE BOTH
PARTICLE AND AEROSOL MASS, UH,
SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS, UH,
BUT ALSO GIVES YOU KIND OF
THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OF AEROSOLS.
UH, THIS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
BECAUSE WHAT WE CAN DO IS
WE CAN TAKE THIS DATA
AND REALLY GET A REALLY DEEP
UNDERSTANDING OF, UH,
AMBIENT AIR QUALITY.
SO WITH OUR DEVICE, UH,
WE BUILT IT IN A WAY SO THAT
IT CAN BE SCALABLE AND DEPLOYED
ACROSS, UH, LARGE NETWORKS.
AND THEN YOU CAN TAKE THIS DATA
AND ACTUALLY START UNDERSTANDING
THE SOURCES AND COMPOSITION
OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF AEROSOLS.
>> TO ME, WHAT'S REALLY EXCITING
IS JUST THE FUNDAMENTAL
UNDERLYING CHALLENGE
OF AIR POLLUTION, AND I THINK
THAT IT'S GREAT THAT NASA
AND THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON
FOUNDATION HAVE TEAMED UP
TO HELP FIND SOLUTIONS
TO SOLVE THAT PROBLEM.
>> MY HOPE IS THAT
ONE OR MORE OF THE FINALISTS
WILL BE ABLE TO PARTNER
WITH NASA TO DO
A TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
ON THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION WITH
THEIR PARTICLE SENSOR.
THE OTHER THING I HOPE IS THAT
THERE WOULD BE A SMART CITY
APPLICATION OF ONE OF THESE
FINALISTS, OR MORE.
BECAUSE THERE'S ALL KINDS OF
POLLUTANTS THAT WE NEED TO
MONITOR TO IMPROVE OUR AWARENESS
OF OUR SURROUNDINGS.
THE SMART CITY APPLICATION,
YOU CAN LOOK ONLINE AND FIND OUT
HOW CLEAN THE AIR IS,
AND MAKE YOUR DECISIONS
BASED ON THAT.