UND, Cankdeska Cikana Community College partner on NASA grant

The first pair of boots to touch the moon’s surface were designed by GE for the Apollo 11 mission. Made from silicon rubber, they were rugged and made to withstand extreme conditions.

While their functional design has evolved over time, there is still room for improvement. UND’s Jesse Rhoades, Advanced Manufacturing Instructor Nick Bittner of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Ft. Totten, N.D., and some of Bittner’s students have a few ideas to make that happen.

UND and Cankdeska Cikana have partnered on a NASA grant to develop lunar boot outsoles. The grant, which will provide just under $1 million in funding over three years, is a part of NASA’s Artemis program.

As part of the grant, UND’s BiPed lab is testing models created by Cankdeska Cikana’s manufacturing course students. Their goal is to design, build and test detachable outsoles that correct some of the problematic elements of lunar boots.

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