PETER HOMER WINS NASA'S ASTRONAUT GLOVE CHALLENGE
Peter Homer, a member of the Institute's Board of Advisors, won NASA’s Astronaut Glove Challenge in May 2007, with an innovative design that outperforms the current Space Station glove. NASA awarded Peter $200,000 for his improvement. Developed for only $500 on his kitchen table, the new glove design shows how rapid prototyping can produce remarkable results.
In October 2007 NASA flew the team of Peter Homer and Peter Lord to Phoenix to share their aerospace experiences with some of the nation’s finest engineers and managers. Their presentation, “Big Innovation from Small Teams,” was part of NASA’s annual Masters Forum for “the Best of the Best,” conducted by the Academy of Program/Project Engineering Leadership.
The "two Peters from Maine," as they came to be known, were a “big hit,” according to forum organizer Rosie Robinson.
PeterHomer's improvement on NASA's astronaut glove is an inspiring story of perseverance in the face apparent failure. This is a story just as important to NASA engineers wrestling with complex multibillion-dollar space projects, as to students wrestling with slippery concepts of pressure, force, and work. Nothing makes new concepts more concrete than reaching out and touching them.
Peter Homer is the first and only winner of a centennial challenge cash prize established by Congress to spur private innovation to solve intractable NASA problems. Since winning the $200,000 competition. he has received national attention and has participated in Space Expos in Los Angels and at the Kennedy Space Center.
Photo from left: Rosie Robinson (Masters Forum organizer), Peter Lord, Peter Homer,
Ed Hoffman (Director of NASA’s Academy of Program/Project Engineering Leadership)
The two Peters first met at Southwest Harbor in the summer of 1971, and grew up to pursue remarkably similar careers in commercial aerospace as mechanical engineers. They are currently working on a joint magazine article for NASA’s ASK magazine.
The Institute’s outreach program literally brings hands-on education to area schools, whose students are given the oportunity to try on Peter Homer’s space glove. In a homemade vacuum chamber, his glove stiffens like an inflated tire—but not as stiff as the current NASA glove, which is unwieldy to use in the exhausting work environment of space.
Students get to experience exactly how engineers use so-called “mistakes” to produce truly innovative designs. They are also able to feel how pressure, force, work, and energy are related. When combined with an explanation of the demands of life support in space, it’s an integrated physical and life sciences experience that students can literally grasp and hold onto.
In January 2008 NASA added detailed information about Peter's design to their online resources for science educators; see NASA's article on "Holding a Winning Hand."
Related Links
Flagsuit LLC was founded in 2007 to commercialize technology developed for Peter Homer's winning entry in the 2007 NASA Astronaut Glove Challenge. Based in coastal Maine, the company is focused on streamlining the production of "Made to Fit" elements for suborbital and future planetary space suits.
NASA ASK Magazine, "The Astronaut Glove Challenge: Big Innovation from a (Very) Small Team," by Peter Homer. Winter 2008.
NASA ASK Magazine, "Using the Space Glove to Teach Spatial Thinking," by Peter Lord. Winter 2008.
Christian Science Monitor, "Lending a hand in space exploration," by Cynthia Anderson. June 25, 2007. (Also reprinted in USA Today.)
Discovery Channel, "Winning Space Glove Design Named." May 4, 2007.
MSNBC, "Glove wins $200,000 NASA prize." by Alan Boyle. May 3, 2007.
National Public Radio, All Things Considered, June 9, 2007.
New York Times Magazine, "The Amateur Future of Space Travel," by Jack Hitt. July 6, 2007.
Wikipedia, "Peter K. Homer."
