Design Space Systems
for Human Exploration
Design Space Systems
for Human Exploration
Design Space Systems
for Human Exploration
The Collaborative Lab for Advancing Work in Space
The Collaborative Lab for Advancing Work in Space
The Collaborative Lab For Advancing Work in Space
The Collaborative Lab For Advancing Work in Space
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to advancing human space exploration through ambitious, student-driven engineering and research projects. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design, build, and evaluate innovative technologies while providing members with hands-on experience, professional development, and a supportive community that fosters collaboration, curiosity, and personal growth.
CLAWS NASA SUITS 25-26 Cycle
NASA SPACESUIT & ROVER INTERFACE CHALLENGE
This past May, CLAWS was invited to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where we showcased our systems and received feedback from Artemis Astronauts, ISS Directors, and leading researchers at NASA.
The NASA SUITS challenge invites University teams from across the country to design innovative solutions that support future human spaceflight. Teams develop augmented reality systems or pressurized rover dashboards and present their solutions in simulated lunar environments. This past May, CLAWS was invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where we showcased our systems and received feedback from Artemis Astronauts, ISS Directors, and leading researchers at NASA.
2026 Challenges
NASA’s MICRO-G Neutral Buoyancy Experiment (NExT) design challenge invites students to design and build tools for astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA's SUITS design challenge invites students to design user interfaces for EVA and PR operations on the lunar surface.
More information about Fall 2026 recruitment coming shortly…
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES FOR 2026
NASA’s MICRO-G Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design challenge invites students to design and build tools for astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA’s RASC-AL competition challenges students to develop innovative concepts that support future human space exploration through systems engineering.
HELP US DECIDE DURING RECRUITMENT THIS YEAR!
More information about Fall 2026 recruitment coming shortly…
CLAWS
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to advancing human and robotic space exploration through ambitious, student-driven engineering and research projects. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design, build, and evaluate innovative technologies while providing members with hands-on experience, professional development, and a supportive community that fosters collaboration, curiosity, and personal growth.
The Collaborative Lab For Advancing Work in Space
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to advancing human and robotic space exploration through ambitious, student-driven engineering and research projects. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design, build, and evaluate innovative technologies while providing members with hands-on experience, professional development, and a supportive community that fosters collaboration, curiosity, and personal growth.
NASA SPACESUIT & ROVER INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
The NASA SUITS challenge invites University teams from across the country to design innovative solutions that support future human spaceflight. Teams develop augmented reality systems or pressurized rover dashboards and present their solutions in simulated lunar environments. This past May, CLAWS was invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where we showcased our systems and received feedback from Artemis Astronauts, ISS Directors, and leading researchers at NASA.
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES FOR 2026
NASA’s MICRO-G Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design challenge invites students to design and build tools for astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA’s RASC-AL competition challenges students to develop innovative concepts that support future human space exploration through systems engineering.
HELP US DECIDE DURING RECRUITMENT THIS YEAR!
More information about Fall 2026 recruitment coming shortly…
The Collaborative Lab For Advancing Work in Space
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design and deliver engineering projects that advance human and robotic exploration in space. The Development Team works across multiple initiatives with a primary focus on the software for the NASA’s SUITS challenge. The Hardware Team on the other hand leads physical systems design and prototyping efforts for NASA’s RASC-AL challenge. The Business Team supports organizational growth, partnerships, and project sustainability while also assisting the Research Team with grants, studies, and technical documentation. The UX team collaborates across all disciplines to design intuitive interfaces and evaluate XR systems with an emphasis on human factors and astronaut usability.
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to advancing human and robotic space exploration through ambitious, student-driven engineering and research projects. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design, build, and evaluate innovative technologies while providing members with hands-on experience, professional development, and a supportive community that fosters collaboration, curiosity, and personal growth.
CLAWS is an interdisciplinary organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to advancing human and robotic space exploration through ambitious, student-driven engineering and research projects. Our 5 core teams—Development, Hardware, UX, Research, and Business—collaborate to design, build, and evaluate innovative technologies while providing members with hands-on experience, professional development, and a supportive community that fosters collaboration, curiosity, and personal growth.
NASA SPACESUIT & ROVER INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
NASA SPACESUIT & ROVER INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
The NASA SUITS challenge invites University teams from across the country to design innovative solutions that support future human spaceflight. Teams develop augmented reality systems or pressurized rover dashboards and present their solutions in simulated lunar environments. This past May, CLAWS was invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where we showcased our systems and received feedback from Artemis Astronauts, ISS Directors, and leading researchers at NASA.
The NASA SUITS challenge invites University teams from across the country to design innovative solutions that support future human spaceflight. Teams develop augmented reality systems or pressurized rover dashboards and present their solutions in simulated lunar environments. This past May, CLAWS was invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where we showcased our systems and received feedback from Artemis Astronauts, ISS Directors, and leading researchers at NASA.
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES FOR 2026
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES FOR 2026
NASA’s MICRO-G Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design challenge invites students to design and build tools for astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA’s MICRO-G Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design challenge invites students to design tools for astronauts on the lunar surface.
NASA’s RASC-AL competition challenges students to develop innovative concepts that support future human space exploration.
NASA’s RASC-AL competition challenges students to develop innovative concepts that support future human space exploration.
HELP US DECIDE DURING RECRUITMENT THIS YEAR!
HELP US DECIDE DURING RECRUITMENT THIS YEAR!
More information about Fall 2026 recruitment coming shortly…
CLAWS Photo Gallery
University teams from across the country are invited each year to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to present and test their user interfaces on simulated lunar or Martian terrain for researchers, designers, and ISS officials. Teams are challenged to create either a Pressurized Rover or an augmented reality (AR) display to help astronauts work safely and efficiently in space.
This past May, CLAWS was 1 of 10 teams that had the opportunity to go, and received guided feedback from experts in the field, toured restricted facilities, and welcomed evaluations from the ISS Flight Director and an official astronaut.
NASA SPACESUIT & ROVER INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
CLAWS Photo Gallery
CLAWS Photo Gallery
Engaging with the larger MCommunity at the XR Summit
The Web Team working on new features in the fall
A snapshot of our Unity onboarding
The hardware team hard at work soldering a PCB
High school students in a cybersecurity class brainstormed UX problems they could solve at their school
Students at an outreach event
trying our previous AR applications
Presentations each week on the progress of the project
helped members understand the scope better
Members of the AI team learning more
about AI during onboarding
Work-time with Northeastern University at Johnson Space Center, testing our Pressurized Rover and AR HUD on a mission
Our UX Team debriefing our evaluator on user controls
Monitoring our Mission Control server to ensure
accurate data transfers during testing
Our design evaluator conducting
the test mission at the rockyard
A closer look of the testing process at JSC
for the SUITS challenge
The hardware team built a physical button
integrated with eye gaze for user input
A mirrored view of the HoloLens 2
showing a user adding a waypoint to a map
During the final test week, NASA provides tours
and detailed presentations of their facilities
Work-time with Northeastern University at Johnson Space Center, testing our Pressurized Rover and AR HUD on a mission
Our UX Team debriefing our evaluator on user controls
Monitoring our Mission Control server to ensure
accurate data transfers during testing
Our design evaluator conducting
the test mission at the rockyard
A closer look of the testing process at JSC
for the SUITS challenge
The hardware team built a physical button
integrated with eye gaze for user input
A mirrored view of the HoloLens 2
showing a user adding a waypoint to a map
During the final test week, NASA provides tours
and detailed presentations of their facilities
Work-time with Northeastern University at Johnson Space Center, testing our Pressurized Rover and AR HUD on a mission
Our UX Team debriefing our evaluator on user controls
Monitoring our Mission Control server to ensure
accurate data transfers during testing
Our design evaluator conducting
the test mission at the rockyard
A closer look of the testing process at JSC
for the SUITS challenge
The hardware team built a physical button
integrated with eye gaze for user input
A mirrored view of the HoloLens 2
showing a user adding a waypoint to a map
During the final test week, NASA provides tours
and detailed presentations of their facilities
Work-time with Northeastern University at Johnson Space Center, testing our Pressurized Rover and AR HUD
Our UX Team debriefing our evaluator on user controls
Our design evaluator conducting
the test mission at the rockyard
Monitoring our Mission Control server to ensure accurate data transfers during testing
A closer look at the testing process at JSC
for the SUITS challenge
The hardware team built a physical button integrated with eye gaze for user input
A mirrored view of the HoloLens 2
showing a user adding a waypoint to a map
During test week, NASA provides tours and detailed presentations of their facilities
Engaging with the larger MCommunity at the XR Summit
The Web Team working on new features in the fall
A snapshot of our Unity onboarding
The hardware team hard at work soldering a PCB
Members of the AI team learning more
about AI during onboarding
Presentations each week on the progress of the project
helped members understand the scope better
High school students in a cybersecurity class brainstormed UX problems they could solve at their school
Students at an outreach event
trying our previous AR applications
Engaging with the larger MCommunity at the XR Summit
The Web Team working on new features in the fall
A snapshot of our Unity onboarding
The hardware team hard at work soldering a PCB
Members of the AI team learning more
about AI during onboarding
Presentations each week on the progress of the project
helped members understand the scope better
High school students in a cybersecurity class brainstormed UX problems they could solve at their school
Students at an outreach event
trying our previous AR applications
Engaging with the larger MCommunity at the XR Summit
The Web Team working on new features in the fall
A snapshot of our Unity onboarding
The hardware team hard at work soldering a PCB
Members of the AI team learning more
about AI during onboarding
Presentations each week on the progress of the project
helped members understand the scope better
High school students in a cybersecurity class brainstormed UX problems they could solve at their school
Students at an outreach event
trying our previous AR applications
Thank you Noah Feller, Jamie Zhou, Robert Markowitz, and James Blair for many of these photos
Thank you Noah Feller, Jamie Zhou, Robert Markowitz, and James Blair for many of these photos
Photo Gallery
Thank you Noah Feller, Jamie Zhou, Robert Markowitz, and James Blair for many of these photos