NASA Texas Space Grant would like to congratulate the 20 teams that were selected from across the state of Texas to compete in the Spring 2026 Design Challenge!
SPRING 2026 SHOWCASE RESULTS
TOP DESIGN TEAM
Mercurians – Texas Woman’s University
The Mercurians’ aimed to design and advance a functional device to mitigate muscle atrophy in the lower extremities. By refining an existing prototype that delivers targeted mechanical loading to specific regions of the plantar surface, this work seeks to enhance the effects of stimulation and, in turn, attenuate muscle atrophy.
Posters, models, and oral presentations were reviewed by an esteemed panel of NASA and industry judges during the two-day Showcase event. NASA Texas Space Grant would like to thank the judges for their support and to our opening guest speaker, Heidi Parris, an Exploration Mission Planner in NASA’s Strategy and Architecture Office
Top Design Teams
- Mercurians – Texas Woman’s University
- Aggienauts – Texas A&M University
- Password: Bobc@t – Texas State University
- Interstellar Innovators – University of Houston Clear Lake
The Top Design Teams were computed by combining the scores for the following categories:
Best Poster
- Daedalus – Texas A&M University
- (Tie) Cosmic Commanders & Interstellar Innovators – University of Houston Clear Lake
- Space Depot – University of Houston Clear Lake
- (Tie) 12th Man BioFrontier – Texas A&M University, BOSS – Texas State University
Best Video
- Space Depot – University of Houston Clear Lake
- RadDAWGS – Texas State University
- Password: Bobc@t – Texas State University
- Interstellar Innovators – University of Houston Clear Lake
Best Peer Review
- Aggienauts – Texas A&M University
- Mercurians – Texas Woman’s University
- 12th Man BioFrontier – Texas A&M University
- Password: Bobc@t – Texas State University
Best Oral Presentation
- Aggienauts – Texas A&M University
- Mercurians – Texas Woman’s University
- RadDAWGS – Texas State University
- Password: Bobc@t – Texas State University
Congratulations to all the students and many thanks to their faculty and NASA mentors!
Applications for the Fall 2026 Design Challenge will open in August, to get updates from NASA Texas Space Grant, follow us online or subscribe to our newsletter.
To learn more about the teams’ posters, projects, and videos, click the link below.