How the NASA Glenn Research Center Is Advancing Lunar and Mars Exploration

CLEVELAND – NASA is looking to explore the moon and Mars in the next few decades, and advanced technologies under development at the NASA Glenn Research Center will help make that possible.

NASA’s push to the moon, called Artemis, includes building a moon outpost as a base for exploration and to teach scientists how to live and work on another world, NASA said.

The Artemis lunar plan includes the creation of Gateway, a spaceship in lunar orbit that will support long-term missions on and around the Moon, NASA said. Another goal for Artemis to prepare for human missions to Mars.

NASA Glenn is helping Artemis with several research projects.

The agency is spearheading a project to build a nuclear power plant on the moon by 2030.

A permanent moon base — used for scientific research, resource extraction, military strategy, and launching missions to Mars — would need both solar power and nuclear fission. The agency plans to build a 100-kilowatt plant on the moon using nuclear fission, using technology overseen by NASA Glenn.

In addition, NASA Glenn is working on the development of the gridded-ion thruster, the propulsion system planned for the orbiting spaceship Gateway.

Two solar arrays, each the size of the end zone on a football field, will convert sunlight into electricity to generate ions used to charge xenon gas. The charged gas will then be expelled out the back of the thruster, moving the craft forward in the opposite direction.

While the thrusters are built by companies in Washington state and Massachusetts, they are being tested at NASA Glenn inside giant vacuum chambers that replicate the lack of oxygen in space.

The most recent example of NASA Glenn’s involvement in future space missions is a project to test portable X-ray machines that could one day fly into space.

NASA Glenn is partnering with Cuyahoga Community College and University Hospitals to evaluate three handheld X-ray systems for use in space. The goal is to identify a compact, low-power device that can be operated by non-technicians, scan both people and objects, and produce hospital-quality images.

The project is part of a broader NASA initiative to improve astronaut health and safety during long-duration missions, where medical support is limited. The selected device is expected to launch to the International Space Station in 2027 or 2028.

“Having the right tools on hand is crucial to ensure the survival of the crew,” said Cy Peverill, project task lead at NASA Glenn. “It costs a lot of money to send anything into space, so we need to show that these X-ray machines are worth the amount of room they would take in the crew module.”

Currently, the space station is equipped with an ultrasound machine, but not an X-ray system. Ultrasound provides moving images but lacks the depth and clarity of X-rays, Peverill said.

The X-ray machine could be used to detect changes in the human body caused by radiation or microgravity, inspect spacecraft components for damage, or even monitor plant health without disturbing growth.

NASA began the project in June 2024 by reviewing more than 200 X-ray systems. The field was narrowed to three finalists: MinXray, Remedi and Fujifilm.

MinXray, based in Northbrook, Illinois, manufactures compact digital imaging equipment. Its device, about the size of a coffee machine, recently captured the first X-ray of a human hand in space during a SpaceX mission. Korea-based Remedi is a global medical technology company, and its device is scheduled to fly on a SpaceX mission in 2026. Fujifilm, headquartered in Tokyo, is known for its work in healthcare, electronics and imaging.

To test the devices, NASA turned to local expertise. At Tri-C’s Western Campus, NASA staff trained in the college’s advanced radiography lab using anatomical phantoms—human bones encased in clear plastic. Students training to become radiographers observed the sessions.

“There were all kinds of technical considerations they were learning from us, and we were learning what their needs were in the space environment,” said Elizabeth Gildone, program director for radiology and mammography at Tri-C.

NASA also worked with Tri-C’s dental hygiene department at the Metropolitan Campus to learn how to take full-mouth X-rays using manikins containing real human bone and tissue.

“During this phase of their testing, it was important not to expose humans to ionizing radiation, but necessary to see how actual human dental structures would appear in the X-ray images,” said Anne Myatt, director of the dental hygiene program.

NASA reciprocated by hosting Tri-C faculty and students for a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA Glenn. “That was just a whole day of amazement and wonder,” Gildone said.

At NASA Glenn, the devices were tested on non-human objects, including damaged lunar rover tires provided by a lab that specializes in space vehicle wheels.

“We were able to see inside (the tires) where some of the springs had bent, which could support a decision to switch out that tire before you go on a five-mile (trip) on the moon,” said Chase Haddix, a senior biomedical engineering research contractor with the Universities Space Research Association at NASA Glenn.

The final phase of testing is underway at University Hospitals, where patients are being offered the option to have X-rays taken with both hospital-grade and NASA devices. Physicians and scientists will compare the images to evaluate quality and usability.

“If they find, for example, that this equipment works well for wrists, ankles and forearms, but it’s not so useful for shoulders or chests, that’ll factor into their decisions for when and how they would pull it out during a mission,” said David Jordan, chief medical physicist in radiology at UH.

Researchers plan to collect images from about 40 patients over the course of a month.

“There’s a certain amount of bragging rights to it all,” Jordan said. “We’re helping support the crew that’s going out there.”

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