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To the moon, Dad! By Oliver Winn One small step for Dan, one giant leap for the Yarra Valley. A Chum Creek father’s engineering genius will help advance NASA’s lunar travel capabilities after he won the top prize in an international competition to design a wheel for a lunar rover. Daniel Bloomfield won the third and final phase of the Rock and Roll with NASA Challenge in Texas on 31 July, beating 128 submissions from 49 countries. His innovative design used special Kevlar material to emulate the surface of Scotch-Brite, allowing the tyre to deform around terrain, while internal support helps it maintain its shape. But while his engineering skills helped realise his ideas, it was Mr Bloomfield’s willingness to tackle any idea, no matter how crazy, that ultimately led to his success. “I only knew what I knew, and I didn’t research anything because I didn’t want to exclude anything. Any crazy idea I was willing to work with to see if I could make it work,” Mr Bloomfield said. He used to work as a research and development engineer 18 years ago, but “it’s been ages” since he’s put those skills to use. Nowadays, most people know him as “just a dad” – a full-time carer of five. He’s certainly an extraordinary father at the very least, taking care of five children, one of whom lives with a disability. The challenge sought lightweight, durable, and scalable wheels that could support longerduration lunar surface operations. The designs also needed to be compliant enough to absorb impacts, maintain traction at higher speeds, and withstand the harsh lunar environment. The wheel would have to endure temperatures from minus 240 to positive 150 degrees Celsius, while withstanding the moon’s shattered glasslike grit surface for 1000 kilometres. He won a final prize of $10,000, and to top things off, Mr Bloomfield’s son Isaac joined him on a holiday exploring other parts of the USA. Read more on page 6
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