Patrick Brown always wanted to be an astronaut. He may never make it to space in person, but he is helping develop a technology that just may take humans to Mars. The URI senior interned this summer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he was part of a team developing a new solid oxide fuel cell system that converts methane, which can be produced from natural resources on Mars, into hydrogen to generate electricity. The aim is to have the system ready for use on a Mars rover scheduled to be launched in 2020.

Patrick said that his research team focused first on making the system lightweight, because it costs NASA about $10,000 to place a single pound of material into space. They also built prototypes and conducted a complex series of tests to ensure that the fuel cell can withstand the extreme temperatures and forces in space.

“It’s amazing how much work goes into making something that might not seem that complex,” Patrick said. “You can’t just call AAA for a tow. It comes down to intensive testing and development to make sure it’s going to work.”

Even if the fuel cell never reaches Mars, Patrick said the paid internship was ideal for a space buff like him. In the office next door, researchers worked on warp speed – how to travel faster than the speed of light. And on the same campus, mission control keeps watch over the International Space Station.

“It’s the mystery of the unknown,” he said of his attraction to space. “We occupy the smallest piece of the physical universe, and we’ve only been around the shortest time. The bulk of existence does not involve human beings.”