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Student teams from three U.S. universities became the first to measure what scientists have long predicted: eclipses can generate ripples in Earth’s atmosphere called atmospheric gravity waves. The waves’ telltale signature emerged in data captured during the North American annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, as part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) sponsored by NASA.

Through NEBP, high school and university student teams were stationed along the eclipse path through multiple U.S. states, where they released weather balloons carrying instrument packages designed to conduct engineering studies or atmospheric science experiments. A cluster of science teams located in New Mexico collected the data definitively linking the eclipse to the formation of atmospheric gravity waves, a finding that could lead to improved weather forecasting.

Read the full article on nasa.gov.

Image Credit: NASA

Author Credit: NASA

Original Story Post Date: 9/5/2024

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Seventeen graduate students from Penn State have been awarded research fellowships and six undergraduate students from the commonwealth have been awarded scholarships for 2024 from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC).

PSGC is one of 52 NASA Space Grant programs across the country that are part of the NASA-run initiative to support educational initiatives in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Each year PSGC receives funds from the national NASA Space Grant Project to develop and implement student fellowships and scholarships programs. Through this funding PSGC administers the Graduate Fellowship Program and Undergraduate Scholarship Program.

Read the full article on psu.edu.

Author Credit: Pennsylvania State University

Original Story Post Date: 9/3/2024

Through Artemis, NASA plans to conduct long-duration human and robotic missions on the lunar surface in preparation for future crewed exploration of Mars. Expanding exploration capabilities requires a robust lunar infrastructure, including practical and cost-effective ways to construct a lunar base. One method is employing in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) – or the ability to use naturally occurring resources – to produce consumables and build structures in the future, which will make explorers more Earth-independent.

An ISRU process that NASA wants to learn more about is forging metals from lunar minerals to create structures and tools in the future. Through its 2023 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Lunar Forge Challenge, NASA sought innovative concepts from university students to design an ISRU metal production pipeline on the Moon. The year-and-a-half-long challenge, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and Office of STEM Engagement, supports NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative in developing new approaches and novel technologies to pave the way for successful exploration on the surface of the Moon.

Finalist teams presented their research, designs, prototypes, and testing results to a panel of NASA and industry judges at a culminating forum on Nov. 16, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Read the full article on NASA.gov

Image Credit: National Institute of Aerospace

Author Credit: Stefanie Payne

Original Post Date: Nov. 21, 2023

Getting to work on cutting-edge research is a privilege typically reserved for graduate students, but South Dakota Mines is not your typical university, and Jaden Dougal, a junior mechanical engineering major from Rockwall, Texas, is not your typical student.

Dougal has been helping conduct research on laser ablation for efficient space debris removal. She describes it as using space-based lasers to target debris in low earth orbit: shooting them with a nanosecond or femtosecond laser to change the debris’ trajectory — either slow it down enough to fall into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up or speed it up enough to be sent to a graveyard orbit.

Dougal can participate in this research thanks to Prasoon Diwakar, PhD, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and research supported from the NASA South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.

Read the full article on SDSMT.edu

Author Credit: South Dakota Mines

Image Credit: South Dakota Mines

Original Post Date: 3/28/24

Rising University of South Dakota senior Maddie Rozmajzl landed a prestigious summer internship with NASA at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California’s Silicon Valley, an opportunity she describes as a dream come true.

“I am so grateful to be chosen for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to see my progress by the end of the summer,” said Rozmajzl, a biomedical engineering major from Omaha, Nebraska. “I have dreamt to work for such a prestigious company as NASA, and I have dreamt about being a part of a team who is known for achieving the impossible.”

During her 10-week internship, Rozmajzl is working in the Bioengineering & Instrumentation Lab, participating in projects connected to the Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications (LEIA) mission, which is set to launch in 2026. Her responsibilities include working on the biocompatibility of materials and an optical density probe for LEIA group support equipment.

Read the full article on USD.edu

Image Credit: University of South Dakota

Author Credit: Hanna DeLange

Original Post Date: 7/1/2024

Florida Space Grant Consortium supported research published research results in Astrobiology, “Effects of Spaceflight on the Brain.”

Read the research article online in the National Library of Medicine.

Astrobiology & Journal Impact Factors

Article Date: 6/27/24

NASA has awarded Professor Kevin Crosby $300,000 in seed funding to build a new research and internship program for Carthage students.

The majority of these funds are designated for 10 summer internships over the next two years. Selected students will take part in space science research on campus during the academic year and then spend a summer working at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The agency recently announced Carthage as one of 13 grant recipients for the Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program. Targeting schools that primarily serve undergraduate or underrepresented students, it’s designed to cultivate a more diverse, inclusive, and accessible workforce — both at NASA and in STEM occupations across the country.

“We look forward to nurturing these collaborations between faculty and NASA researchers, while supporting the development of the next generation of researchers,” said program director Padi Boyd.

Read the full article on Carthage.edu

Author Credit: Carthage College

Image Credit: WISGC

Original Post Date: July 16, 2024

Jules Levanti ’25 started her collegiate journey studying finance – not even thinking about undergraduate research, let alone studying the universe. But three years later, Levanti is the first Elon University student to be named an Undergraduate Research Scholar by North Carolina Space Grant to further her research on dwarf galaxies.

“When I first got to Elon, I remember seeing the Five Elon Experiences, looking at research and saying ‘Oh, I’m not doing that,’ but obviously things have changed and thank God,” said Levanti.

‘Where I’m meant to be’

Levanti, who is studying astrophysics with minors in computer science and mathematics, said astronomy was always an interest, but it wasn’t until she took an astronomy class at Elon that she began to consider it as a major.

Read the full article on elon.edu.

Author Credit:  Avery Craine Powell

Image Credit: https://www.elon.edu/

Original Post Date: 7/23/2024

A team of five Indigenous students from the University of Waterloo participated in the First Nations Launch, an annual high-power rocket competition sponsored by NASA’s Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC), designed to provide a unique aerospace learning experience.

It was the team’s first time taking part in the competition which involved designing, building and launching a high-powered model rocket carrying cargo to an apogee of 2000 feet. Months of hard work and invaluable support culminated in an epic — and windy — weekend in Kenosha, Wisconsin that everyone agrees, was a blast.

“We didn’t know what to expect going in,” says Matthieu Lavallee, a second-year chemical engineering student and Algonquin Anishinaabe member of the Wolf Lake First Nation in Québec.

“Each step was a massive learning curve which was great. There were lots of technical parameters we had to meet such as payload size and deployment timing, we also had some testing challenges as it isn’t possible to launch a high-powered rocket in Canada without proper authorization. But we had tons of support and nothing felt impossible.”

Read the full article on UWaterloo.ca

Author Credit: Charlotte Danby

Image Credit: University of Waterloo

Original Post Date: June 24, 2024

The sun barely peeks over the horizon as a suitcase-like transport box exits Steward Observatory, home to the University of Arizona Department of Astronomy. Inside, held snugly in place by foam, is precious cargo: CatSat, the university’s first satellite built entirely by students.

After loading it into the back of the car, Shae Henley and Walter Rahmer, both engineering students at UArizona, stretch one last time in preparation for the 660-mile trip from Tucson to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Their mission: Deliver the satellite and fit it inside a Firefly rocket that will launch into low-Earth orbit as early as July 1. If everything goes according to plan, CatSat will orbit around Earth every 95 minutes, gathering data about space weather while using an inflatable antenna from FreeFall Aerospace and a state-of-the-art radio from Rincon Research Corporation.

CatSat is a small satellite, also known as a CubeSat. The project kickoff was in 2016. For the past several years, students suited up in lab coats, hairnets and masks to meticulously wire up the satellite inside a clean room in the university’s Drake Building. Henley and Rahmer were part of the CatSat integration team, which also included team leads Hilly Paige and Del Spangler, both UArizona alumni, and engineering student Sarah Li.

Read the full story on News.Arizona.edu

Author Credit: Penny Sophia Duran, NASA Space Grant Science Writing Intern

Image Credit: Aman Chandra/FreeFall Aerospace

Original Post Date: June 29, 2024