The Arkansas Space Grant Consortium board voted to fund Dr. Gija Geme, Dr. Tim Schroeder of chemistry, and Dr. Copie Moore of agriculture on a joint venture to explore the feasibility of growing crops such as soybeans, corn, lettuce, kale, and more, in a Mars soil simulant that is improved with fertilizer to add micronutrients. The team received $50,000 from NASA funding through Arkansas Space Grant Consortium in the spring of 2023.

This project aims to measure heavy metal uptake by plants using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Spectroscopy analysis. The soil on Mars is almost entirely made up of mineral matter with small amounts of water and no organic matter. NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity, showed that the mineral matter in Martian soil comes from the weathered volcanic rock of mineralogy similar to weathered basaltic soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii. Martian soil is reddish and sandy overall because it contains a significant amount of iron oxides (rust) throughout the planet’s surface since global dust storms move and redistribute the soil. The toxically high concentration of heavy metals in the soil will be reflected by higher concentrations of metals in plants.

Read the full article on the Southern Arkansas University website.

Author Credit: https://web.saumag.edu/

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) – Emily Shupe, a rising junior at Bluefield State University, has been awarded a NASA West Virginia Space Grant research award and is also being considered for early admission into the West Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM).

She received the grant under the supervision of Professor Tesfaye Belay, and the grant will allow Shupe to continue her work researching a bacterium that can infect astronauts during space flight. “I submitted an essay describing my research and the steps involved in conducting the research,” she explained.

Read the full article on wvva.com.

Author Credit: Kassidy Brown

Image Credit: WVVA News

Three Utah State University engineering students were awarded funding on behalf of the Utah Space Grant Consortium for internships this past summer.

Adam Weaver, a recent graduate student at USU studying mechanical engineering with an emphasis in aerospace engineering, and Payton Taylor, a senior also studying mechanical engineering with an emphasis in aerospace engineering, received $6,200 each for their internships at Northrop Grumman. They worked in the propulsion systems department for four months.

“I was very thankful for this opportunity and excited that I was a recipient,” Weaver said. “The internship was a great experience.”

Read the full article online at USU.edu.

Author Credit: Sydney Dahle | Public Relations Specialist | College of Engineering | Utah State University

Photo Credit: NASA

Three outstanding Arizona State University students with a passion for advancing our understanding of space will soon have the opportunity to extend their academic pursuits beyond the classroom by conducting cutting-edge research and contributing to groundbreaking initiatives that hold the promise of shaping our future in space.

Lindsey Tober, Elizabeth Garayzar and Matthew Marquez have each been selected as recipients of prestigious internship grants from the ASU/NASA Space Grant office, a member of the Arizona Space Grant Consortium.

Read the full article online at News.ASU.edu.

A solar spectacle will cross the sky this weekend when an annular eclipse known as the “ring of fire” appears across the western hemisphere.

Known as the “ring of fire” thanks to shape of circular light created by the partial eclipse, the event is expected to occur this Saturday, Oct. 14, and travel from the coast of Oregon to the Texas Gulf Coast, according to NASA.

The distinct annular eclipse is different from a total eclipse, the next of which is expected to occur in April, and will be the last opportunity for people in the states to catch a glimpse of a ring of fire for a number of years.

Read the full article on USAToday.com

Author Credit: Mary Walrath-Holdridge | USA TODAY

Image Credit: Shuji Kajiyama, AP

NASA is on the quest for a better battery — one that is lighter, longer lasting and able to survive the extreme temperatures found in space — and a Clemson graduate student’s research could help lay the groundwork.

Alan Rowland, a graduate student in the Clemson University Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received a prestigious NASA SC Space Grant fellowship to explore the role nitrogen plays in sulfurized polymer-based lithium-sulfur batteries.

Read the full article online at News.Clemson.edu

Author & Image Credit: Clemson University College of Science

Four University of Southern Mississippi (USM) graduate students in its College of Arts and Sciences have been awarded the prestigious NASA-Mississippi Space Grant Consortium’s (MSSGC) Graduate Research Fellowship for the current academic year (2023-24).

The MSSGC is a statewide non-profit entity consisting of institutions of higher learning, which includes USM, coordinated and supported by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its mission is to enhance and support aerospace science and technology efforts and activities in Mississippi, as well as promote a strong science, mathematics, and technology base at precollege, undergraduate, and graduate levels in the region’s educational institutions.

Read the full article on USM.edu here.

Author Credit: Ivonne Kawas

Nearly a dozen Chargers have received grants or scholarships from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium that will support their cutting-edge research, create important educational opportunities, and, possibly, lead to exciting scientific discoveries.

For Katie Durkee ’24 M.S., the opportunities she’s had to conduct research have enabled her to pursue her interests and discover new passions. A strong believer in the ability of research to help yield new discoveries, she hopes her own work can play an important role in furthering knowledge and innovation on Earth – and beyond.

Read the full article on NewHaven.edu

Author Credit: Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications

Image Credit: NewHaven.edu

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

For 35 years, the Pennsylvania Space Grant College and Fellowship Program has been working to expand opportunities in Pennsylvania for citizens to learn about and participate in NASA programs by supporting STEM education, training, research, and public understanding while promoting multi-faceted diversity among project participants. The program 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 the Penn State website.

Author Credit: Patricia Craig