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News Release COLLEGE NEWS RELEASE / February 11, 2009 Boise State Engineering Research Team Will Fly High in NASA's Microgravity University Program At the end of March, students and faculty from Boise State University’s College of Engineering will travel to Johnson Space Center in Houston to aid NASA in its mission to “advance human exploration, use and development of space.” Boise State will join an elite group of colleges and universities involved in NASA’s Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program, also known as Microgravity University. The highly competitive program challenges students to successfully design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment conducted in a Boeing 727 that simulates Martian, lunar and zero gravity through a series of parabolic maneuvers executed in “roller coaster fashion” over the Gulf of Mexico. Seniors Dan Isla, Ryan Bedell and Alex Miller wrote Boise State’s proposal for the Systems Engineering Educational Discovery (SEED) segment of the Microgravity University program, with advisement on its outreach requirement from the College of Engineering’s educational research director Patricia Pyke and distinguished educator in residence Barbara Morgan. Professors Donald Plumlee, Jim Browning and Robert Davidson, sophomores Mallory Yates and Kyle Knori and graduate students Matt McCrink and Jeff Perkins also are part of the SEED team, which includes flight and ground crews. Their areas of engineering expertise range from materials science to mechanics, and interdisciplinary collaboration was key to both the experiments and educational outreach strategies proposed. Last week, NASA posted its selection of eight proposals for the 2009 SEED program from Boise State, Carthage College, Ohio State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Kentucky, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Washington University in St. Louis (for more details, visit http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/se). Teams were officially notified in December, and the Boise State crew has been busy since the beginning of January designing an experiment around its assigned topic: Lunar Surface Traction Concepts for Pressurized or Unpressurized Manned or Robotic Rovers. Lead Microgravity University coordinator Sara Malloy explained that SEED differs from the traditional undergraduate program in that NASA principal investigators provide project ideas based on their own research needs. “As astronauts return to the moon to establish a sustained presence in preparation for missions to Mars, there will be a need for a transport system that can carry humans and cargo over the lunar surface, and Boise State’s research will produce traction concepts to address anticipated challenges,” said Pedro H. Curiel, principal investigator and mentor for Boise State’s project and engineer for NASA’s Constellation Program, Systems Engineering & Integration directorate at Johnson Space Center. “I am glad to be part of this project, partnering with this highly motivated team and sharing this experience with students and faculty who are also strong believers in the importance of space exploration. I think the Systems Engineering Microgravity program will be a great learning experience for everyone involved.” “The biggest benefit is the educational process of going through from beginning to end on a science project or engineering experiment in a reduced gravity environment,” Malloy said. “In the classroom, if something goes wrong you can always leave it and come back the next day. In this program, when you go up to test it you can’t take a time out. And it doesn’t end there. Students go out afterward and talk to communities and inspire the next generation as only NASA can.” In anticipation of a continued relationship with NASA, Boise State started offering two new engineering classes this semester: Microgravity University and Microgravity Leadership. With the help of these classes, a combined biology and engineering team is preparing a proposal to be submitted to the Microgravity University program in the fall. Two related courses, Lunar University and Lunar Leadership, also are being offered to help students write lunar habitation proposals for the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), an international research and education center dedicated to the development of new technologies needed to sustain life on the moon and beyond. Meanwhile, students involved in the SEED project are going where no Bronco has gone before. Using most of their free time and working at a pace that achieves another milestone every week, they are committed to making the inaugural project a success. “Boise State has never been involved in a NASA Microgravity project before, and I feel honored to be on one of the eight teams selected,” said senior Dan Isla, who has taken the lead on the project. “I expect that the success of this program will attract quality students to the university who will continue to apply for the Microgravity University program year after year.” “The Microgravity program represents another step in Boise State becoming a research university,” said Jim Browning, an electrical and computer engineering professor who will accompany the student flight team in March. “For research to thrive at a university, a research culture has to be developed. When that culture grows, more students consider research opportunities and then contribute to the university’s research efforts. These efforts in turn provide more funding opportunities, more resources and more potential involvement. Hence, this type of program, while a small step, is an important one.” For more information about NASA’s Microgravity University and SEED programs, visit http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov and http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/se. -30- Media Contact: Erin Ryan, University Communications, (208) 426-4910, erinryan@boisestate.edu Boise State University is “The New U Rising” with record student enrollment, new academic buildings, additional degree programs and a growing research agenda. Learn more at www.boisestate.edu.
Last reviewed on Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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