I Work For NASA Now, Yay!
Posted: 2004-02-26 09:23am
Well, it's only temporary, but I do get to do research on the Vomit Comet and get a stipend from them, but still. A student group I'm a member of is going to be making one heckuva spring break trip. We're going to Houston to the Johnson Space Center to do research for NASA on board the Vomit Comet. Here's the article in the school paper that was printed yesterday:
For a more detailed explanation of the research, check out http://web.utk.edu/~aeroutk/utrg-03b.html. That's actually last years site, but we're redoign the same basic experiment to work out some bugs and make a few variable changes.
I'll be sure to get plenty of pics, and maybe a video of my floating around in 0g.
As of right now, I'm head ground crew/alternate flight crew for the team. One of our flyers isn't going to be able to fly, though, unless something happens between now and next Tuesday night (which it probably won't), because that's when we're leaving for Houston. So, I'm probably going to be flying.http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/14067
_AERO group to aid NASA_
Emily Brickell
Staff Writer Volume 95 Number 32
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
During Spring Break, one group of University of Tennessee students will forgo the beach to conduct experiments in one of NASA's reduced gravity aircrafts.
Aerospace Education and Research Organization is a student organization that promotes aerospace research among students at UT. Reduced gravity experimentation is able to be done through correspondence with NASA and its program, Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program.
Students involved in AERO and RGSFOP, the microgravity project, work on devising a project which has applied values to real-life problems, and they try to formulate a solution by collecting data on the flight during microgravity conditions.
To be involved in AERO or RGSFOP, students must be interested in math and science.
"We have all sorts of majors in our organization, from aerospace to biomedical engineers to physics majors," said Sheena Edwards, junior in biomedical engineering, and team leader of HERCULES microgravity project.
AERO and the microgravity projects are funded separately. AERO, the student organization, is funded through student dues and fundraisers. RGSFOP and other projects are funded by the Department of Mechanical, Biomedical, and Aerospace Engineers.
RGSFOP allows undergraduate students to conduct research aboard NASA's KC-135 "Weightless Wonder", also known by the public as the "Vomit Comet." The KC-135 flies a parabolic flight trajectory to simulate up to 30 seconds of weightlessness, or microgravity.
"The fact that we are going to be flying on the 'Weightless Wonder' in March is one of the most interesting and exciting things which we will recently been doing," Edwards said. "Right now, it is a lot of building and hard work in order to be prepared to leave on March 4."
This year's project, HERCULES (Heat Exchange Research Condensation by Utilizing a Liquid/Fog Experimental Setup) is a project which is testing condensation and how it occurs differently in microgravity than on Earth. The project is designed so that it will accurately simulate forced flow condensation of a vapor in microgravity using a mixture of heated water and fog.
Measurements are being taken of the ratio of water to fog as well as the change of temperature of each of these as they exit a cooling section of the experiment. These measurements will allow the determination of whether liquid condensation is warmer in microgravity conditions than on Earth.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a person to feel weightlessness, being able to do research for power systems and generating electricity in space," said Jay Stembridge, a junior in computer engineering and member of the HERCULES flight crew.
"It is a way for us as undergraduates to do research that could be used by NASA to help them invent the power systems for the next generation's space programs or spacecrafts."
To find out more about AERO or RGSFOP, visit http://web.utk.edu/~aeroutk/.
For a more detailed explanation of the research, check out http://web.utk.edu/~aeroutk/utrg-03b.html. That's actually last years site, but we're redoign the same basic experiment to work out some bugs and make a few variable changes.
I'll be sure to get plenty of pics, and maybe a video of my floating around in 0g.
You''d better hurry they are looking for me.