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LSU RESEARCH is a member of the University Research Magazine Association. Visit www.urma.org. |
PUSHING
THE LIMITS OF SPACE
Thanks to support from the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE), which awards grants to universities across Louisiana, hundreds of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students have participated in projects that push the limits of aerospace research. Since the program was established in 1991 with both NASA and Louisiana Board of Regents funding, LSU faculty and students have won more than $837,000 in research grants and more than $819,000 in graduate fellowships for projects focused on everything from astrophysics to nanotechnology with aerospace applications. With current LaSPACE funding, a team of six LSU students, led by Department of Physics & Astronomy Professors John Wefel and Greg Guzik, are learning about the aspects of the aerospace project life cycle, including design, fabrication, integration, testing, and flight. Both Wefel and Guzik are internationally known for their own high-altitude balloon projects that measure galactic cosmic radiation. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening since the beginning of the fall semester, the students have met to learn skills and design payload devices. These devices will monitor atmospheric conditions, such as air temperature and pressure, ozone concentration, and infrared radiation. Once complete, the payloads are attached to eight-foot diameter, helium-filled weather balloons and launched into the atmosphere from the National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas. Later in the spring semester, the students will launch and recover their payloads and analyze the data. With projects like the current one in action, LaSPACE should be able to encourage even greater collaborations between campuses and continue to promote extensive research by students and faculty alike. The LaSPACE consortium brings together 19 institutions of higher education from around Louisiana to strengthen aerospace research and education in the state. Partnered with the Regents, Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Lockheed-Martin Manned Space Systems, and several non-profit organizations, including LSU’s Louisiana Business & Technology Center, the consortium works to develop cooperative programs and promote education at all levels to increase Louisiana’s involvement in space and aerospace-related research and technology. ON
THE WEB: from Fall 2004
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Building
instruments that measure ultraviolet radiation or the flux of
cosmic rays sounds like the work of an experienced scientist,
but LSU students, as well as other college students from across
the state, are delving into such complex and high-tech projects.