Posts Tagged ‘Student Launch Program’
Registration Deadline for Student Launch Nears
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium and their NASA sponsors invite you to the Third Annual Student Launch to be held on Friday, May 20, 2011 at Spaceport America. The Student Launch is open to the public by reservation via coach transportation for $45 per person. Registrants can go online to www.launchnm.com/registration.php to reserve their space and make payment. No private vehicles are allowed at the launch site. Registration for the launch ends on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.
Students, teachers, staff, and volunteers have worked on this project since May of 2010. Some of the experiments flying will be included in the final grades of students graduating from universities. In other cases, experiments are being flown for the second time to improve on original designs. In all cases, experiments were competitively selected, went through design & technical reviews, and were certified to fly. Twenty-one middle school student-designed and built experiments are included in this launch, as well as experiments from two universities, four high schools and one community college.
For more information on the Student Launch Program, visit www.launchnm.com or contact Jessica Ebler at (575) 646-6414.
ISPCS Public Forum – October 19, 2010
Space Week in New Mexico
Release courtesy of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium will host the fifth annual FREE ISPCS Public Forum (previously named the Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum) on Tuesday, October 19th, 1:30-3:00 at the Pan American Center on the campus of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Discover how the future of commercial spaceflight will impact our community. The mayor of Titusville Florida will present on what happened when NASA came to town. Local mayors will discuss what preparations they are making as Spaceport America becomes operational. Speakers include:
- John Hummer, moderator, CCIM, Owner/Broker, Steinborn TCN Commercial Real Estate
- Mayor Tulley from Titusville Florida
- Las Cruces Mayor Miyagishima
- Truth or Consequences Mayor Montgomery
- Hatch Mayor Nordyke
You are welcome to also attend the public forum 12:00 – 1:15 focused for university students and faculty. Speakers include:
- Pat Hynes, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Director
- Clay Anderson, NASA Astronaut, STS-117, STS-131, ISS
- George Whitesides, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Galactic
- Aaron Prescott, Commercial Division Director, Spaceport America
- Mark Severance, International Space Station Laboratory, Education Projects Manager
- Doug Weathers, NMSU student, Student Launch Program
- Ivan Ferrell, NMSU student, Microgravity Program
- Selene Virk, NMSU student, Transcriptomic Profile of the Inner Ear Vestibular Organs
Come join us as we discuss preparing for this exciting industry in southern New Mexico!
On Wednesday and Thursday, October 20-21 the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight will be held at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. For more information or to register for the symposium go to http://www.ispcs.com
NMSU, NM Space Grant Consortium Selected by FAA
Release courtesy of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium
LAS CRUCES, NM – When Dr. Pat Hynes was recently notified that the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University (NMSU) was selected by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a 2010 Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, she predicted that this would help make New Mexico the magnet for commercial space in the nation and the world. At a press conference held August 19 at NMSU, Dr. Hynes noted that this highly competitive process for the $10 million dollar funding was an important win for New Mexico because it also marks the first time the federal government has made a major investment in the commercial space industry, and it was made in New Mexico.
“Robert Goddard and NMSU’s Physical Sciences Laboratory were pioneers in the space industry along with White Sands Missile Range, leadership in space research is our heritage at NMSU and in New Mexico” Dr. Hynes said. “As we begin the age of Spaceflight for Mankind, the State of New Mexico is once again leading the effort.”
The FAA has created the Center of Excellence (COE) program in partnership with the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) to help identify solutions of existing and anticipated space transportation issues. By teaming with the nation’s top academic research institutions, the COE will help ensure the protection of the public, property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States during commercial launch or reentry activities. NMSU will be the lead institution for the FAA, working with the following core university partners: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; Florida Institute of Technology; Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion; Stanford University; University of Colorado – Boulder; and the University of Texas – Medical Branch.
Initial funding for the COE is $2 million for the start-up phase, with and additional $4 million in agency funds over the first five years of operation, which will be matched by the partners to total $10 million in initial funding. Center Operations Cooperative Agreements will be issued to all seven research universities. Research funding will come from government contracts in addition to the operating funds in the form of IDIQ contracts.
Dr. Hynes explained what the COE will do for the FAA. “We will work on research for improved spaceport operations systems, and to find ways to improve airspace integration, for example.” She explains that vehicles traveling to space will transverse through present commercial air space, so changes to the air traffic control process will allow for frequent travel to and from space. “We will also characterize the business of commercial space, and define the related markets we expect it will create.” In addition, the COE will provide education services for all organizations involved in commercial space transportation.
Dr. Hynes is also the Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium which is a member of the congressionally funded National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. This program is administered by NASA. The statewide consortium supports a wide range of space related research and education projects, including the Student Launch Program which provides annual access to space from Spaceport America for student experiments.
Second Annual Education Launch at Spaceport America
Release courtesy of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium
As part of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium’s mission to promote space programs and education to New Mexico students and educators, the second annual 
Education Launch will take place at 6 a.m. Tuesday, May 4 from Spaceport America. Along with carrying experiments designed and created by New Mexico students into space, the SL-4 launch vehicle will also be dedicated to the memory of a Farmington science and technology teacher who died of breast cancer in 2005.
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Director Dr. Patricia Hynes said, “The promise of a new commercial space industry has created an increased interest in technology and science programs in New Mexico classrooms. The Education Launch gives our students the ability to launch their experiments into space, which is something that inspires visionary educators like Debbie Prell.”
Debbie Prell was a physics teacher at Farmington High School when she became involved with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium’s Education Launch program. She worked with her students to build high-powered model rockets and electronic payloads for many years. She later taught physics at San Juan College in Farmington and continued to work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium to offer scholarships to her students, and worked on weekend science programs for middle- and high-school students. Debbie died of breast cancer in 2005, and her family, friends and students established the Deborah Ann Prell Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Endowment to continue her work.
“The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is proud to have had Debbie Prell as a partner, and we are continuing her work through her endowment,” said Dr. Patricia Hynes. “Working with UP Aerospace, which is providing the SL-4 launch vehicle for this launch, we are dedicating this launch to Debbie’s memory with a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness painted on the rocket.” In addition, many of the launch participants will wear special pink shirts that read, “Rocket Scientists are Tough Enough to Wear Pink.”
The Education Launch is open to the public by reservation via coach transportation for $20 per person. Registrants can register online to reserve their space and make payment. No private vehicles are allowed to the launch site.
The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is a member of the congressionally funded National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program that is administered by NASA and sponsored by New Mexico State University. The program promotes and inspires lifelong learning in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as it pertains to space-related activities. The consortium supports a wide range of projects and scholarship opportunities, including the Student Launch Program. New Mexico students build multi-sensor electronic experiments that use the environment of sub-orbital space to further their hands-on scientific and engineering experience.
For additional information, visit spacegrant.nmsu.edu or contact Aaron Perez, Program Coordinator at aaperez@nmsu.edu or call 575-646-6414.
