Out of this world

ASEE Prism, Feb 2002 by Horrigan, Marie

TEACHING TOOLBOX

Call it cosmic hitchhiking. When the shuttle Endeavor took off on December 5, three Penn State experiments hitched a ride.

Students at Penn State took advantage of NASA's Get Away special program, which allows groups to send canisters up with shuttle launches for a fee. Lockheed-Martin donated the space for three experiments to the school's College of Engineering for the December launch. This is Penn State's third foray with the program-the school sent up experiments on the 1986 Columbia shuttle and on board the 1996 launch of Endeavor.

This time around, their capsule traveled aboard the Endeavor on its 10-day mission to the international space station. During that time, the projects that the students designed were executed and the results were recorded by a computer program designed by electrical engineering junior Mike Wyland.

The three experiments, one measuring orbital debris, a germination experiment, and another using a magnetometer, are the end result of over five

years of work. They were designed and implemented by more than 75 students across the College of Engineering and other academic disciplines.

"It's not every day you work at something that will leave the planet. It's been an incredible experience," said Wyland. Additionally, these projects may have far-reaching effects. NASA has expressed interest in the results of the orbital debris experiment, which used an accelerometer to register and measure the amount of microfragments hitting the ship's hull. Since this cosmic debris degrades the surface of the spacecraft, understanding the mass and amount of microfragments a space ship encounters may be the first step in creating a new, stronger material to combat the elements.

Marie Horrigan is an editoral intern at Prism magazine. She can be reached by e-mail at m.horrigan@asee.org.