Microgravity Students
In spring of 2009, two teams from UNL's College of Engineering conducted experiments with NASA's Microgravity University. Both projects involved students in a series of parabolic reduced-gravity flights that departed from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, and reached 35,000 feet above the Earth's surface. NASA's Microgravity University engages students from several colleges and universities in scientific research that helps our nation's space program to refine its efforts. The teams decide their members' roles including flight preparation, participation, and follow-up reporting.
Microgravity Students: USA - Houston, TX
UNL's College of Engineering teams that participated in NASA's 2009 Microgravity University included:
Team "PowRED Up" -- Carl Nelson, adviser, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Andrew Dejka, ground crew, freshman, Omaha, mechanical engineering; Ashley Schmidt, ground crew, freshman, Omaha, biological systems engineering; Christopher Burton, flyer, junior, Omaha, mechanical engineering; Jack Mondry, team leader/flyer, senior, Orlando, Fla., mechanical engineering; Andrew Kelley, flyer, senior, Lincoln, mechanical engineering. Team "FAST" (Furthering Advancements in Science and Technology) -- George Gogos, adviser, professor of mechanical engineering; Jonathan Hein, flyer, senior, Libertyville, Ill., mechanical engineering; Elena Hoff, Lincoln Southeast High School senior who had been accepted at UNL for fall 2009; Nicholas Kleinschmit, flyer, senior, Fordyce, mechanical engineering; Brett Schlueter, team leader/flyer, senior, Hastings, mechanical engineering; Chuck Bell, ground crew, junior, Omaha, mechanical engineering; Evan Hilgemann, ground crew, freshman, Omaha, mechanical engineering.NASA's Microgravity University
In spring of 2009, two teams from the College of Engineering conducted experiments with NASA's Microgravity University.
Both projects involved students in a series of parabolic reduced-gravity flights that departed from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, and reached 35,000 feet above the Earth's surface.
NASA's Microgravity University engages students from several colleges and universities in scientific research that helps our nation's space program to refine its efforts. The teams decide their members' roles including flight preparation, participation, and follow-up reporting.
Jack Mondry, a senior from Orlando, Fla., who majors in mechanical engineering, led one of the Husker teams. He was notified by NASA in December 2008 that his team, "Pow'RED Up," would evaluate the airlock where astronauts put on and take off protective suits for lunar exploration.
Brett Schlueter, a senior from Hastings who majors in mechanical engineering, led the other UNL team (named "FAST"). The team was assigned by NASA to analyze the properties of lunar soil.
The teams' advisers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering were professor George Gogos and assistant professor Carl Nelson.
Nebraska's expanded presence in Microgravity this year also included Elena Hoff, at the time a Lincoln Southeast High School senior. Hoff, who was accepted as a UNL freshman for fall 2009, worked with Team FAST.
In 2008, the first team of UNL undergraduates participated in Microgravity U. They tested Radio Frequency Identification tags and monitors for NASA mission cargo in zero- and reduced-gravity conditions during flights on a specially-equipped C-9 aircraft.
