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The Louisiana Space Consortium(LaSPACE)

A summary of the motivation, components, and mission goals of this Louisiana-wide organization

Dean Abdalla DarwishDepartment of Physics

Dillard UniversityNew Orleans, LA

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History of LaSPACE

• Congress established the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program under Title 11 of the NASA Authorization Act of 1988.

• LaSPACE was formed in 1991, based on a proposal put forth by Louisiana with Dr. John Wefel (Louisiana State University) as Principal Investigator.

• LaSPACE is a statewide consortium composed of 25 members including 17 affiliate universities and colleges joined by partners from business/industry, state/local government, state education boards, and nonprofit organizations.

• Dillard University has been an affiliate of LaSPACE since 1991. Dean Abdalla Darwish has been Dillard’s LaSPACE Coordinator since 2009.

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LaSPACE Goals and Objectives

• Foster aerospace related science, technology, and engineering research and education at Louisiana colleges and universities.

• Encourage aerospace related industries of Louisiana for economic development and diversification.

• Promote and contribute to science, technology, engineering and mathematics pre-college education excellence

• Captivate and educate the general public in NASA’s space exploration projects as well as Louisiana’s role in the NASA program.

• Maintain a cooperative, effective, and inclusive consortium of Louisiana institutions to promote aerospace related research, education, and economic development.

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LaSPACE’s University Affiliates

• Dillard University• Grambling State University• Louisiana State University• LSU-Shreveport• Louisiana Tech University• Loyola University• McNeese State University• Nicholls State University• Northwestern State University of Louisiana• Southern University and A & M College

• Southeastern Louisiana University • Southern University in New Orleans• Tulane University• University of New Orleans• University of Louisiana at Monroe • University of Louisiana at Lafayette• Xavier University of

Louisiana

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LaSPACE’s Non-Academic Partners

• BREC Highland Road Park Observatory• Jacobs Technology at Michoud Assembly Facility• SciPort: Louisiana’s Science Center• Louisiana Art and Science Museum • Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education• Louisiana Board of Regents• Louisiana Business & Technology Center• LSU Agricultural Center

Message from our Director

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“Our goal at LaSPACE is to promote scientific research, workforce development, and public outreach that will enhance economic growth and development in Louisiana, as well as contribute to the research and technology Mission Directorates of the Office of Education at NASA. To this end, Dillard’s affiliation and contribution to LaSPACE is vitally important to meeting our institutional goals and objectives.”

LSU Professor of Physics &LaSPACE Director

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Meet Dillard’s LaSPACE Coordinator

• Dean Abdalla Darwish:

– Research Interests: laser spectroscopy, EPR, and thin film fabrication by Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) technique

– Teaching Interests: applying innovative pedagogies such as simulation programs, critical thinking and inquiry, virtual and video experiments, and on-time-teaching pedagogy

• “When I joined Dillard in 1998, I recognized the need

to increase the number of STEM graduates. Private

funding has allowed me to establish the Systemic

Research Mentoring Program in the Division of

Natural Sciences, and to secure many BOR and

Federal awards from NSF, NASA, AFOSR, and the US Navy.”

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Information on Dillard University

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LaSPACE Programs: LaACES

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• LaACES (Louisiana Aerospace Catalyst Experiences for Students) gives students a true hands-on experience with project management, life-cycle experiment construction, data collection, analysis, and interpretation

• Students design, build, fly, and analyze the data returned from small payloads (typical dimensions 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm, typical weight ~500 grams) carried up to ~100,000 feet by a helium-filled latex sounding balloon.

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LaACES Experiences

• “LaACES reminded me that resistors are so much more than just jagged lines on a piece of paper. In fact, learning how to build resistors has made classroom theory easier to understand. I used to think I was solving problems in the classroom, I now realize that I was only solving equations.”

Jace Boudreax 2010 LaACES Alum

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LaACES: From Classroom Theory to Launch Pad!

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Components of the Balloon Vehicle

• Latex sounding balloon (~3,000 g) • Parachute (60” Skyangle)• Balloon cutdown• Primary GPS beacon• Primary antenna• Student payloads• Secondary GPS beacon• Secondary antenna

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PACER• PACER (Physics & Aerospace Catalyst Experiences in Research):

– An intensive 9-week summer research experience program for teams (faculty member plus 3 students) from minority institutions, funded primarily through the NSF.

– PACER faculty continue to partner with each institution for multiple academic years as they establish a research experience program for their local students.

• 2007: Grambling State University (Grambling, LA)• 2008: Norfolk State University (Norfolk, VA)

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico• 2009: Albany State University (Albany, GA)

Central State University (Wilberforce, OH)• 2010: Knoxville College (Knoxville, TN)

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Images from Student Ballooning Missions (GSU HATPac Payload)

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• _Just after liftoff Ascending 29,000 ft Ascending 62,000 ft Ascending 102,000 ft

Just before burst105,000 ft

Descending through 48,000 ft

Descending through 21,000 ft Just before

touchdown

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Student Ballooning, 2010

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Students look on as an Aerostar International, Inc. 19,000 cubic foot, zero-pressure balloon is inflated shortly before launch of the Knoxville College and LSU/Lewis College PACER balloon payloads.  The Aerostar balloon carried the PACER payloads to an altitude of 97,000 feet for a duration of about one hour.

LaSPACE Programs: HASP

• HASP (High Altitude Student Platform) is designed to carry up to twelve student payloads to an altitude of about 36 kilometers with flight durations of 15 to 20 hours using a small volume, zero pressure balloon

• HASP plans to provide a "space test platform" to encourage student research and stimulate the development of student satellite payloads and other space-engineering products. 

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HASP

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HASP at ~120,000 feet with the balloon fully expandedReady to fly!

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HASP around the United States

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LaSPACE: Developing a Future Workforce

• ACES Aerospace Catalyst Experiences for Students (Joint pilot project with LSU and SUBR)

- 15 Students

• LaACES

- 55 Students

- 6 Universities

- 17 Publications

• HASP Student Payload Platform (Nation Wide)

- 4 Launch (2006-2009) 2 Launches (2010-11 planned)

- 48 Selected Payloads

- 21 Universities

- 230 Students

- 12 Publications/Presentations

LaSPACE: Supporting Teacher Education

• The Barksdale Airforce Base Sci-Botics Teacher Education Program was launched in summer of 2009. During 35 hours of summertime professional development, 5th-8th grade teachers built their skills in teaching robotics, learned more about Barksdale’s applied robotics and aeronautics activities, and earned classroom materials and lesson plans.

• Serving fifteen Bossier teachers and five Caddo teachers during the 2009-2010 school year, the program improves the teachers’ ability to embrace robotics, create a pipeline of students for local high school robotics programs, and strengthen community relations between the partners.

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Participating teachers bring their students to compete at Cope Middle School, Bossier City.

Michoud Education Fellows (MEF)

• The purpose of the MEF program is to provide Louisiana teachers the opportunity to explore how science content, inquiry skills, mathematics, and communication skills are used by scientists, engineers, and skilled workers at Michoud.

• “This program has been amazing!  It has given me an enthusiasm for space that will surely translate into my classroom. I look forward to this year and all of the benefits my students will see as a result of my involvement in the NASA Fellows program.”

Ms. Renee Davis

Madisonville Junior High 21

MEF Fellows

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MEF teachers meeting the crew from STS-134 on June 10, 2010.

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LaSPACE: Funding Graduate and Undergraduate Aerospace Innovation

• Fellows: Multi-year graduate student support

• GSRA: Graduate Student Research Assistance (single year, renewable)

• LURA: LaSPACE Undergraduate Research Assistants (mentored research in a faculty member’s group; single-year, renewable)

• MRS: Minority Research Scholars (similar to LURA but reserved for minorities)

• Internships: Summer student placement at NASA Centers or MAF

• Senior Design/Competitions: Aeorspace projects; MoonBuggy competition

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Spotlight on LaSPACE Fellow: Brent Budden and “LaBrat”

Brent BuddenLaSPACE Graduate Fellow2006 – 2010

LABORATORY PROTOTYPE• The Lanthanum Bromide-based Rotating Aperture Telescope (LaBRAT) is a laboratory prototype

Rotational Modulator, developed at Louisiana State University. The concept used for imaging photons at x-ray and gamma-ray energies is cheaper, less complex, and lighter weight than the current generation of satellite-based experiments.

Spotlight on LURA Scholars: Jerrell Gibson and William Adkins

• At Grambling, Jerrell Gibson works on High Performance polymers and fiber reinforced polymer composites which have been found to provide improvements in materials used in the aerospace industry.

•At LSU, William Adkins works on sampling microbial life in the troposphere and stratosphere.

25LURA Scholar Jerrell Gibson LURA Scholar William Adkins

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Additional LaSPACE Programs

• REA: Research Enhancement Awards (BOR funds—building new research capacity for the sate and the campuses)

• URP: Unsolicited Research Proposals (funds available basis)

• RIG: Research Initiation Grants—(1) Minority Focus (HBCUs, MSIs only) and (2) College focus (4 year colleges & smaller institutions only)

• MARS: Mobile Astronomy Resource System (Astronomy/space science truck in collaboration with Highland Road Park Observatory and Cain Center)

Spotlight on URP Scholars: Leah Garber

• At Nicholls State, Chad Young (in collaboration with Tyler Bourke at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics) is working to determine the distances to low-mass star-forming cores.

• With URP scholar, Leah Garber, Drs. Young and Bourke use data from a variety of NASA, ESO, and USNO archives to calculate the distances to these star-forming cores.

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Leah Garber Chemistry major at Nicholls State

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Example of Disbursement Totals & Accomplishments in Research

(1992-2009)• REA Research Enhancement Awards• URP Unsolicited Research Proposals

- 153 Projects - 14 Institutions- 362 Publications/Presentations- 12 Book Chapters- 4 Lecture Series- 18 Invention Application, Disclosure, Patents- 9 Theses- 58 Follow-on Proposals- 227 Undergraduate Participants- 168 Graduate Students

(Disbursement totals also available for graduate and undergraduate fellowship awards, Research Initiation Grants, and workforce development)

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Add Slides on Dillard’s Activity

• Note what students have accomplished• Note in what capacity faculty participate in LaSPACE programs

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