SEATTLE (December 6, 2005) –Aeronautics and astronautics
engineering students from the University of Washington plan
to defy gravity in hopes of inspiring high school students and
ultimately providing revolutionary data that could one day aid
nuclear fusion scientists.
“We are excited about having high school students join
our project,” said Jeff Boulware, graduate student and
team lead. “Our hope is that when they experience what
it’s like to be in space, it will inspire them to go to
college and pursue aerospace degrees.”
The project consists of an experiment being carried out through
the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS),
and will occur in spring 2006. The experiment is performed on
Zero Gravity Corporation’s Boeing 727 that performs flight
maneuvers to create 20 seconds of weightlessness for its passengers.
The students will use that time in microgravity to perform a
research experiment in fluid mechanics.
Technically, the team is studying the effect of varying acceleration
on Rayleigh-Taylor flow. According to Boulware, Rayleigh-Taylor
flow is similar to what happens when you mix oil and water;
here on Earth, the heavier falls to the bottom.
“If you could magically put the heavier one on top and
let them fall into each other they would undergo a process called
Rayleigh-Taylor flow, which basically resembles an egg-crate
shaped pattern” said Boulware. “By looking at it
in microgravity we are hoping to significantly increase the
safety and decrease the cost of testing Rayleigh-Taylor flow
without sacrificing the quality of data.”
Among other applications, Rayleigh-Taylor flow is directly
involved with inertial confinement nuclear fusion. If it can
be better understood, it could make nuclear fusion a more efficient
process.
“To achieve nuclear fusion is a very difficult and expensive
process,” said Boulware. “If mankind were able to
perfect it, we would have a safe, abundant energy source unparalleled
to anything else in the world.”
The team performed a feasibility study in 2004 through NASA’s
Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program aboard
the famed, “Vomit Comet.” Boulware said he believes
that was the first time a Rayleigh-Taylor flow experiment has
been carried out in zero gravity. The team has built upon the
feasibility study and is confident they will gain new insight
into the model.
“This project does have a new aspect that we did not
have before – high school students,” said Boulware.
Just as important to the team as the experiment, is being able
to outreach to potential college students. Certain Seattle high
schools, chosen because of their lower-income demographic status,
are competing for a spot alongside the college students on the
zero gravity flight. The high school students will submit a
proposal for their own experiment and the winning team of four
students and their teacher will be able to take the ride of
their life, and experience what astronauts feel when they are
floating in space.
“Currently no other SEDS chapter has a structured high
school outreach program set up,” said Boulware. “We
feel outreach should be an integral part of the chapter and
by establishing an annual program, we’re hoping to set
an example to other SEDS chapters across the nation.”
The team consists of 8 university students, but not all are
in the state of Washington. Two of the students are in Tennessee
and another is on a coop with Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas. Instead of phasing out of the project, the out-of-state
students have volunteered to assist with the outreach in their
local chapters, even if they do not get to fly.
Along with a discounted ride from the Zero Gravity Corporation,
the team has already received partial funding from the UW’s
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington Space
Grant, the AIAA, and Andrews Space. However, they are hoping
to raise enough funds so that all members of the team will be
able to participate.
