As many people across the nation are keeping a close eye on the NASA rover mission on Mars, groups of University students and professors have their hands in some important and cutting-edge research that is supported by NASA.
The Louisiana organization dealing with programs funded through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the Louisiana Space Consortium. LaSPACE coordinates programs which employ aerospace research in the state.
Although LaSPACE may not have direct ties to NASA’s Mars mission, it serves as a promoter of NASA’s missions.
The organization has an educational outreach program for grade-school students and a public outreach program to support the growth of the state.
Karen Johnson, the program’s manager, said the fundamental mission of LaSPACE is to promote space research opportunities and infrastructure development through research grants in Louisiana.
“Many people tend to think that there is no relevant research done in the state of Louisiana,” she said. “However, the opposite is true. We have a fabulous group of world-class researchers, not only on the LSU campus, but at other institutions in Louisiana, who do world-class research in the state.”
She said that through LaSPACE, the state can promote programs related to technology and human exploration in space to make LSU students and the people in Louisiana more aware.
Gregory Guzik, a physics and astronomy professor, is currently involved in the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter Balloon Experiment, a project funded by LaSPACE through NASA.
“The goal of ATIC is to look at the relationships between cosmic rays and supernovas,” Guzik said. “Basically, this allows us to determine how
galaxies and stars evolve over time.”
In 2000, the researchers traveled to Antarctica to send a balloon they constructed with the necessary instruments in space to gather the required data, Guzik said.
They launched it from McMurdo base, one of the many research stations in Antarctica, and the balloon flew in a circular pattern around the South Pole. It eventually landed 200 miles away from where it was launched. The group followed up this experiment with another balloon flight two years later.
Guzik said the great thing about LaSPACE is the student involvement in many of the projects that he and his colleagues have undertaken and will continue to undertake.
Michael Stewart was involved with this project as LSU undergraduate student a few years ago. He said it was a life-changing experience.
“Being involved with this program was very exciting,” Stewart said. “Students usually don’t have the opportunity to work for such a big project where a lot of money is involved, as well as get to travel to Antarctica. I took part in the building and designing of the balloon, as well as some of the software programming.”
Stewart graduated from the University in 1999, and is currently a computer analyst in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at LSU. There, he is continuing work with Guzik and others on the ATIC project.
“People who are interested in space exploration can go to the observatory on Highland Road,” Guzik added. “The observatory is open to public and is a great way to see galaxies and stars right on the earth.”