CREST-1 University Student Spaceflight Program (CUSSP) - STS-134 Flight Opportunity - Time Critical
The CREST-1 University Student Spaceflight Program (CUSSP), part of the American Aerospace CREST-1 mission, is a time-critical opportunity for university student investigators to conduct experiments on STS-134, the historic last scheduled voyage of the Space Shuttle.
ABOUT CREST-1
CREST-1 is a privately sponsored commercial microgravity mission manifested on STS-134 through NanoRacks LLC http://www.nanoracksllc.com/> which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. CREST-1 utilizes the flight-proven Materials Dispersion Apparatus (MDA) from ITA, which has flown on six prior Space Shuttle missions and six sounding rocket flights. The MDA accommodates approximately 90 samples. Please see the CREST-1 web page at http://www.american-aerospace.net/crest1.html for additional information.
CUSSP OVERVIEW
*CUSSP* is a unique opportunity for university students to conduct microgravity research in February, 2011 utilizing equipment that has been used to perform research in areas such as protein crystal growth, cell biology, zeolite crystallization, collagen polymerization, ceramic and polymer thin film membrane casting, and a variety of fluid physics studies, among others.
CUSSP provides an opportunity for university-level student scientists to perform microgravity research using the proven MDA mini-lab during the 2010-2011 academic year, whereas other flight programs often emphasize the design and development of flight hardware.
Note that this CUSSP opportunity is distinct from the Grade 5-12 Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP; http://ssep.ncesse.org )
which includes an experiment design competition to fly in the MDA aboard STS-134, and programming for the community.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE - TIME CRITICAL
Through the CUSSP program, university student investigators are being offered an opportunity to fly experiments at the discounted price of $6,750.00 per sample. This cost includes late integration, safety review, launch, sample return and early post-landing sample recovery.
Critical Deadline: American Aerospace will accommodate all university student experimenters that reserve their launch opportunity by AUGUST 2, 2010.
American Aerospace is eager to accommodate as many university students as possible on this historic mission, but a limited number of student samples can be accommodated. We encourage interested parties to contact Alex Howerton (ahowerton@American-Aerospace.net mailto:ahowerton@American-Aerospace.net>, 267-421-6555) for more information, and to reserve a launch opportunity as soon as possible.
Regards,
David Yoel, CEO
American Aerospace Advisors, Inc.
mailto:Dyoel@American-Aerospace.net>www.American-Aerospace.net http://www.American-Aerospace.net>
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eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge
http://spacegrant.org/xhab/
Description
The National Space Grant Foundation is pleased to announce the X-Hab Academic Innovation Competition. This competition is a university level competition designed to engage and retain students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. NASA will directly benefit from the competition by sponsoring the development of innovative habitat inflatable loft concepts from universities which may result in innovative ideas and solutions that could be applied to exploration habitats. The challenge is for a senior and graduate level design course in which students will design, manufacture, assemble, and test an inflatable loft that will be integrated onto an existing NASA built operational hard shell prototype.
Pre-Proposal Telecon Technical Interchange Meeting: July 8, 2010
* Teleconference
Call in Number: 877-985-2315 or 210-280-3671
Passcode 4794735
* Webex
IT Requirements: https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/systemdiagnosis.php
Meeting Number: 999 762 321
Meeting Password: XHABTIM2010!
URL: https://my.webex.com/join
In June of 2011 the NASA-Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) Project will conduct a head-to-head competition for successfully designing and demonstrating an attachable inflatable habitat "Loft" concept given a list of requirements for the design. Universities may collaborate together on a Project Team. Up to three project teams will be selected for funding. The head-to-head competition will determine the winner that will be awarded additional funds to integrate their design with the HDU-Lab during the August-September 2011 HDU-Hab/Lab integrated field testing. The objectives of this challenge are to engage and inspire the next generation of innovative engineers and the successful design, manufacture, and demonstration of inflatable habitat loft. Concepts are to be self-deploying in a specified time, will install to a standard interface on NASA's hard shell Lab, and will meet total mass and volume constraints in both stowed and deployed configurations. Concept shapes and sizes will be determined by the proposer while meeting the constraints of the design requirements.
The Foundation anticipates that up to three awards will be made under this solicitation for $48,000 each. Up to an additional $10,000 will be awarded to the team that wins the head-to head competition to offset their costs of participating in the HDU-Hab/Lab integrated field testing.
Eligibility
Proposals will be accepted from engineering faculty who are U.S. citizens and currently teach an ABET accredited engineering senior or graduate design, industrial design, or architecture curriculum teaming at a US accredited university.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and other minority serving educational institutions are particularly encouraged to apply. Proposals from women, members of under-represented minorities groups, and persons with disabilities are highly encouraged.
Important Dates and Information
Program website: http://spacegrant.org/xhab/
Technical Interchange Meetings: July 8 and July 29, 2010
Notice of Intent Due: July 23, 2010
Proposals Due: August 20, 2010
