Southwestern Oklahoma State University students recently got hands-on experience working on a balloon satellite project that was launched at Weatherford’s Stafford Airport. Brad Bryant, chair of the SWOSU Industrial & Engineering Technology Department, said the satellite reached a maximum altitude of 99,911 feet about one hour after the launch. The balloon and satellite were recovered about two hours after launch in an open field near Watonga. The project was made possible by a grant from the Oklahoma NASA Space Grant Consortium with assistance from the Oklahoma State University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Click here to read the full article and see some fantastic pictures of the launch. Great work, SWOSU team!

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As part of the RockOn! 2009 workshop held at NASA Wallops, Professor Jamey Jacob built and integrated a scientific payload into a NASA rocket which launched at 5:30 am EDT off the east coast of Virginia on June 26, 2009. The payload was designed to measure radiation levels in the Earth’s atmosphere and low Earth orbit as well as performance parameters of the suborbital rocket. The 33 foot plus tall rocket was a two-stage Terrier-Orion with 19,000 pounds of thrust that reached an altitude of nearly 400,000 feet (77 miles) and speeds of over 3000 miles per hour, 4.2 times the speed of sound. The payload landed in the Pacific ocean approximately 35 miles down range 14 minutes after launch and was successfully recovered The data was retrieved from the payload and is currently being analyzed. Results from the experiment will be used in the classroom to provide hands on activities for OSU engineering students and enhance outreach efforts to increase interest in science, mathematics and engineering. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center`s Wallops Flight Facility, located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore near Chincoteague, was established in 1945 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, as a center for aeronautic research and regularly launches sub-orbital and orbital payloads, as well as high altitude balloons. Funding was provided by the Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium.

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 The OSU Space Cowboys research team has completed their week at Johnson Space Center, including a weightless trip on the Vomit Comet.

“The OSU Microgravity Team just returned from a very successful trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The six students were testing the design of inflatable space habitats, which may be used someday as man stations around Earth, Mars and the Moon.”

Check out this video of their experience. Great work, Space Cowboys!

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New pictures are up from the May 18 Statewide Meeting and Splashdown. Click here to check them out!

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OSU has done it again! Seniors Jeremy Hill, Abraham McClellan, Eric Johnson, Johnny Chandler, Alan Larson, and Josh Hathaway applied and had their proposal selected for NASA’s Microgravity University program. Their proposal was one of only 20 selected nationwide. The team, called the “Space Cowboys,” will spend a week in Houston this summer conducting their microgravity experiment. Congratulations to the team on their success! Click the link below for more information.

“Houston, the Space Cowboys are a go”

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This year, students from OSU took first and second in the Design, Build, Fly competition (again!)  competing  against 54 teams from around the world.  The top five were:

1. OSU Black

2. OSU Orange

3. USC

4. MIT

5. UC Irvine

CONGRATULATIONS, OSU STUDENTS AND DR. ARENA, ON THIS EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT!   Check out the link below for more information.

OSU Aerospace Teams Again Rule the Skies

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We’ve added new pictures from the Women In Science Conference, the trip to Washington, D.C., and the trip to NASA Ames Research Center! Check them out on our Photos page! If you participated in any of these events and have pictures you’d like to see on the website, e-mail them to us, and we’ll put them up.

Many, many thanks to everyone who helped make these trips possible - they were a great success!

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