SHO Spotlight: OpenUAS at Iowa State University

ISGC Student Hands-On Spotlight: OpenUAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) at Iowa State University

The OpenUAS project is a multidisciplinary undergraduate research team that is aimed at developing an open-source fixed wing aircraft under the supervision of Dr. Kristin Yvonne-Rozier in the Laboratory for Temporal Logic. The goal is to give research teams, undergraduate/high school teams, and otherwise interested groups of people access to plans for a cheap, easy-to-manufacture, configurable fixed wing UAS to serve as an educational or test platform.

These plans will include a variety of resources, including 3D models and schematics, instructions on how to manufacture and customize the airframe, a guide to choose and integrate electronic components (such as a motor or flight computer), and how to use and extend the software capabilities of selected platforms. The project seeks to provide a comprehensive experience for building a customizable fixed wing aircraft, like many similar resources already developed for quadcopters.

SHO Spotlight: Cyclone Rocketry

ISGC Student Hands-On Spotlight: Cyclone Rocketry Rocket Shop

Cyclone Rocketry is a multidisciplinary engineering team from Iowa State University that works yearly to research, design, manufacture, test, and fly high-powered rockets. They are comprised of college students to further human advancement in space exploration. Their mission is to educate, challenge, and inspire the Iowa State students, community, and future generations about rocketry, science and engineering, and space exploration. They follow a yearly design cycle and compete in International High Powered Rocketry competitions while working with industry leaders to extend the boundaries of amateur rocketry.
Rocket Shop builds a rocket on a yearly design cycle for the Spaceport America Cup which takes place in New Mexico in late June. This year, they are pushing to new heights as a team by competing in the 30k SRAD solids division. This means that their target apogee is 30,000 feet and they are developing their own motor. As part of their rocket, they are developing student made aerostructures, airbrakes, descent control system, piston ejection system, atmospheric analysis experiment, and the largest motor in team history.

RASC-AL Competition- Proposals due March 13th

The 2023 RASC-AL Competition seeks proposals from University teams and their faculty advisors in one of four themes for new concepts that leverage innovations for NASA’s Artemis Moon program and future human mission to Mars:
  • Homesteading Mars
  • Lunar North Pole Tourism
  • Lunar Surface Transporter Vehicle
  • Multi-Use Platform at L1

Full competition details, including themes, eligibility requirements, design constraints, and submission guidelines can be found on the RASC-AL Competition website (https://rascal.nianet.org/)

Up to 15 finalist teams will each recieve a $6,500 stipend! Proposals are due by March 13th, 2023. https://rascal.nianet.org/competition-details/

Club for the Future Symposium

Club for the Future is excited to share a new mission for high -school students: Space for the Benefit of Earth Challenge!

In partnership with the Conrad Challenge, U.S. based high-school students are invited to assemble a team or “Mission Crew” and submit ideas on how space benefits Earth. The top-scoring teams will earn a spot to attend the inaugural O’Neill Symposium at Blue Origin’s Orbital Manufacturing Complex and Launch Site in Florida.

Date: April 24-26, 2023
Deadline: March 19, 2023
  • Create a Mission Crew of 2-5 students (ages 13-18) and a coach over the age of 21.
  • Submit a Mission Briefing and Video Log
To apply, and find more information, please click HERE

Q&A with Dr. Shawna Pandya- March 7th, 2023

The National Space Society- Iowa Chapter, is happy to announce that the 2023 “ciLive” program will be hosting an exclusive Q&A session with Dr. Shawna Pandya. One of Dr. Pandya’s many areas of interest and expertise is space medicine.

  • Date and time: Tuesday, March 7th, 2023. 5:00pm Central time
  • Location: Main Stage, DMACC West Campus, 5959 Grand Ave., West Des Moines, IA.
For more information, or to find a virtual zoom link, please email nssiowa@gmail.com

SHO Spotlight: CyLaunch- Iowa State University

ISGC Student Hands-On Spotlight: CyLaunch – Iowa State University

CyLaunch is a team of undergraduate students at Iowa State University building and designing a rocket for the NASA Student Launch Competition. This year, the team designed a rocket that is completely 3D printed out of PETG material. The team consists of 13 members with most of the members having a major of Aerospace Engineering and a few members having majors of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering. The entire rocket design, testing, and build is completed all by the team of students. The rocket is built to meet all NASA handbook requirements.

This year, the rocket will fly to around 4,500 feet and contain a payload that will take pictures of its landing site upon the rocket landing on the ground. The team is split into two internal teams: the payload team and the vehicle team. The vehicle team oversees the design of the rocket body, the recovery system, building the rocket, and completing all the rocket calculations to make sure it meets the needed requirements. The payload team oversees building a design that fits into the payload bay of the rocket that completes the task that NASA specifies for this year’s competition. This year, the task is to have a camera poke out of the payload bay and take multiple pictures at different angles of the landing site.

CyLaunch will be competing in the NASA student launch competition in the spring. The rocket pictured was fully developed by the team and is fully 3D printed. Front Row (Left to Right): Wren Latcham, Bryan Pope, Katherine Jacobson, Gabriel Ortiz, Stephen Mann, and Shiarette Contreras Rivera. Back Row (Left to Right): Daniel Rolwes, Casey Collins, Kaden Kotvis, Erik DeMeyere, Jeffrey Price, and Logan Wessel.

NASA Heliophysics Summer School 2023- Application Due March 3rd

The NASA Heliophysics Summer School is a unique educational experience with hands-on learning and lectures focusing on the physics of space weather events that start at the Sun and influence atmospheres, ionospheres and magnetosphere throughout the solar system. To enable larger participation, there will be a virtual week of lectures from July 17-21, followed by a funded in-person week in Boulder, Colorado from Aug 7-11.

Applicants must be majoring in physics with an emphasis on astrophysics, geophysics, plasma physics, or space physics, and be pursuing a career in heliophysics or astrophysics. There is no tuition cost for the virtual lectures, and each in-person participant receives full travel support for airline tickets, lodging, and per diem costs.

Audience: Graduate students and early postdoctoral fellows
Application Deadline: Friday, March 3rd
Contact: krodd@ucar.edu

Click Here More Information and Application

Iowa Academy of Science- Call for Papers

The Iowa Academy of Science will hold its 133rd annual meeting at the University of Northern Iowa campus on April 21-22, 2023.

Abstract submissions are open until March 19, 2023. They must be 200 words or less. Submission information can be found HERE

Advance conference registration opens March 1, 2023. The registration deadline is April 3, 2023.

More details are posted at scienceiniowa.org

Cardinal Space Mining Club Success with Vermeer

An inventive group of students in the Iowa State University Cardinal Space Mining Club visited Vermeer Corporation on Feb. 8. Over the course of the school year, the group designs, manufactures and tests a specialized rover to compete in the annual NASA Robotic Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center.

The rover the students compete with has striking similarities to a Vermeer trencher. Vermeer trenchers have cut through some of the world’s toughest landscapes, making the experts at Vermeer a valuable resource for students. This connection was apparent as the students toured the “Big Iron” in Plant 3. They were able to see how a manufacturing facility operates as well as get a photo with one of our Terrain Levelers.

The students wrapped up their visit learning more about Vermeer from President and CEO Jason Andringa and sharing the highlights and challenges of their rover and the competition. Before his time at Vermeer, Jason worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an engineer from 2001 through 2005 and still has a strong interest in projects like this.

Congrats to Iowa State University Cardinal Space Mining Club for their success with Vermeer!