Universe In The Park Summer 2022 The Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics hosts “Universe in the Park,” the summer telescope observing program. These star-gazing evenings at Minnesota parks and nature centers are presented in association with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Three Rivers Park District, and the Dodge Nature Center not-for-profit organization. Date Day […]
The MnSGC helps support “Universe in the Park,” a summer telescope observing program that returned in 2021 after missing Summer 2020 due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. The Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics hosts the star-gazing evenings at Minnesota parks and nature centers in association with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Three Rivers […]
It is uncommon to find field-based teaching in the study of ecology. However, at Bemidji State University, with support from the MN Space Grant, undergraduate students in the Center for Sustainability Studies are given the opportunity to learn material, such as patterns in the growth rings of trees to interpret environmental changes, through hands-on learning. […]
Amy Ott (’21) and Noel Geiger (’22) worked with Dr. Matthew ArchMiller in developing computational tools to support experimental plasma physics. While developing these tools, the students became proficient in Python programming with emphasis placed on specific techniques that are useful for physical modeling. Amy wrote a spectral analysis program that allows the user to […]
At Carleton College, students Freja Olsen and Adam Ickler developed and tested methods for measuring the chemical abundances of nearby low-mass stars using high-resolution spectra from the Habitable Zone Planet Finder. Their techniques, implemented in modular Python programs, have enabled the measurement of atomic absorption lines with improved precision, and are currently being extended to […]
Augsburg’s aerospace club seeks to spark students’ interests in the applications of physics, mathematics, computer science, and more, through real-world challenges, all while having fun doing so. Although currently focused on rocketry, they hope to soon broaden their work and become the Aerospace Engineering and Robotics Organization (AERO), which would encompass a broader range of […]
The High Altitude Ballooning (HAB) Team at St. Catherine University is an all-women’s research team devoted to exploring the stratosphere through a multitude of experiments. This research has been conducted at St. Catherine University since 2009 and the collaborative undergraduate research is presented at conferences throughout the year. These experiments are conducted through weather […]
The Bulldog Rocketry Team from the University of Minnesota – Duluth designed and built a rocket, propelled by a student designed hybrid engine, to fly in the 30,000 ft class at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC). Their rocket finished second in their category in this international rocketry competition. A link to a 14-minute video […]
Since 2007 the MnSGC at the U of MN – Twin Cities has engaged students in building “near-space-craft” (AKA “payloads”) and using weather balloons to loft them into the stratosphere where the conditions (and the view!) are much like outer space. Student-built payloads carry cameras, microcontroller-logged sensor suites, gps systems, tracking radios, and more. Participants […]
At Bethel University, student Jake Stein worked to build three Taylor-Couette flow apparatuses for their Physics department. The creation of these apparatuses required research and prototyping to be done beforehand in order to best understand the math and science behind these physical devices. After the Taylor-Couette apparatuses have been assembled, future fluid mechanics students and […]
The Thunder Rocketry Club at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has been building and launching high power rockets for over ten years. Their first experiences were with the First Nations Competition in Wisconsin but, as of late, they have also been attempting the MnSGC Midwest Competition, which is closer to home. The […]
At Carleton College, research is being done on how stars and gas interact to affect the evolutionary history of local galaxies. Their group has been working on M31 and M33, spiral galactic neighbors to the Milky Way, plus seven of our dwaf galaxy neighbors, and they have compiled a complete sample of ionized hydrogen or […]
The Lakers Rocket Team at Leech Lake Tribal College creates high-powered rockets yearly to compete in the First Nations Launch in Kenosha, WI. The competition is focused on giving Tribal Colleges across the United States $3000 to build, travel, and launch their rockets at the Bong Recreation State Park in Wisconsin. For a recent competition, […]
The MN Space Grant program allowed the Minnesota Department of Transportation – Office of Aeronautics to offer teachers, grades K-12, a chance to learn how to incorporate aviation and aerospace into their classrooms. The Aerospace Teacher Workshop was held for four days during the month of June. Teachers from around the state have participated in […]
The U of MN SmallSat team in the Twin Cities delivered their first 3-U CubeSat called SOCRATES (Signal Opportunity CubeSat Ranging And Timing Experiment System) and it was successfully carried to the ISS on the NG-12 launch of a Cygnus rocket from NASA Wallops in Virginia on Nov. 2, 2019 and was scheduled for deployment […]
Macalester faculty member Kelly MacGregor and James (Mac) Doherty (’19) spent the summer of 2017 snorkeling in Minnesota rivers examining the role of sediment in native mussel population dynamics. Mac, who received a summer research stipend from the MnSGC, focused on quantifying bed sediment grain size, and found that fine sediment (silt and fine sand) […]
The MnSGC and Tripoli MN, a local high-power rocketry club, are hosting the 2019-2020 Space Grant Midwest High-Power Rocket Competition in May of 2020. In this competition college student teams will design, build, and fly a high-power rocket to accomplish a “Photography/Altitude” challenge in which they will try to minimize roll during ascent to get […]
The MnSGC is running an Intercollegiate Quadcopter Challenge for student teams from colleges and universities around the state. In this six-month-long activity the teams, plus their faculty advisor, will build a quadcopter from a kit, outfit it with camera(s) and microcontroller-logged sensors, then use it to “explore” an indoor area. In-person (AKA fly-off) activities will […]
Rocketry teams from Tribal Colleges and Universities from around the country design, build, and fly rockets at the First Nations Launch in Kenosha, WI, organized by the Wisconsin Space Grant. Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) has competed annually since 2011-2012. Students complete a variety of science and engineering challenges. In 2016-2017, LLTC took second place […]
Ballooning teams at the U of MN – Twin Cities, St. Catherine University, and the U of MN – Morris prepared science payloads then flew them from near Grand Island, Nebraska, into the path of totality for the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. (Note: Partial eclipse coverage in MN was over 80%.) The U […]