NASA Seeks Undergrads to Defy Gravity for Science and Engineering

July 14, 2009

Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4997


Jenna Maddix
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-244-0185


RELEASE: 09-162

NASA SEEKS UNDERGRADS TO DEFY GRAVITY FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

HOUSTON -- NASA is offering undergraduate students an opportunity to
test experiments in microgravity aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder"
aircraft.

The opportunity is part of NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight
Program, which gives aspiring explorers a chance to propose, design
and fabricate a reduced gravity experiment. Selected teams will get
to test and evaluate their experiment aboard NASA's reduced gravity
airplane. The aircraft flies about 30 roller-coaster-like climbs and
dips during experiment flights to produce periods of weightlessness
and hyper-gravity ranging from 0 g to 2 g.

"Today's students will be the ones going to the moon and beyond to
live, explore and work," said Douglas Goforth, the Reduced Gravity
Education Flight Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston."This project gives them a head start in preparing for those
future ventures by allowing them to conduct hands-on research and
engineering today in a truly reduced gravity laboratory."

Proposals are due to NASA by Oct. 28. Interested students also should
submit a letter of intent by Sept. 16. This step is optional but
serves as an introductory notice that a team plans to submit a
proposal for the upcoming competition.

NASA will announce selected teams Dec. 9. They will fly in the summer
of 2010. Once selected, teams also may invite a full-time, accredited
journalist to fly with them and document the team's experiment and
experiences. All applicants must be full-time students, U.S. citizens
and at least 18 years old.

With this program, NASA continues its tradition of investing in the
nation's education programs. It is directly tied the agency's
education goal of strengthening NASA and the nation's future
workforce. Through this and other college and university programs,
NASA will identify and develop the critical skills and capabilities
needed to carry out its space exploration mission.

For more information about the Reduced Gravity Education Flight
Program or to submit a proposal, contact the program at
, or visit:

http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

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