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Students travel to Houston to conduct NASA experiment

When three engineering students decided to travel to Houston for a "micro-gravity" experiment, they thought their experience would be strictly scientific.

However, when Isaac Boxx '99, Michael Sachinis '98 and Alan Mattamana '99 stepped onto NASA's KC-135A airplane, they discovered what it would feel like to be in outer space.

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"I've sky dived and nothing can match near-zero gravity," Mattamana said.

The students travelled to Houston March 23-24 after NASA accepted a proposal submitted by Boxx to solve the problem of mist buildup on space-bound telescopes.

However, the students wound up with a lesson in biology, as well.

The zero-gravity plane achieved 40 jumps – or "parabolas" – that tested the students' stomachs. "By the time I got to 20, I was pretty queasy," Mattamana said.

Boxx became ill on the first day and Mattamana followed on the second, according to mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Edgar Choueiri, who served as the experiment's faculty adviser. Despite the nausea, Boxx flew on the second day as well.

"I expected to get sick like everyone else," Sachinis said. "They gave us a pill an hour before the flight, and some people didn't take it, and they suffered the consequences."

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"We had some fun flipping around," Sachinis added.

Research

Once they got past the initial discomfort, the students could get down to the research. To gain valuable leadership for their research, they turned to Choueiri.

Choueiri said he has worked with NASA for several years, researching plasma propulsion in spacecrafts.

About three years ago, fellow professor Ed Jenkins designed telescopes that were sent into space as part of the Hubble project. However, mist accumulated on the telescopes, and NASA officials could not obtain clear readings, according to Choueiri.

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The students who flew in the KC-135A were attempting to simulate the Hubble situation to ascertain what the problems associated with moisture buildup are, Choueiri said. "What happens when the mist interacts with the body, with any warm body?" Choueiri asked.

Normally, a "boundary layer" forms between an object and the atmosphere to mitigate the mist formation. However, when there is no gravity as in space, the mist and the object interact differently, according to Choueiri.

"Like when you're in the shower and the mirror's cold – it's the exact opposite of that," Mattamana explained. The warm telescopes were destroyed because of the moisture created by cold air, he said.

To examine these difficulties in Houston, the students directed a laser at a mirror and placed the apparatus in a small vacuum tank. By pumping the humid air out of the tank while on the airplane, the students observed mist accumulation in near-zero gravity.

"We have a lot of very interesting data," said Mattamana, who is a chemical engineering student.

Choueiri said analysis of the data obtained on the trip should result in substantive findings regarding mist buildup.

"The students did a wonderful job," Choueiri said. "I sat on the ground and watched them getting sick in the air."