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UCF Physics Professor Named to NASA Mission, And Grant for Space Mining
UCF physics professor Dan Britt has been named to the New Horizons mission team as the spacecraft heads to the Kuiper Belt. He’s also just landed a grant to help create fake asteroid material, which will help NASA and private companies prepare the technology needed to mine asteroids and eventually other planets. “It’s been a […]
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Nicholson School Hosts Largest Conference Yet
ICRCC 2016 – Nicholson School of Communication (Orlando) – Nearly 150 crisis communication professionals and scholars from around the world converged at UCF as the Nicholson School of Communication hosted the 6th Annual International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC), March 7-9. And by all accounts, it was the largest attendance in the six years […]
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UCF NASA Experiment Takes Flight
Five experiments testing everything from how fire reacts in space, to the effectiveness of a lizard-inspired adhesive are headed to the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 22. NASA’s commercial partner Orbital ATK Inc. is scheduled to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. […]
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Faculty Spotlight: Lisa Malone
If you’ve watched a space shuttle launch in the past 30 years, you’ve probably heard the voice of Lisa Malone, the former director of Public Affairs for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), counting down the seconds until liftoff. Now you can expect to hear – and see – Malone at the Nicholson School of Communication […]
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Space Dust Research Wins NASA Rides
By Scott Powers – Writer for Orlando Sentinel Tiny particles of space dust: How do they stick together? How might astronauts not stir them up? Two UCF scientists are asking, and they’ve gotten NASA’s attention. UCF physics Professor and Assistant Director at the Florida Space Institute Joshua Colwell, Ph.D., and UCF physics post-doctoral Research Scientist Julie Brisset, Ph.D., have won […]
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UCF STEM Day Inspires Thousands
The Center for Initiatives in STEM (iSTEM) Office hosted over 1,300 students in grades K-12 for UCF’s bi-annual STEM Day on Friday, November 6th. STEM Day was a free outreach event for K-12 students interested in learning more about the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The day featured a wide variety of activities focused on STEM disciplines, […]
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UCF Professors Land NASA Grants Focused on Asteroids, Comets, Venus
UCF professors are involved in two potential NASA spacecraft missions that could take flight as early as 2020. The five proposed space missions would study Venus, near-earth objects and a variety of asteroids and comets. Each mission team will receive $3 million and have a year to get their proposals ready for a final round of […]
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Thinking Small Wins UCF Big NASA Project
Sometimes thinking small can get you a big win. That’s certainly the case for a team of physicists at the University of Central Florida. UCF was one of only two universities selected to prepare an experiment for a miniaturized satellite mission as part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program. Twenty-two projects […]
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Teens Experience NASA Explorations Through UCF’s Camp Connect
Story courtesy of Nicholson News, August 2015 Last month, the world watched in awe as the NASA-captured images of Pluto made headlines in the media. Coverage of this historic event highlighted the role of communication in the world of science and technology, a topic that NSC’s Kennedy Space Center liaison, Lisa Malone, knows all too well. Malone […]
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UCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research
It’s a big month for space exploration. Among the headlines: the successful landing of a spacecraft on a comet, the stunning findings unearthed in meteorites recovered from California, and the rollout of NASA’s next-generation Orion crew capsule expected to take its test flight in December. “It’s an exciting time to be involved in space exploration,” […]
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Vomit Comet Equals Opportunity of a Lifetime
Beginning on Monday, July 21, UCF students boarded a specially equipped plane that NASA uses to train astronauts and run microgravity experiments. The plane is nicknamed the vomit comet because first-time flyers tend to vomit as the plane hits zero gravity. “My team and I have worked tirelessly for the past year to get our project up […]
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UCF Pushes Space Frontier, Selected to Fly on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo
A UCF experiment and a 3-D printer for space developed by a UCF graduate will fly on the first NASA-funded commercial research flight on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. NASA and Virgin Galactic announced Tuesday that 12 university experiments, two industry-developed technologies and two NASA projects were selected for the mission. Dr. Joshua Colwell, a UCF physics […]
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Avoiding Deep Impact: UCF, NASA Study Spaceship Teamwork
Visiting Mars in 2030 is going to take some engineering ingenuity, but making sure astronauts make the long, cramped journey without driving each other crazy is going to be just as tricky. It’s estimated that a round trip to Mars will take at least two years. That’s why NASA is investing millions of dollars trying […]
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Science in Action
Recently published in the American Psychological Association (APA) online, Dr. Eduardo Salas brings science to life. “My job is to study and solve. In nearly 30 years, I’ve never been bored”, says Salas. Like every operational machine, a company functions due to the collaboration of incorporated mechanics. In order for said company to run smoothly […]
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UCF Team Tests Satellite Design in Zero Gravity
For more than 10 years, scientists and engineers have been developing satellites the size of softballs that float in space and collect data, such as weather conditions. These picosatellites, which weigh less than 1 kilogram (about 2.2 pounds), are a lot less expensive than conventional large satellites and easier to launch into space as secondary […]
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UCF Students To Ride ‘Vomit Comet’
Flying at zero gravity is usually something reserved for astronauts in training or very wealthy people with cash to burn, but six UCF students will get the chance to do so in June, courtesy of NASA. NASA selected UCF’s team to run an experiment aboard a parabolic flight as part of its Undergraduate Student Instrumentation […]
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Research Suggests Zero Gravity is Dangerous for Human Immune Systems
Finally! Fruit flies have a practical use outside of ruining your fruits. Recently, the scientific jounral “PLOS One” published an article about changes in fruit fly immunity after spending an extended period of time in outer space without gravity. The experiment and article were a collaborative project between researchers at the University of California at […]
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Chemistry PhD Program Marks its 10th Anniversary
Chemistry PhD Program Marks its 10th Anniversary (2003-2013) 2013 is a very special year indeed. A cherished dream shared by many in the Chemistry Department and university, the PhD program in Chemistry was approved in July 2003 and admitted its first students in August 2003. The program and department have come a long way since […]
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Asteroid Encounter at UCF
An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth’s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet. The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. UCF’s Humberto […]
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NASA’s path to the future is ‘clear,’ panel says
NASA has a “clear path” to the future and times will be good again one day at Kennedy Space Center — even though the 30-year space shuttle program ends in July and the agency has not yet revealed the next big thing in manned space flight. That was the unanimous opinion of a panel that […]