- 1 - 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities is a NASA-sponsored program and is administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium. National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities A NASA-sponsored program administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, an affiliate of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program PROPOSALS DUE: November 14, 1997 Through this Program Announcement, the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (NSGC&FP) solicits proposals from teams of undergraduate students from accredited American universities and colleges to fly experiments aboard NASA 931 ‹ the Johnson Space Centerıs (JSC) flying reduced-gravity laboratory. PURPOSE The principal purpose of the 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program is to provide a unique academic experience for undergraduate students to successfully propose, design, fabricate, fly and assess a reduced-gravity experiment of their choice over the course of eight months. That experience will include scientific scholarship, hands-on test operations and education/public outreach activities. CONTEXT The 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program is designed to encourage teams to participate either as an organized class project or as an independent study project. We recommend that the participating teamıs academic institution convey class credit for the successful completion of the program. ELIGIBILITY The 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program will provide access to NASAıs JSC Reduced-Gravity Program to up to 48 teams. Each selected team may include up to four undergraduate students, a supervising faculty member, and one professional journalist. Any two of a teamıs four students and the journalist will be able to fly on each of two flights, enabling all students to fly at least once and the journalist once. DEADLINES Letters of Intent: October 10, 1997 Proposals: November 14, 1997 Teams Announced: December 12, 1997 Training & Flights: Group A Monday, March 16 through Saturday, March 28, 1998 Group B Monday, March 23 through Saturday, April 4, 1998 FOR DETAILS, CONTACT . . . A copy of the Competition Guidelines for 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program may be obtained in the following ways: O HTML and FTP from the Program Website at: www.tsgc.utexas.edu/tsgc/floatn.html Versions: hqx - Word for Macintosh (stuffed) zip - Word for Windows (compressed) txt - plain text file O E-mail request to: fort@mail.utexas.edu O Telephone request to: 512/471-7225 - ask for Burke Fort O Fax request to: 512/471-3585 - to Burke Fort O Writing to: Mr. Burke Fort 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Texas Space Grant Consortium 3925 West Braker Lane, Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78759-5321 NOTICES This Program Announcement and the Competition Guidelines were issued on August 15, 1997, and may be amended from time to time. Please check the Program Website or contact Burke Fort for updates. The 1998 NASA Reduced-Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program is a NASA- sponsored project and is administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, an affiliate of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. ------------------ 1998 NASA REDUCED GRAVITY STUDENT FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES A NASA-sponsored program administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, an affiliate of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON SPACE CENTER HOUSTON, TEXAS COMPETITION GUIDELINES Letters of Intent Due: October 10, 1997 Proposals Due: November 14, 1997 Since 1959, the Johnson Space Center's Reduced-Gravity Program has provided a true three-dimensional "weightless" training and testing environment. Originally the province of astronauts in training and flights in support of missions ranging from Mercury to the Space Station, NASA's Boeing KC-135A has recently provided other NASA, government, academic and commercial users with a reduced-g experiment venue. WE INVITE YOU to submit a proposal to fly with your reduced gravity experiment on the NASA KC-135A. Program Activities Who: The 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program (Program) will provide access to the NASA Johnson Space Centerıs (JSC) Reduced-Gravity Program for up to forty-eight (48) teams. Each selected team may include a flight crew of up to four undergraduate1 students, a supervising faculty member, and one professional journalist. Any two of a teamıs four student flyers and the journalist will be able to fly on each of two flights, enabling each student flyer to fly at least once and the journalist once. Each proposal must name a supervising faculty member, who will not be able to fly with his/her team. A team may be assisted by a Ground Crew, the membership of which can include, for example, other undergraduate, graduate, or high school students. Each team is strongly encouraged to identify a team journalist. Only proposals from teams enrolled in accredited American institutions of higher education will be considered. Each member of a teamıs proposed flight crew, including the journalist, must be at least 18 years of age at the time of flight. When and Where: Your participation begins with your decision to compete and ends with our receipt of your ³Outreach Plan deliverables.² If your proposal is selected, your team will fabricate and prepare your experiment for flight. During a two-week period in Spring 19982, the Program will convene at Ellington Field, Texas, which is the home of Johnson Space Center's Reduced-Gravity Program. This is what you'll be doing at Ellington: O Arrival and check-in; Program orientation; pre-flight physiological training. O Equipment buildup and checkout; Test Readiness Review (TRR) of all test articles; installation of experiment packages on aircraft. O Flight Day 1: pre-flight briefing; flight suits and boots issued; one 2-3 hour flight; adjust test articles as needed; post-flight debriefing and review. O Flight Day 2: one 2-3 hour flight; equipment downloading and removal; post-flight debriefing and review; Ellington wrap-up. Exact manifesting of the flights will not occur until just before the flight dates, so plan on spending the entire two weeks at Ellington Field. What: There will be one flight during each of the two flight days assigned to your experiment. During each flight, which will last an average of two to three hours, you will fly 30 to 50 parabolic maneuvers in the KC-135A. The actual trajectory flown on each such maneuver will provide approximately 25 seconds of zero-gravity conditions for you and your experiment.3 You will also experience 1.8-g entry and exit conditions in each reduced-g maneuver. You will conduct your experiment within the KC-135Aıs 60-foot foam-padded "test area." The test area is equipped with electrical power, compressed gas sources, overboard vent system and photo lights. NASA will provide photographic services for recording activities in VHS and BetaSP video; 16-mm movie; 35-mm digital, photographic print, and photographic slide; and 8" x 10" print media, as required by individual experiments (please specify in your proposal). During the Ellington Field tour, pre- and post-flight activities will take place in or near Building 990, which is the KC-135Aıs hangar, and Building 993, which consists of approximately 1,760 square feet of air-conditioned work space and includes a briefing room equipped with tables, desks, chairs, phones, a VCR, and a video monitor. Work space is available on the ground for buildup and checkout of test equipment prior to installation on the aircraft. After the flight, your team will prepare research reports, essays, presentations and/or other vehicles, which must be specified in an ³Outreach Plan² section in your proposal, to articulate your Program experience to other students (K-16, please specify your educational audience in your proposalıs Outreach Plan) and the public. Students are encouraged to petition their home institution to receive class credit for participation in the Program. We also recommend that faculty members adopt the preparation of proposals and the experiment design effort as a class project. Each selected team is encouraged to identify a team journalist. The journalist should be professionally employed as such (i.e., not a journalism student) and may come from any local, regional or state media organization, including newspapers, television stations, radio stations, and magazines. Journalists may contact the Project Director for information about Program press kits, media opportunities and issues related to their participation. Criteria for Selection A proposal review committee will select the participating teams based on the following criteria: € possesses meaningful technical and scientific merit produced within the temporal and spatial limitations of reduced-gravity flight aboard the KC-135A, including a special experiment payload size limitation of not to exceed 24² wide by 64² long by 60² high; … sets forth a well-conceived and feasible approach for designing, building and testing the proposed experiment payload; € contains effective strategies for transferring experience and knowledge gained to other audiences, including faculty and students in all levels of education as well as the general public; € demonstrates a willingness and ability to comply with the JSC Reduced-Gravity Program Userıs Guide, including pre-flight physicals and training, and other conditions required by NASA to address safety and liability issues; € includes a commitment of the proposing team's home institution and/or other qualified organization (e.g., National Space Grant state consortium, corporate underwriter, etc.) to arrange for funding to cover each studentıs pre-flight physical examinations and travel costs involved in the teamıs trip to Ellington Field; … contains a letter from the university president, college dean, or departmental chairperson, indicating endorsement by the institution of the teamıs participation in the Program; and … does not include activities that involve human test subjects, animals or other activities that would require JSC Human Research Policy and Procedures Committee (HRPPC) protocol oversight. We strongly encourage teams from underrepresented institutions to submit proposals. Program Timeline and Deadlines Letter of Intent: We must have received your non-binding letter of intent to propose by 4:30 PM, Friday, October 10, 1997. Any legible submission, including e- mail (fort@mail.utexas.edu), is acceptable so long as it contains the name and mailing address of the academic institution(s) and department(s) involved; name, phone number and e-mail address (if any) of the proposal Contact Person; name and phone number of the supervising faculty member; and a brief, one-paragraph description of your proposed test activity. Proposal: We must have received ten (10) copies of your written proposal by 4:30 PM, Friday, November 14, 1997. It must be written in the form specified for the "Test Equipment Data Package" specified on page 12 of the JSC Reduced Gravity Program User's Guide. It must also include responses to the requirements set forth elsewhere in this Competition Guidelines document, including: € The name and academic level of each student member of your team; name and mailing address of the academic institution(s) and department(s) involved; the name, phone number and e-mail address (if any) of your proposal Contact Person; the name and phone number of your supervising faculty member; a short (up to 300 words) abstract of your proposal; and proof that all members of your proposed Flight Team are 18 years of age or older. € A statement, signed by you, that you are aware that your personal life or accident insurance may not provide coverage while aboard the KC-135A aircraft. (See page 5 of the JSC Reduced Gravity Program User's Guide.) Send your proposals to: Mr. Burke O. Fort ATTN: 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Texas Space Grant Consortium 3925 West Braker Lane, Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78759-5321 Teams Announced: The 1998 Program teams will be announced on Friday, December 12, 1997. Preflight Physicals: Each member of your Flight Team must submit the results of his/her pre-flight physical on forms specified in the JSC Reduced Gravity Program Userıs Guide by 4:30 PM, Friday, February 6, 1998. Outreach Plan Deliverables: We must receive your final Outreach Plan deliverables by 4:30 PM, Friday, June 5, 1998. Additional information about the 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, including the JSC Reduced Gravity Program User's Guide, can be obtained from Burke Fort, the Project Director, by: Browsing ... www.tsgc.utexas.edu/tsgc/floatn.html Calling ... 512/471-7225 Faxing ... 512/471-3585 E-mailing ... fort@mail.utexas.edu or Writing ... Mr. Burke O. Fort 1998 NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program Texas Space Grant Consortium 3925 West Braker Lane, Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78759-5321 GOOD LUCK! ----------------- ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS for experiments proposed for the 1998 NASA REDUCED GRAVITY STUDENT FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES A NASA-sponsored program administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, an affiliate of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program The following requirements supplement, and supersede where they conflict with, those set forth in the JSC Reduced Gravity Office Userıs Guide: SPACE LIMITATIONS: Because of the large number of users aboard the KC-135A, your proposed experiment should be as self-contained as possible. This means that it should have a footprint no larger than 24² by 64², which should be sufficient to bolt it to the 20² x 20² floor grid set forth in the Userıs Guide. In addition, your equipment should not extend beyond that footprint above the floor, nor should it exceed 60² in height. This limitation includes any k-bottles or support equipment (dewars, etc.) you may wish to use. ACCELEROMETER: Even though the aircraft has an accelerometer, a connection to it for recording data will not be available to you during your flight. If you need measurements from an accelerometer, you will need to supply your own and incorporate it within the space limitations set forth above and in the Userıs Guide. There are large visual acceleration displays in both the front and the back of the cabin. FREE-FLYING: Free-flying of test equipment is allowable so long as it may be done safely and generally within the space limitations set forth above and in the Userıs Guide. PHOTOGRAPHY: … Data collection - The JSC Reduced Gravity Office will not be able to provide photographic services or equipment for data collection. You will need to incorporate data collection cameras (still and/or video), if required, into your test equipment. The JSC Reduced Gravity Office will be available to help you set up (position, focus, etc.) your data collection cameras. … Documentary still photography - The JSC Reduced Gravity Office will take still photographs of (a) your equipment, as installed in the aircraft, and (b) of your team (students and journalist) operating the equipment in reduced gravity conditions. … Documentary video photography - The JSC Reduced Gravity Office will provide a professional video photographer and equipment for the use, and at the reasonable direction, of the team journalists. IF YOU REQUIRE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION regarding these requirements, as well as those set forth in the JSC Reduced Gravity Program Userıs Guide, contact Bob Williams or Judy Rickard, the Test Directors of the Johnson Space Center Reduced Gravity Office. Bobıs e-mail address is and his telephone number is 281/244- 9809. Judy may be reached via e-mail at and by telephone at 281/244-9113. The JSC Reduced Gravity Officeıs fax number is 281/244-9500. ----------- PROGRAM AMENDMENTS affecting experiments proposed for the 1998 NASA REDUCED GRAVITY STUDENT FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES A NASA-sponsored program administered by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, an affiliate of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program No amendments have been made to the Competition Guidelines to date. 1 Flyers must be enrolled undergraduate students at the time of flight. 2 The teams will be assigned into two groups. … Group A (half of the selected teams) teams will undergo physiological training and prepare their equipment for flight from Monday, March 16th through Friday, March 20, 1998. Group A team flights will occur each day from Monday, March 23 through Saturday, March 28, 1998. … Group B (the remaining half of the selected teams) will undergo physiological training and prepare their equipment for flight from Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27, 1998. Group B team flights will occur each day from Monday, March 30 through Saturday, April 4, 1998. 3 Please note that the flight profile of any individual parabola can change unexpectedly due to local atmospheric conditions. The KC-135A pilot and crew attempt to locate areas of ³good air² prior to every flight.