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Two student teams will run "Vomit Comet" experiments
From left: Students Bobby Agrawal, Steve Steiner, Nick Bohne and Michael Johannes will make aerogels. |
Two teams of undergraduate students have won a competitive proposal process to conduct reduced-gravity experiments on the NASA-sponsored "Vomit Comet," a converted KC-135 refueling plane, this summer. A team of four freshmen led by Steve Steiner will test his patented process for making low-density, high-strength aerogels to determine if reduced gravity helps generate a transparent product. (Aerogels made under the effects of gravity have a blue tint.) Another project will get flight time in July. Coordinated by junior Nick Kho, BORG, or Body Operating in Reduced Gravity, will test its soccer-ball-sized robot in microgravity. The robot is designed to assist in repairs on the International Space Station.