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The ASA STARS Program
The Amateur Spaceflight Association is embarking on an
exciting educational program for selected High School and University
students. This program is designed
to promote math and science education by funding student teams to build
microgravity experiments that will actually fly in space. Funded by Foundations and Corporate
donations, the pilot ASA STARS Program will provide students from Houston area high
schools with the means and engineering assistance necessary to build a
microgravity experiment. These
experiments, along with those developed by Universities, will be flown
on-board an ASA launch vehicle beyond the edge of space, experiencing
several minutes of microgravity. The
rocket and experiments will be recovered for data collection and returned to
the schools.
Purpose
Microgravity continues to be the
leading-edge environment for research of all types. Every physical principle that holds true
on Earth must be re-proven in space, since the absence of gravity affects
most physical processes. In space,
heat does not rise, plants do not grow “up,” and oil does not
float on water. These are examples
of the environmental differences experienced in space, and an illustration
of odd phenomena that must be studied to reveal benefits for life on
Earth. Professional scientists are
examining these effects as quickly as funding will allow, but research can
also be accomplished by student experimentation. By giving students the opportunity to
perform microgravity research early in their career, the next generation of
scientists will emerge from school much better prepared to make discoveries
that may change the world.
Enriching Opportunities
Currently Available
Today, student researchers have very
few opportunities to conduct experiments in such an environment. Only a handful of university and high
school students around the country are able to participate in this
cutting-edge environment through research opportunities offered by NASA and
other space-oriented entities each year.
The Amateur Spaceflight Association will be the first organization
to annually deliver the resource of microgravity to a large number of
student researchers. This program of
educational development will provide university and high school students
the annual opportunity to expand themselves and the frontiers of science by
building a microgravity experiment and launching it into space on board an
ASA rocket.
This program is being developed in parallel with our
current programs, and we hope to implement this program with student groups
soon.
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