NASA Announces Student-focused Experiment Program Awards

The International Space Station Program Science Office has announced the award recipients for the International Space Station Post-Graduate Innovation Awards in Space Life and Physical Science Research opportunity. The NASA Research Announcement was targeted at reaching graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who were already starting a career as science researchers in the Life and Physical Sciences disciplines. Proposals included innovative ideas for microgravity research specifically in the areas of physical sciences, microbiology and space physiology.

Recipients are eligible for awards up to $4,000, which will allow them to submit a full space station research flight proposal. One of these proposals may also be eligible for full funding for a flight to the space station. Awardees were chosen using criteria that included the significance of the study, the approach’s design and methods, level of innovation, the qualifications of the investigators and the appropriateness of the scientific environment.

“This NASA research announcement reaches out to a new and specific group of graduate students and fellows because we don’t know what else is out there in terms of innovative investigation ideas for the space station,” said Camille Alleyne, space station assistant program scientist. “It is a deliberate effort to get people involved in space station science. With opportunities like these, we are growing the next generation of space researchers.”

The recipients for this set of awards are:
 

• Josh Colwell with the University of Central Florida for the project Behavior of Regolith in Microgravity Environments on Asteroids and Planetary Satellites. This concept investigates regolith motion in reduced-gravity environments, specifically looking at the low behavior of granular material along slopes (landslides and avalanches) under reduced-gravity conditions; and the displacement of granular matter in response to impact-induced seismic vibrations.
• Jae-Hoon Chung with the Ohio State University for the project Effect of Spaceflight on Stem Cell-derived Cardiomyocytes with Arrhythmogenic Mutation. Microgravity is known to cause various changes in the cardiovascular system such as reduced arterial pressure and heart rate. This concept proposes a study of the biological mechanism of microgravity-induced arrhythmias in a controlled in vitro model. 
• Paul Steen with Cornell University for the project Inferring Contact-line Mobility by Observing Coalescence Dynamics. This concept seeks to understand contact-line (CL) mobility in drops that are undergoing coalescence on a solid surface. The results of this investigation can possibly enable longer duration missions to Mars and beyond, by potentially enabling high heat transfer rates in a low mass system that requires no external energy to remove drops.
• Thomas Avedisian with Cornell University for the project Development of an Algae Biodiesel Surrogate from Spherically Symmetric Droplet Combustion Experiments on the International Space Station. This concept studies the ignition and burning characteristics of algal biodiesel droplets and its relationship to a surrogate derived from the major constituents of the biodiesel. The algal biodiesel is used as an alternative/renewable fuel source for combustion engines.
• Yiguang Ju with the Trustees of Princeton University for the project Study of Cool Flames with Ozone Sensitization in Microgravity. The concept presented is a novel method for using plasma-generated ozone to establish stable cool diffusion and premixed flames in a microgravity field so that cool flame dynamics, structure, and chemistry can be studied and understood in an ideal environment. This can lead to a higher energy efficiency of high performing engines.

NASA is trying to attract young researchers who have not previously considered conducting scientific investigations in space. The agency encourages new investigators to consider how their studies on the ground may translate to, and perhaps benefit considerably from, the microgravity environment.