UCF has diligently and methodically been making a name for itself in the world of planetary exploration, and it 麻豆精品 S檚 beginning to pay off in big ways.
Not only are two UCF professors part of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to collect asteroid samples 麻豆精品 S� a first for the United States, but scientists are playing critical roles as NASA and private space companies race to get people back into space.
NASA recognized UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 expertise in 2013 when it made the university the base for the (CLASS), one of nine virtual institutes NASA funds to focus on questions concerning space science and human space exploration. CLASS finds itself in a unique position because its experts happen to be in hot demand as NASA and private space companies prepare to send people to other planets.
麻豆精品 S淣ASA is starting to get serious about Mars, so they are looking to do more research in the area of airless bodies [asteroids and planets with barren surfaces] as part of the highway to Mars, and that 麻豆精品 S檚 where we come in, 麻豆精品 S� said Dan Britt, the UCF geophysicist who leads CLASS. 麻豆精品 S淲e are a virtual institute that is a compilation of skills that look at surfaces of airless bodies like asteroids and the moons of Mars. We look at everything from dust to microgravity. We offer the best scientific advice so the engineers at NASA can design the hardware needed to keep people alive in these alien environments. 麻豆精品 S�
Members of CLASS at UCF are creating asteroid simulant (asteroid fake dirt) to help private companies and NASA develop the machinery and protocols to mine minerals and other resources from asteroids. Some of the team members are studying how dirt interacts with microgravity in anticipation of spacecraft approaching and landing on other planets.
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Britt sees private companies entering the field of space exploration as a great catalyst.
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Commercial space entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk of SpaceX and Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin have poured millions of dollars into their programs to develop vehicles that can get people back into space since the shuttle program retired in 2011. They 麻豆精品 S檝e had some public mishaps, but they 麻豆精品 S檝e also created two vehicles that in just a few years are on the cusp of meeting their objectives.
Professor Josh Colwell, who is also a CLASS member, is taking advantage of the opportunities provided by these private companies, too. Colwell has had two experiments fly aboard the new spacecrafts developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
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According to NASA, a human mission to and from the Mars system could last two years, 聽or longer, including six to nine months of transit each way. Unlike trips to the International Space Station, there is no quick way home. Those missions will have to be independent of Earth and its resources.