Research Infrastructure

ASGP actively encourages faculty to propose projects that will help to initiate new aerospace-related research in Alaska. Our strategy is to award mini research initiation grants for projects that hold promise of bringing new aerospace-related research activities to Alaska. This strategy is inherently higher risk than selecting projects associated with established research activities and proven track records, but has resulted in the following important successes:

Leveraged a major research grant for studies of radio wave propagation in conjunction with the NASA Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS).  This project has been fully funded for more than 5 years.

Initiated research into a new experimental technique for imaging the magnetosphere in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrum. This work has resulted in the publication of 2 papers and a Ph.D. thesis.

Initiated a new research project involving the application of Synthetic Aperture Radar images to coastal engineering problems. This project subsequently leveraged an NSF fellowship that provided three years of funding for a graduate student and resulted in a Ph.D. thesis.

Initiated a new research project involving the use of satellite imagery to study methane efflux to the atmosphere in shallow lakes. This project subsequently leveraged an NSF fellowship that provided three years of funding for the student.  ASGP grant provided equipment, travel, and publication support for a Ph.D. student at UAA.

 

The ASGP executive director has taken the lead in coordinating proposals to help augment the aerospace research infrastructure in Alaska:

NSF Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) Program - An equipment grant  was received in 1992 to establish a microwave design laboratory at UAF.  One of the primary objectives specified in the original proposal was to provide equipment needed by the Alaska Student Rocket Project.

NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program - A three year grant was received in 1992, allowing UAF to become one of forty-two universities in the nation that participate in this program. The student design project during the first two years led to the Wireless Power Transmission project described below. The design project for the third year was the conceptual design study for the ARIM-1 sounding rocket program that is now under construction by the Alaska Student Rocket Project

Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) Research

This project began as a conceptual design study by UAF students under the NASA/USRA Advanced Design Program. In 1993 and 1994, UAF students considered the design of a technology demonstration spacecraft that would take the next step in developing the technology required for a Solar Power Satellite (SPS). The resulting conceptual design studies of the WISPER and PowerSat spacecraft attracted a great deal of attention from SPS proponents around the world. A small grant from the Space Studies Institute in Princeton, NJ plus components provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provided the equipment needed to build and demonstrate a microwave powered helicopter as a demonstration and test bed for WPT technology. Small grants supplied through ASGP and collaborations with Ferrite Components, Inc. provided the supplies needed for a study of magnetron directional amplifiers (MDA), which promises to provide a low-cost, high-power microwave power source suitable for SPS applications. The results of this research are being compiled into a Ph.D. thesis that will be completed in 1999. Several students have participated in these activities while receiving ASGP Fellowships, including one student from the Center for Space Power at Texas A & M University who was jointly funded by a fellowship from the Texas Space Grant Consortium. There has been a resurgence of interest in Solar Power Satellites at NASA, with new funding expected to be available for this research in 1999, and the activities outlined above have developed the foundation at UAF needed to play an active role in that research.

Design of Static Test Stand for Rocket Motors

A static test stand has been designed by a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor and students to test solid propellant rocket motors at the Poker Flat Research Range, owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  The stand is designed to handle motors with thrust levels up to 88.960 N (22,000 lbf).  This thrust level will permit testing of rocket motors that the US Navy has agreed to donate to Poker Flat for training students and faculty in aerospace research.  The Student Rocket Project team, faculty and other researchers can use this stand to test sounding rocket motors.  These sounding rocket missions are for scientific investigations of the geophysical phenomena in the atmosphere at high latitudes.