A.S. Kashyap, M. Mudholkar, H.A. Mantooth, T. Vo, M. Mojarradi, “Cryogenic Characterization of Lateral DMOS Transistors for Lunar Applications,” IEEE Aerospace Conference, 7-14 March 2009.

Katie Bryson, a former Space Center graduate student, recently began working as a postdoctoral research scientist for the Bay Area Environmental Research (BAER) Institute at NASA Ames Research Center.  She is currently working as part of the Astrochemistry Laboratory. 

Her research covers UV/Visible spectrometer examining of organic materials that are part of the EXPOSE experiment on the International Space Station.  The results and future work will be used in connection with small satellite missions.  The intention is to investigate the effects of space conditions on organic samples.

Some of the Space Center graduate students have recently participated in several outreach opportunities.

Kate Coleman gave a presentation to the eighth grade science class at Central Junior High School in Springdale, Arkansas.  The students were studying soils and soil horizons on Earth, so the presentation was titled “Martian soils: Why is there no dirt on Mars?”  She spoke to around 600 students on a rotating basis throughout the day.  Kate not only spoke about her research on gullies on Mars, but she described how the morphology of each gully can be used to determine the history of the rocks and sediments on Mars.  The students were engaged and had a wonderful time.  Kate has been asked to return later in the semester when the classes study a unit on astronomy.

Several members of the Space Center Planetarium Board hosted a group of kids from the Helen Tyson Middle School Gifted and Talented  Program.  The middle school is located in Springdale, Arkansas.  Students learned about constellations, retrograde motion, and the annual movement of the stars.  The Planetarium Board is made up of Space Center graduate students. 

The students asked many engaging questions and were generally curious about concepts related to space and space exploration.  Thanks so much to our Planetarium Board for their hard work!

Kate Coleman and Kelly Howe went to speak to a group of fifth grade students at West Fork Middle School in West Fork, Arkansas.  Kate and Kelly spoke to them about the basic structure of the solar system, the properties of individual planets, and the life cycle of a star (in respect to the sun).  The students enjoyed the presentation and learned all about the variety of concepts related to space and space exploration.

Photo caption:  Kate Coleman speaks to eighth graders at Central Junior High School

Titan 2009: Third Workshop on Titan Chemistry: Observations, Experiments, Computations, and Modeling
February 26-28, 2009
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Planet Formation and Evolution: The Solar System and Extrasolar Planets
March 2-6, 2009
Tuebingen, Germany

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
March 23-27, 2009
The Woodlands, Texas

Workshop on Modeling Martian Hydrous Environments
June 1-3, 2009
Houston, Texas

72nd Meteoritical Society Meeting
July 13-18, 2009
Nancy, France

International Conference on Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009
September 21-25, 2009
St. Petersburg, Russia

Geological Society of America Annual Meeting
October 18-21, 2009
Portland, Oregon