The Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences in partnership with the Honors College will begin a Research Experience for Honors Undergraduates in Space and Planetary Sciences program in the Fall 2006 semester.

The academic year-long program will provide undergraduate students enrolled in the honors program an opportunity to perform research and associated activities with faculty members and researchers in the space center.  The theme for the 2006-2007 academic year will be Mars.

The research program requires at least 10 hours per week of research in the laboratory and participation in a weekly colloquium series.  The program also requires submission of a two-page abstract  and a poster in the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference format at the end of the fall semester, and a two-page abstract and an oral presentation at the end of the spring semester.  The students will also participate in field trips (Mars-like geology in the region, trips to a NASA base, trips to local aerospace industries) and other events organized by the program (social events).

The program will provide monetary support, details of which are available on the space center Web site.  Procedures have also be put in motion for the students to receive academic credit through the space center, but that option is not yet available.  Participants in this program will be able to use the research as a basis for honors dissertations, with the consent of their honors committee.

The deadline for application is May 31, 2006, for the 2006-2007 academic year.  The application requires a 250-word statement of background and interests, three faculty members that the student would like to work with, a transcript, and two letters of support from faculty members.

The space center recently announced its 2006-2007 research awards for UArk faculty members interested in developing their research interests in space and planetary science.  The competed research awards program is designed to stimulate interdisciplinary research in the space and planetary sciences at the university through collaborations and undergraduate and graduate student involvement.  Nine awards were made, totalling $373,333; three of these are new projects and six are continuations of prior awards.  The proposals will support 10 summer interns and six graduate students in the SPAC program.  The faculty members awards are listed below:

Vincent Chevrier (Space Center); The surface of Mars: properties and evolution; $46,032
John Dixon (Geosciences); Development of a geospatial digital library collection of historic remotely-sensed imagery; $42,064
Robert Gawley (Chemistry/Biochemistry); The Hera sample collector; laboratory determination of its suitability for collecting samples containing organic compounds; $48,859
Daniel Kennefick (Physics); Evaluating the confusion noise threshold for extreme mass ratio binary inspirals in the proposed space-based gravitational wave detector LISA; $38,642
Julia Kennefick (Physics); Using the NVO for quasar discovery and study; $27,574
Tim Kral (Biological Sciences); Growth of methanogens under conditions approaching those on Mars (continued); $44,654
Claud Lacy (Physics); Mineralogy and classification of near-earth objects (NEO’s); $41,263
Larry Roe (Mechanical Engineering); Continued development of a sampler for the robotic return of asteroid surface samples; $44,375
Rick Ulrich (Chemical Engineering); Construction of an entry level LIDAR system; $39,870

In the article below, two space center graduate students elaborate on their favorite sessions at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference that was held in Houston from March 13-17. 

The session that I was particularly interested in was the entire Hayabusa Session on Friday morning. It was exciting to see, for the first time, high resolution images of the surface of Itokawa. It turns out that the “smooth” features found on this asteroid are composed of mm-cm sized particles which are perfectly sized for sample return missions. The Hayabusa team also announced that they have regained control of the spacecraft and will likely return any sample that may have been collected in 2010.

Melissa Franzen
Space Center Graduate Student

Ralph Harvey’s presentation “Cryogenic Evaporite Formation at Lewis Cliff, Antarctica: A Mars Analog Study” sparked my interest. The images from Antarctica displayed examples of previous and future experiments for the Andromeda Chamber under martian conditions. Also when he presented examples of evaporites that appear to be forming in the ice, it created possible explanations for the evaporites found on Mars.

Katie Bryson
Space Center Graduate Student

The future of science, in particular the continued exploration of space, lies in the hands of the youth.  In an effort to do my part in promoting science to young people, I dropped by the Fredericksburg Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Iowa, on March 24, 2006, to visit my sister Katelyn’s 5th grade class.  Her class was beginning a new science unit on the planets.  The topic for the day’s discussion was asteroids, otherwise known as the building blocks of planets.  After the presentation, I gave the class a chance to ask questions.  The students were very engaged, asking questions about asteroids, space in general, life on Mars, and what it takes to be a scientist.  I hope that I convinced at least a few of the students that being a space and planetary scientist is a really fantastic career and worth considering, but if nothing else, they have learned a few facts about asteroids.   

Melissa Franzen is a space center graduate student whose research focuses on the investigation of surface processes on asteroids through laboratory and mission analyses and the development of sample collectors for asteroid sample return.  Her mentor is Dr. Derek Sears.  She has recently defended her dissertation successfully.  Congratulations, Melissa!