5 years • 2.2 hours • 19 students
More zero-g time than the first man in space

Physics students at Carthage have the opportunity to conduct significant research for NASA and have flown aboard NASA's microgravity aircraft five years in a row. The plane flies a series of rollercoaster-like dips and climbs over the Gulf of Mexico, simulating zero gravity, lunar gravity and Martian gravity.

Carthage's Microgravity Team competes every year for a spot in NASA's Systems Engineering Educational Discovery program. SEED pairs a NASA researcher with student-faculty teams to design and build experiments in support of NASA's technology development challenges.

The Carthage Microgravity Team has been selected for SEED every year since the program's inception in 2008, joining nine to 11 other colleges at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Carthage is one of two schools in the country selected for the program all five years.

• The 2008 team studied the efficiency of lunar dust filtration systems, essential to astronaut health. (Read more.)
  
• The 2009 team measured the dynamic angle of repose of lunar soil in lunar gravity and a vacuum. (Read more.)
  
• The 2010 team studied fluid dynamics and propellant slosh. (Read more.)
• The 2011 team designed and built a zero-gravity fuel gauge, using noninvasive PZT technology to measure propellant volume. (Read more.)
• The 2012 team built on its 2011 research, working on a novel method of gauging the amount of propellant in a spacecraft's tanks. (Read more.)
  

Carthage's participation in the SEED program is made possible by funding from Carthage College and from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. Participation is open to engineering and physics students with an interest in mechanical, electrical and computer engineering.

Learn how you can get involved
Read one student's account of her first year on the team

Flying High

"It's nice to be able to see physics in the classroom, and then apply it. I'm amazed that we get this opportunity three years running. I'm very proud of Carthage. Clearly we're doing something right here."

Katelyn Hartstern, '10
2010 Microgravity Team
Chemistry major, physics minor

'Incredible'

Carthage Microgravity Team invited to witness historic final launch of the American space shuttle program. Read more.