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A Student-Led, Virtually-Developed Suborbital Payload: Investigating the Structure of Polyurethane Foam in Microgravity
IAF Space Education and Outreach Symposium 2021 at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2021 ; E1, 2021.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-1787053
ABSTRACT
The global COVID-19 pandemic impacted student science-led initiatives globally, forcing them to either cancel, postpone, or re-imagine their efforts in order to serve and inspire students. One such initiative, Shad Canada, a month-long summer STEAM and Entrepreneurship program for Canadian high school youth, that challenges its participants to create novel solutions to grand global and human challenges. In typical years, participants congregate physically in campuses to work in teams to devise solutions to societal problems. In the era of COVID-19, Shad went virtual. The program devised a novel challenge for their 2020 cohort to design a microgravity payload for suborbital flight that leverages space and microgravity in a meaningful and creative way with impacts for science, research and humanity - all while collaborating online. Shad partnered with Luna Design and Innovation to create Canada’s first fully remote commercial space flight competition, offering one winning team 3-minutes of microgravity to test their research aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard reusable suborbital vehicle. Working with industry, academic partners, Canadian Space Agency engineers, and other mentors and experts, sixty-two teams of over 600 students took on the challenge, proving their ability to adapt, innovate, and come together under one common goal. A judging panel of Shad representatives and industry experts evaluated the final projects based on their impact, scientific merit, technical feasibility and project plan. Mous4Inc. was ultimately selected as the winner of the Shad 2020 Design Challenge, developing a project that investigates the formation and structure of polyurethane foam in microgravity. This diverse team of ten students from across the country continue to work with mentors to develop a spaceborne polyurethane foam, with potential terrestrial applications. In the end, having strong communication, teamwork, and a central goal of connecting their ideas and interests was able to help Mous4Inc. design this winning project. This presentation centers around the student team’s experience with virtual suborbital payload development, believed to be the first student-led virtually-developed suborbital payload in Canada. This work will highlight both the novel virtual distributed payload development and building process, the value of such virtual payload development programs for other secondary students, lessons learned, and Mous4Inc.’s next steps with respect to launch, post-flight testing, publication and outreach. Copyright © 2021 by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). All rights reserved.
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Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: Scopus Language: English Journal: IAF Space Education and Outreach Symposium 2021 at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2021 Year: 2021 Document Type: Article

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Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: Scopus Language: English Journal: IAF Space Education and Outreach Symposium 2021 at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2021 Year: 2021 Document Type: Article