Posts tagged CU
CU engineering students are now NASA rocket scientists
Jun 23rd
The program allowed more than 120 students and educators from around the country to delve into the world of rocket science June 15-21 during Rocket Week at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. All participants — including 10 CU-Boulder students — were present for a sounding rocket launch carrying various experiments developed by students that successfully lifted off June 20 at 5:30 a.m. EDT.
Activities during the week included a “RockOn!” workshop for 50 university and community college-level participants led by Chris Koehler, director of the Colorado Space Grant Consortium, or COSGC. RockOn! introduces participants to building small experiments that can be launched on suborbital sounding rockets and supports a national program known as STEM that uses classes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to improve the nation’s competitiveness in technology.
“Working with NASA, we have developed a step approach to expand the skills needed for students to enter careers in STEM,” said Koehler of CU-Boulder’s aerospace engineering sciences department. “RockOn! is the first step, followed by RockSat-C and then RockSat-X. Each step is technically more challenging than the previous one, allowing the students to expand the skills needed to support the aerospace industry.”
The RockOn! participants built standardized experiments that were launched Thursday on a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket. The 35-foot-tall rocket flew to an altitude of about 75 miles. After launch and payload recovery, the participants began conducting preliminary data analysis and discussing their results.
Nine custom-built Rocksat-C experiments, developed at universities that previously participated in a RockOn! workshop, also flew inside a payload canister on the rocket, said Koehler. About 50 students who designed and built the experiments attended Rocket Week.
Also attending were university participants in RockSat-X, said Koehler. They are previous Rocksat-C participants who flew six custom-built experiments aboard a sounding rocket from Wallops in August.
COSGC is a statewide organization involving 17 colleges, universities and institutions around Colorado and is funded by NASA to give students access to space through innovative courses, real-world, hands-on telescope and satellite programs, and interactive outreach programs, said Koehler.
COSGS is one of 52 space grant consortia in the nation — including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia — and is one of the most active, having flown scores of payloads on high-altitude balloons, sounding rockets and even space shuttles, giving thousands of undergraduates and graduate students a taste of space research since the program began in Boulder in 1989, said Koehler.
The week’s activities also included activities by the Wallops Rocket Academy for Teachers and Students, or WRATS, for a high school audience. The rocket programs at Wallops continue NASA’s investment in the nation’s education programs by supporting the goal of attracting and retaining students in STEM disciplines critical to the future of space exploration.
The RockOn! and WRATS workshops are supported by NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program. RockOn! also is supported by NASA’s Office of Education and NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in partnership with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia.
For more information on COSPG visit http://spacegrant.colorado.edu and for information about NASA’s education programs visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.
-CU-
CU trackster headed to world championship
Jun 23rd
DES MOINES, Iowa – University of Colorado senior Shalaya Kipp recorded a third-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase finals at the USA Track & Field Championships to earn a spot on the U.S. roster of the IAAF World Championships in Moscow this August.
Kipp, who was third at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, finished the race with a season-best time of 9:46.83, coming in just under the IAAF World Championships ‘B’ Standard of 9:48.00 on Saturday. She will have until July 20 to record the ‘A’ standard (9:43.00) which is required to participate at the world championships.
The race was run under extremely hot and humid conditions with temperatures on the track over 100 degrees during the day. Kipp started the race fairly conservatively as she was in the back of the field, running about 10th for the first couple of laps, but slowly started to work her way up in the pack.
With two laps remaining, Kipp was in eighth-place and picked off three runners to move into fifth at the start of the bell lap. Kipp continued her strong surge and was in fourth-place with just over 200 meters left. As Kipp approached the final water jump, she was just about neck and neck with the then-third place runner Jamie Cheever. She propelled off of the barrier to gain the advantage and would never look back as Kipp continued to put distance between her and Cheever, who finished in 9:53.01.
Also on Saturday afternoon, former Buff Jeremy Dodson advanced to the semifinal round of the 200, clocking a 14th place overall finish in 20.40. Dodson finished third in his heat, so he advanced to the semis on time as the top two from each of the five heats automatically moved on.
The last day of the USATF Championships is Sunday. Billy Nelson and Aric Van Halen will be running in the steeplechase finals and Dodson will compete in the 200 semis. Jenny Simpson, who is the reigning IAAF 1,500-meter World Champion, has a bye in the 1,500 and will compete in the women’s 5,000. Laura Thweatt and Dathan Ritzenhein are also set to compete in the 5,000.
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CU tracksters Nelson & Van Halen Advance At USAs
Jun 22nd
DES MOINES, Iowa – Billy Nelson and Aric Van Halen each advanced to the 3,000-meter steeplechase finals at the USA Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon.
Nelson finished second overall, crossing the finish in 8:37.87, and Van Halen placed 11th overall (8:46.63). The duo ran in separate heats and both were able to finish in the top five for an automatic bid to the finals.
Nelson, an assistant coach for the Buffs, ran a very good race. Halfway through it, he was in third, but the top seven were very close. With two laps remaining, Nelson moved up to second place and was about eight meters behind the leader at the moment (Cory Leslie). As the field came into the bell lap, Nelson had dropped back to third, but he was still positioned very well and moved back up to second. Craig Forys won the heat in 8:37.79.
Van Halen, who graduated in May, also had a good race but took a different approach. He started in the back of the field and slowly worked his way up. After two complete laps, Van Halen was up to seventh and three laps later he had moved into fifth, but the pack was still very close. With one lap left, the top six had pulled away from the rest of the field and Van Halen was still in great position as he earned the fifth and final automatic spot in the heat. He was just .47 seconds from a second-place finish as Daniel Huling finished in 8:46.16. Donald Cowart crossed third in 8:46.18 and De’Sean Turner was fourth in 8:46.62. Evan Jager won the heat in 8:45.85.
The men’s steeplechase finals will be at 2:55 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Assistant coach Casey Malone was close to making the U.S. team, but came up just short as he placed fourth in the discus. Malone recorded a toss of 199 feet, 11 inches on his third throw of the afternoon, which won the first flight. Heading into finals, Malone was third overall before James Plummer moved ahead of him with a throw of 200-3. Lance Brooks won with a mark of 204-4.
Action continues at the USATF Championships on Saturday for CU. Former Buff Jeremy Dodson will run in the first round of the 200-meter dash at 1:40 p.m. CU senior Shalaya Kipp will race in the finals of the steeplechase at 3:20 p.m. and it will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.
USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Drake Stadium (Des Moines, Iowa)
Track Events (Current and former CU Athletes)
Men’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase (first round): (1. Craig Forys, NY Athletic Club, 8:37.79) 2. Billy Nelson, 8:37.87; 11. Aric Van Halen, 8:46.63
Men’s Discus Throw (finals): (1. Lance Brooks, Nike, 204-4) 4. Casey Malone, 199-11
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