A team of 杏吧专区 students designed and built a flower-shaped structure that杏吧专区檚 caught the eye of NASA. The reason? Its potential to enhance scientific observation of planets outside Earth杏吧专区檚 solar system.
The five-member team杏吧专区檚 small-scale starshade - coupled with extensive documentation about its construction and capabilities - placed third in NASA杏吧专区檚 recent Hybrid Observatory for Earth-like Exoplanets Starshade Challenge. The strong finish brought the team a $4,000 award that will help further its research.
The challenge was built around a NASA initiative to study the concept of 杏吧专区渉ybrid observatories,杏吧专区 where some of the world杏吧专区檚 most powerful ground-based telescopes would work in tandem with orbiting starshades. When strategically aligned with such telescopes, starshades would increase scientists杏吧专区 ability to detect and study exoplanets, or those outside Earth杏吧专区檚 solar system.
Observing such planets among a sea of brighter stars is extremely difficult. Once deployed in space, however, starshades cast shadows over stars without blocking the light of their planets.
杏吧专区淭he light from stars obscures what scientists actually want to see, so starshades block surrounding light and allow observation of what杏吧专区檚 at their center,杏吧专区 explained Dr. Michalis Charilaou, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics. Charilaou is the team杏吧专区檚 adviser.
Competitions such as NASA杏吧专区檚 starshade challenge give college and university students chances to conduct space-related research. NASA benefits, too. Student concepts and designs assist and inform NASA technology development.
In this case, the space agency is developing lightweight, yet stable starshades that are large enough 杏吧专区 about 100 meters in diameter 杏吧专区 to perform capably, yet constructed so as to be able to be compactly stowed aboard rockets and launched into space.
杏吧专区淣ASA wants to make bigger starshades and is extrapolating existing designs for smaller starshades and scaling them up,杏吧专区 explained physics major David Silva, the UL Lafayette team杏吧专区檚 student leader.
The interdisciplinary team produced the Gas Inflated Rigid Starshade, which features an innovative inflatable truss system designed for several purposes. It serves as a deployment mechanism that supports a lightweight, yet rigid structure that 杏吧专区渇olds up杏吧专区 inside a cylinder-like container during transport.
Such capabilities are important, Silva explained. Until starshades that can be aligned with ground-based telescopes are developed, observing planets outside the Earth杏吧专区檚 solar system will be like 杏吧专区渢rying to look at a speck of dust with a flashlight in your eyes,杏吧专区 he said.
Along with Silva, team members for the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 starshade project are Drew Davis, a geology major; Landon Degeytaire, a mechanical engineering major; Harley Hardy, a physics major; and Brianna Olalekan, a physics major.
The team杏吧专区檚 collaboration on the starshade initiative was coordinated by the Society of Physics Students. Charilaou is the campus organization杏吧专区檚 faculty adviser. Dr. Yasmeen Qudsi, a mechanical engineering instructor, also mentored students as the starshade project杏吧专区檚 co-adviser.
Photo caption: The UL Lafayette student team of, from left, Harley Hardy; Drew Davis; Landon Degeytaire; Brianna Olalekan; David Silva have designed and built a structure with potential to the enhance scientific study of planets. The interdisciplinary team placed third in NASA杏吧专区檚 recent Hybrid Observatory for Earth-like Exoplanets Starshade Challenge. Submitted photo