24 STUDENTS SELECTED TO TEST EXPERIMENTS IN MICROGRAVITY CONDITIONS

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

Dec. 21, 2011
“WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 24 undergraduate student teams to test
science experiments under microgravity conditions. The teams will fly
during 2012 as part of the agency's Reduced Gravity Education Flight
Program (RGEFP).

The teams will design and build their experiments at NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston and conduct tests aboard an aircraft modified
to mimic a reduced-gravity environment. The aircraft will fly
approximately 30 parabolas with roller-coaster-like climbs and dips
to produce periods of weightlessness and hyper-gravity ranging from 0
to 2g's.

"The program provides unique opportunities for students all over the
country to experience life as a scientist or engineer in the working
world," said Douglas Goforth, RGEFP manager at Johnson. "We hope the
experience of performing experiments in microgravity will help
inspire students to pursue careers in technical fields."

Ten of the teams will participate through the Systems Engineering
Education Discovery (SEED) flight week April 20-28. They will work
with NASA scientists and engineers as part of ongoing systems
engineering projects pertinent to future agency research and
missions.

The 2012 SEED teams are from Carthage College, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Northwest Nazarene University, Oklahoma State University,
University of Houston-Clear Lake, San Jacinto College, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washington University in St. Louis
and Yale University.

The other teams were selected through the Microgravity University
program and will conduct their research June 8-16. Those teams are
from Arizona State University, University of Southern California,
Yale University, University of Florida, Boise State University,
Purdue University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Missouri
University of Science and Technology, Santa Ana Community College,
Lamar University, University of Texas-El Paso, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University, University of Washington and West
Virginia University.

The RGEFP experience includes scientific research, experimental
design, test operations and outreach activities. The program supports
NASA's goal of strengthening the nation's future workforce.”