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Session 1602

Acoustic Shaping in Microgravity: 3 years of flight tests S. Wanis, N.M.Komerath, E. Armanios Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

Abstract

This paper summarizes 3 years of participation in the NASA Reduced-Gravity Flight Opportunities program. The Acoustic Shaping project was started by a team of AE sophomores in 1996. Results from the project have demonstrated the feasibility of forming complex and useful shapes in microgravity from pulverized material using sound waves, and correlated the shapes to mathematical predictions. In this paper, the genesis and evolution of the program are discussed, focusing on the process of conducting the program, issues of academic credit and technology transfer, and the impact of the program on the culture of extra-curricular participation in the School.

I. Introduction

This paper reports on a project where the synergy between research, cross-level teams in courses, and undergraduate participation in projects, has paid major dividends. The discussion is narrative, but we hope to show the educational concepts that were used in the project, and the lessons learned therefrom. In late 1996, a team of 4 Georgia Tech sophomores discovered the new NASA Reduced -Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program1, and wanted a scientific idea to get themselves on NASA's KC-135 Microgravity Flight Laboratory2. The experiment had to be simple, safe and cheap. The idea had to be clear enough to explain to journalists and sophomores. It had to work, first-time, in a flying Science Fair full of airsick undergraduates.

Three years later, we are in the unique position of having the flight test proof of a technical concept, ahead of the tools needed to make accurate predictions. Through this program, we have demonstrated the feasibility of forming complex and useful shapes in microgravity from pulverized material using sound waves, and correlated the shapes to mathematical predictions. The technical results have been summarized in 3 Technical Papers 3-5 at the annual Aerospace Sciences Meetings of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and have led to a much more ambitious project to develop the technology into a future space-based business 6, as the nucleus of a space-based construction industry. In this paper, the genesis and evolution of the program are discussed. The emphasis is on the process of conducting the program. Issues of academic credit and technology transfer, and the impact of the program on the culture of extra- curricular participation in the School, are discussed.

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Wanis, S., & Armanios, E. (2000, June), Acoustic Shaping In Microgravity: 3 Years Of Flight Tests Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8154