Payload for space launch tested at NASA facility
VIDEO NEWS RELEASE
University of HawaiʻiLink to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/3ygXFrW
WHO: Two UH Community College students, part of the Project Imua Mission 10 team comprising students and faculty from Windward CC and Honolulu CC.
WHAT: Tested and prepared their scientific payload for an August space launch on a NASA sounding rocket.
WHERE: NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
WHEN: June 15–25, 2022
HOW: Project Imua Mission 10 students have been collaborating on this project for months.
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Windward CC students designed and built a small, light-weight rocket that will convert camphor to gas to propel its release into space at the peak of the NASA rocket’s flight.
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The Honolulu CC team designed a camera system and inertial measurement devices to monitor the motion of the small experimental rocket.
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The entire payload is less than 1 foot long, weighs less than 15 pounds and is almost entirely encased in aluminum.
WHY: Project-based research offers UH Community College students unique opportunities to explore and prepare for high-tech, STEM careers while working alongside NASA engineers.
OTHER FACTS:
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In August, mentor Shidong Kan, a Honolulu CC associate professor of physics, will escort four UH Community College students to the NASA facility for final integration of the payload onto the rocket.
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Launch is tentatively scheduled for August 9, 2022.
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Mission 10 is the fourth time a UH Project Imua payload will be launched into outer space.
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The first Project Imua payload was launched from Wallops in 2015.
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Project Imua (to move forward in Hawaiian) is a joining faculty student enterprise of multiple UH Community College campuses in affiliation with Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium.
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Project Imua’s primary mission is to experiment with high-power rocketry and to design and fabricate small payloads (up to approximately 15 lbs.) for space flight.
VIDEO: (TRT 1:53)
BROLL:
:00-:10 2015 first Project Imua launch in 2015
:10-:17 360-degree video of Project Imua payload
:18-:25 A building at NASA Wallops Flight Facility
:26-1:23 Stills of Project Imua students at NASA Wallops Flight Facility
SOUND:
Nikki Arakawa, Windward CC student, Project Imua [:17]
“The place where we are doing all of our testing, has not only the giant NASA 'meatball' but a three-stage rocket on the front. It’s humongous and covers the whole length of one of the workshop doors. It’s very impressive, honestly.”
D’Elle Martin, Honolulu CC student, Project Imua [:07]
“The whole experience has been pretty awesome so far, and we got to meet a lot of amazing people.”