Yellowstone
MSU winners head to Kennedy Space Center for shuttle launch
Published
13 years agoon
By Evelyn Boswell
Three Montana State University graduates who were part of a team that won a national NASA-sponsored robotics contest last year will return to the Kennedy Space Center this week to watch the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.
While a new team prepares for this year’s NASA competition, former undergraduates Jennifer Hane, Chris Ching and Ben Hogenson, along with faculty advisers Brock LaMeres, Hunter Lloyd and Ahsan Mian, will view the April 29 launch from the NASA Causeway, LaMeres said.
Expected to watch from other VIP areas are President Obama and his family, as well as Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who is recovering from a gunshot wound. Her husband, Mark E. Kelly, is commanding the shuttle.
The launch is currently set for 3:47 p.m. Eastern time Friday. If the launch is delayed, the MSU group will reschedule their flights home, LaMeres said. He said the launch could be postponed 24 hours at a time, up to three times, before it is rescheduled completely.
Tickets to the launch were part of MSU’s prize for winning NASA’s first Lunar Regolith Excavator Student Competition last May. The Montana Space Grant Consortium is assisting the former students with transportation costs, LaMeres said.
Hane, Hogensen and Ching — all graduates from MSU’s College of Engineering — were part of an eight-person team that built a robot, called Montana MULE. The robot dug almost 48 pounds of regolith, or simulated moon dirt, in 15 minutes to defeat robots from 21 other colleges and universities, including much larger universities such as Virginia Tech, Iowa State University and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The competition took place in a “lunarena” just outside of the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
This year’s team from MSU includes Charlie Ferguson and Chad Willett of Billings, Joe Stack and Kris Bengtson of Bozeman, Donovan Ferrin of Fairfield, Terrell Thomason of Miles City, Steve Iobst of Yellowstone National Park, and Justin Krohn of Kent, Wash. All but Stack plan to go to Florida for the competition. Stack, who flies a Black Hawk helicopter with the Army National Guard, said he will spend time with his family before heading to Iraq in late May.
The team built a new robot, called Montana MULE 2, that will compete May 26 and 27 in NASA’s second Lunar Regolith Excavator Student Competition at the Kennedy Space Center. Incorporating the best features of last year’s robot, it is designed for strength and speed, LaMeres said. The goal is to have the robot travel twice across the “lunarena” instead of once and pick up 50 kilograms of simulated moon dirt per trip. That would total more than 200 pounds and would be more than four times as much as MSU’s robot carried to win last year.
Anything can happen during competition, however, LaMeres said. Calling it a nerve-racking experience, LaMeres said even one loose wire can keep a robot from moving, effectively putting it out of the competition. Besides that, the number of competitors has ballooned to more than 50 U.S. and international teams.
photo: John Ritter, in this 2010 photo, observed MSU’s robot before accompanying it to the Kennedy Space Center for a NASA-sponsored contest. Since MSU won the competition, the team received tickets to return this year and watch the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. (MSU photo by Jackson Harrison).
Evelyn Boswell is with the MSU News Service.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
You may like
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
Time
(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716