BU STUDENT-BUILT ROCKET, SPECTRE, LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY

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BU STUDENT-BUILT ROCKET, SPECTRE, LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY
16 June 2000 - Boston University

Four years ago, five undergraduate students at Boston University were faced with a choice: take a final exam in an introductory astronomy class or develop a NASA grant proposal for a rocket experiment. On Tuesday, June 13, a large team of undergraduates, graduate students and faculty watched that proposal take flight.

NASA selected SPECTRE, or the Student-run Program for Exoatmospheric Collecting Technologies and Rocket Experiment, as part of its Student Launch Program initiative. NASA provided the project funding and also a Nike-Orion sounding rocket for use in the experiment.

Team SPECTRE with the recovered rocket, clockwise from top left: Jerry Ballas, Valerie Taylor, NASA project manager Frank Lau, Valerie Maher, Mike Ruane, Supriya Chakrabarti, Jay Hancock, David Nghiem, and Tibor Trunk

Selected as one of three out of 30 applicants for the program, SPECTRE included over 66 B.U. students and faculty have contributed to the science, theory, design, instrument development and testing of SPECTRE.

"SPECTRE has provided an outstanding opportunity for students to participate in a real-life space project," says Professor Supriya Chakrabarti, SPECTRE Principal Investigator and director of the Center for Space Physics. "By utilizing an innovative combination of undergraduate engineering teams, faculty consultation, and industrial partners, B.U. has developed a high caliber experimental program that is committed to providing practical hands-on science and engineering experience to students."

The SPECTRE experiment is designed to measure X-ray, ultraviolet and visible radiation and observe how different types of radiation are absorbed by various atmospheric constituents. Because the experiment package is mounted on a rocket and traveled over 100 kilometers above the earth’s surface, the data obtained from SPECTRE will demonstrate how the absorption properties of the atmosphere change with altitude.

Due to the rapid depletion of the ozone layer and the rise of skin cancer and global warming, studies that examine radiation levels and the ozone layer have become increasingly important to scientists and the general public.

"I had always dreamed of working in space, but I never thought that I would get the opportunity to learn practical engineering, astronomy and rocket science skills while I was an undergraduate," says David Nghiem, one of the five original project member and project director of the SPECTRE integration team. "For the last three years I have been working on SPECTRE and I can’t wait to see it launch."

Amptek Inc., Bedford, MA is the local industrial partner that supported the development of SPECTRE. A major portion of the experiment was developed as Senior Design Projects by students in the Department of Electrical Computer Engineering of the College of Engineering at Boston University. Professors Michael Ruane and Mark Horenstein directed these developments. Students from Wellesley College under the guidance of Professor Glenn Stark developed the observation and data analysis plans.

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About: Boston University
Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.

Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities.

We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG).

We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines.

Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government.

To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances.

This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation.

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