Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/54910
"With new opportunities on the horizon for the fi eld of microgravity it was the perfect fi t." Researchers that were once relegated to simulated weightless environments on Earth or in the lower atmosphere now have the hope of jumping aboard commercial space vehicles like those developed by Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin to test their experiments in true microgravity settings. These companies are developing suborbital rockets that will carry passengers and payloads through the atmosphere where they will experience about fi ve minutes of microgravity before descending back to Earth. "Five minutes may not sound long, but it gives scientists more time to observe and collect data than do other alternatives like drop towers," said Dr. Joshua Colwell, the Center's principal researcher. "It's also a fraction of the price they would pay for a ride on NASA's suborbital rocket." An associate professor in physics at UCF, Colwell sees the Center as a chance for his students and many others to use the facility to design, create, and then test their own experiments, whether from a drop tower, parabolic airplane fl ight, or someday on a suborbital rocket. "This is a very exciting opportunity to train our future engineers by giving them real hands-on experience through the whole life cycle of a space fl ight experiment," said Colwell. As well, research on Earth places limitations on solutions to the challenges presented by space exploration. "Consider a project aimed at effi ciently draining a fuel tank," said Colwell. "On Earth, the fuel tank in your car is emptied by gravity pulling that liquid to the bottom. In space, you'll face a different set of problems when a fuel tank runs low." From studying combustion engines on spacecraft to growing protein crystals for future pharmaceuticals, the opportunities abound in the fi eld of microgravity, and Colwell is hopeful that the Center for Microgravity Research and Education will grow to be a broad base for varied research in the fi eld. 20 florida.HIGH.TECH 2012 Touch-Based Training As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect." Butpractice isn't a luxury that many military medics have before treating wounded soldiers on the battlefi eld. Now, thanks to a partnership between the University of Central Florida's (UCF) Institute for Simulation and Training and CHI Systems, those soldiers may have more time to prepare with realistic training devices based upon the sense of touch. The use of immersive combat training is not a new idea; visual and auditory stimuli have been utilized in Military medic students put their knowledge to the test with realistic mannequin simulators from CHI Systems. CHI SYSTEMS INC.