University of Akron chemical engineering sophomore Tanya Miracle of Green recently embarked on a coveted educational opportunity with NASA. Miracle was chosen to conduct research experiments on NASA’S Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program’s (RGSFOP) “Weightless Wonder” aircraft at its Johnson Space Center in Houston. Here, more than 60 students nationwide boarded the microgravity aircraft to experience 18 to 25 seconds of near-weightlessness at a time while they gathered data in this extreme environment.
Tanya Miracle
The “Weightless Wonder” produces the reduced gravity effect by executing a series of 30 steep climb and free fall parabolas while over the Gulf of Mexico.
“We are excited that our program provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for aspiring scientists and engineers to study and understand their craft. The students gain useful skills by participating in the program through collaborative planning and teamwork,” says Doug Goforth, RGSFOP program manager.
Students appreciate unique experience
Miracle and her two teammates, one of Seattle Pacific University and the other of Cooper Union, arrived at NASA Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field to conduct, in the near-weightless environment, experiments involving the use of zinc nanowires in electronic components.
“Synthesis of the zinc oxide nanowires in zero gravity were of interest,” Miracle says. “The results [so] far indicate that the zero gravity had a negative impact on the growth of the wires, while hypergravity (the 2-g periods of the flight) showed more impact. The nanowires grown in hypergravity were both longer and straighter with less defects.”
Electronic components represent the main application for zinc oxide, according to Miracle, who says that zinc oxide has been found to hold 10 times the charge of lithium.
“If processes can be perfected, replacement of lithium in batteries would allow for longer life. This would have a positive impact on the electric car industry as well as in computer and cell phone batteries,” Miracle says.
About the College of Engineering
The UA College of Engineering is the fourth fastest growing college of engineering in the country (among the 150 largest; source: American Society for Engineering Education) and the fastest growing in the state. The college’s current 2,142 undergraduate enrollment represents a 54.9 percent increase in students between fall 2004 and fall 2009.
Media contact: Jenna L. Daugherty, jld81@zips.uakron.edu, or Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.