News

Friday, Sept. 15 | 3-4 p.m. | Planetarium – BR 167
Presenter: Boston Heaford

After two decades in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is nearing the end of its remarkable journey of exploration. Having expended almost every bit of the rocket propellant it carried to Saturn, operators are deliberately plunging Cassini into the planet to ensure Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration—in particular, the ice-covered, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus, but also Titan, with its intriguing pre-biotic chemistry.  Read the rest of this entry →

Friday, Sept. 30 | 3-3:50 p.m. | Hagen 325

Join us as Tyler Lane, class of 2014, summarizes his internships at NASA and explains the application process. He will focus on what he did, and what you can do, to prepare to be a strong candidate for those internships. Extra time will be set aside for questions and answers at the end.

Craig Kutz is enrolled in the MD/PhD program at the Medical University of South Carolina

MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S NEWS CENTER | MAY 26, 2015

Ever since he was a kid growing up in a farming family on the outskirts of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Craig Kutz dreamed of being an astronaut. “I’m kind of obsessed with NASA,” he said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is America’s space agency. Read the rest of this entry →

Faculty from the Department of Physics and Astronomy assisted, as lead mentors for the MHS FIRST Robotics team, in applying for a sponsorship grant for the team from NASA. The team was notified yesterday that it was awarded a grant for this academic year. The grant, which is very competitive, provides sponsorship for one year of competition while the team works on securing a permanent sponsor.

More information about the team can be found at http://4360spudnik.blogspot.com.

physics.mnstate.edu

MSUM grads and Planetarium Assistant named Solar System Ambassadors in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

By: Anna G. Larson, INFORUM

FARGO – “To infinity and beyond” is more than Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase from “Toy Story” – it’s what keeps five North Dakota women interested in astronomy.

“Space is inherently cool. We’re just such a small part – it’s fun learning about things outside of our daily lives, thinking about what other life there might be,” Katrina Jackson, of Grand Forks, says.

Jackson, along with Kristin Brevik, Scarlet Gray Bernard, Carrie Leopold and Annie Wargetz, is a Solar System Ambassador this year in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory public outreach program. Read the rest of this entry →

By: Ryan Johnson, INFORUM

MOORHEAD – While it was built with valid scientific goals in mind, the premise of the six-wheeled, 2,000-pound Curiosity rover and the engineering feat that landed it on Mars early Monday could strike some as more science fiction than reality.

“We have landed a nuclear-powered truck on another world,” said Juan Cabanela, astronomy professor at Minnesota State University Moorhead. “We definitely live in the future.”

Scientists, space enthusiasts and Americans at large watched eagerly as the rover neared its final destination in the Gale Crater shortly after midnight local time Monday. Read the rest of this entry →

“NASA Internships and the Skills Needed to Succeed” is the topic of a physics seminar by MSUM student Tyler Lane on Friday, January 28 from  2:30-3:20 p.m. in Hagen 325.

What’s the next step after graduating from college – get a job! There are opportunities for getting networked and gain some work-related experiences at major companies like Shell and NASA, you just have to look and apply.  NASA is not just for space and flight. There are research and testing facilities for just about anything in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Biotechnology, geology, biology, chemistry, mechanics, aerospace engineering, are just a few.   Read the rest of this entry →