Terps in Space is an undergrad research program where teams from across the University System of Maryland…
⚗️ design a microgravity experiment of their choice
📝 write a research proposal
🚀 compete to send their experiment to the International Space Station (ISS)
We partner with
- Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at University of Maryland (SEDS@UMD — Terplink)
We are funded by
- Maryland Space Grant Consortium
- UMD Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics
- UMD CMNS, Clark School of Engineering, Department of Physics, Fischell Dept. of Bioengineering, and Dept. of Computer Science
- International Space Station (ISS) National Lab
Click here for a longer description or see the below information.
WHO?
- Science and engineering freshmen, sophomores and juniors interested in research.
- No previous research background is required.
WHAT?
- Join student teams that compete by writing experiment proposals to test the effect of microgravity on phenomenon of their choice.
- Only one proposal is selected for flight. This is a real scientific competition.
- Winning team prepares their experiment in the lab for launch to low Earth orbit on ISS. The experiment design constraints are here.
- The experiment will spend 4-6 weeks in microgravity and return to the students for analysis.
- Teams consist of 2-4 students. You can sign up as a team, or as an individual and we will assign you to a team.
- Research mentors are assigned to each team and will give weekly advice on proposal writing and experiment design.
WHEN?
NOW: Express interest in participating, either solo or as a team. Sign up here
January 24, 2022: Tentative date of orientation and info session (student teams are briefed about the details of the experiment + proposal)
January 31, 2022: Program begins
March, 2022: Mid-program check-in
April 30, 2022: Proposals due for review and selection of finalists
June 1, 2022: Three proposals are selected as finalists to be reviewed by National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE)
June to December 2022: Three finalists teams can optimize experiments and revise their proposals
December TBD, 2022: Three finalist proposal revisions due
December TBD, 2022: One proposal is selected to fly to ISS
Winter/Spring 2023: Winning proposal has time to optimize the experiment for flight to ISS
Spring 2023 (barring launch delays): Experiment due for ferry to ISS
Launch + 4-6 weeks (Summer/Fall 2023): Experiment returns and winning student team analyzes the results
Summer/Fall 2023: Winning team may attend the SSEP conference in Washington, D.C. and present results for an undergraduate citation
What is my time commitment?
FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
Spring 2022: Write the 8-page experiment proposal between January 24 and April 30. Meet weekly with research mentor. Perform preliminary experiments (as applicable) to strengthen your proposal. [~3 months]
FOR THE THREE SEMI-FINALISTS ONLY
June to November 2022: Revise your proposal based on reviewers’ comments and perform optimization/preliminary experiment before sending it to NCESSE for selection [may reach out to the Terps in Space facilitators/directors/mentors any time between these dates].
ONLY FOR THE WINNING TEAM
Mid-December 2022: Revise your proposal based on reviewers’ comments. Depending on your experiment, you might have to optimize quantities and other aspects of your proposed experiment [~1-2 weeks].
Winter/Spring 2023: Set up your experiment in the lab and ship it for flight to ISS [~ 1 month]
Summer/Fall 2023: Receive your experiment from space and analyze and report results [~1-2 months].
Contact Terps in Space Community Directors Jason Hipkins, and Taylor Bartlow with questions
If you’d like to sign up, there’s still time to signup!
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Terps in Space is a Student Spaceflight Experiments Program at the University System of Maryland