West Virginia University’s robotics team “Team Mountaineers” topped dozens of other teams in a competition to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers.
West Virginia University’s robotics team “{Team Mountaineers” topped dozens of other teams in a competition to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers during the 2023 University Rover Challenge in Hanksville, Utah. The competition, with teams from 10 countries, was held May 31-June 3.
Stephen Jacobs, team lead and mechanical engineering graduate student, said the team of 75 undergraduate students and five graduate student mentors designed a rover capable of sample collection and analysis as well as autonomous navigation over rough terrain.
“There’s a science mission, this is a big focus of the Mars society, which is the whole reason that we send these rovers to Mars is to do as much science as we possibly can,” Jacobs said. “So we do soil collection onboard our rover, and then we do onboard spectrometry to try to analyze the soil samples for signs of life. Then the final competition for us, at least this year, was extreme delivery, which is driving across rugged terrain, and picking up larger objects and doing it over longer distances.”
According to Jacobs, after a 10th place finish last year the team was motivated to succeed this year.
“We said, ‘Next year, we can do it. There’s nothing stopping us from winning this challenge.’” he said. “So all over the last year, we’ve been working really hard, we’ve had a clear goal in mind, we’ve known what it’s taken. And then we went out and executed our plan, and everything sort of fell into place.”
Jacobs said the win represents a culmination of the work of hundreds of students since the team was founded six years ago.
“For the first three years, there was a lot of growth and development,” he said. “When you start a team with no background in robotics, you just have undergraduates who have the normal background of their classwork and maybe some other projects. There’s a ton to learn.”
The team has become a key part of Jacobs’ college experience since he joined his sophomore year.
“It’s something that has really been one of the cornerstones of my college life. It’s where I’ve met my best friends. It’s where I’ve spent all my time,” he said. “There are weeks where I’ve been in the lab 80 hours working on the robot with my friends. I’m really happy to be able to make this happen for all of the students who have graduated. They also, in the last two years, put their hearts and souls into it. And I’m just really proud for the whole team.”
Last month, NASA released the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Able to capture six times more light than its predecessor, the Hubble, it’s the largest and most powerful observatory in space. Shepherd Snyder sat down with Shepherd University professor and astronomer Jason Best to discuss what the telescope’s launch could mean for both the scientific and education communities in West Virginia.
Last month, NASA released the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. Able to capture six times more light than its predecessor, the Hubble, it’s the largest and most powerful observatory in space.
Shepherd Snyder sat down with Shepherd University professor and astronomer Jason Best to discuss what the telescope’s launch could mean for both the scientific and education communities in West Virginia.
Snyder: Getting started here, I just wanted to ask: what exactly is the Webb Telescope? Can you give me some history on what it is and why it matters in the world of astronomy?
Best: Certainly. Put simply, the James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built. In the late 1980s, NASA recognized that there would one day need to be a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which at that time was about a year away from launching. Through numerous conversations and collaborations in 1996, it was formally decided that there would be a next-generation space telescope. Starting in the early 2000’s, construction began on the various pieces of this telescope because it was going to be an incredibly sophisticated instrument. This all came together over a roughly 18 year period. The telescope was launched in December of last year, 2021.
Snyder: A few weeks ago, the Webb Telescope and NASA released some very interesting images of outer space that have been making waves, both in the scientific community and on the news. I was wondering if you could go over what these images are and why they’re so important.
Best: Certainly. The images that were released in July, were the first full color images and some of the spectroscopic data that came from the James Webb Telescope. It was a way to announce to the world that the general science operations of the telescope had begun. What’s fantastic about these images is that the five images released actually tell the story of what Webb can do.
Space Telescope Science Institut/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO
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STScI
This image of Stephan’s Quintet shows the interaction between and among a grouping of five separate galaxies.
Snyder: Going back to the technology of the Webb Telescope, how is it an upgrade from its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope?
Best: The James Webb Space Telescope is really the successor, not only to Hubble, but in some ways to the Spitzer Telescope. The Hubble telescope, which is the space telescope that most people are familiar with, has a mirror that focuses on the radiation that comes in (to it). That mirror is approximately two meters across. The Webb Telescope, on the other hand, has a mirror that is about six and a half meters across. So that tripling in size gives you a much greater collection of radiation coming in (to it). And it allows you a greater sensitivity.
Furthermore, the Webb Telescope works in a different range of light. The Hubble Telescope works mostly in what we call optical light. It’s the type of light that we see with our eyes. The Webb Telescope works in what’s known as the infrared. The advantage of the infrared type of telescope is that it can see through the dust in space that would obscure light from Hubble. So it gives us a new window into the universe, it gives us a deeper window into the universe, it gives us greater sensitivity into the universe, it allows us to truly see farther, to see deeper and to see details that were heretofore unavailable to us.
Snyder: Now, you are an astronomy professor at Shepherd University. You’re very much involved in the school’s scientific community here. Just from your personal standpoint, as an educator, how would these images help further scientific education? Both in your local community here at Shepherd and also throughout the state, and even the country?
Best: The public has shown an interest in astronomy for decades, whether it has been the Apollo missions, the Voyagers which traveled past the edge of our solar system, the rovers such as Curiosity, which just reached its 10th anniversary on the surface of Mars. The public is interested in astronomy, because they’re interested in being able to see more deeply to understand the world around them. Whether it’s K-12 education, university level, or programs in the public, these images, and the images that will come from the Webb Telescope, will give us deeper insights into other worlds. And not only other worlds, but the worlds in our solar system. They will provide us with more detail. Webb will give us insight into the lifecycle of stars in a way that we’ve been unable to as yet understand. It will give us insight into galaxies over time, and how the large scale structure of the universe is established. And it will give us insights into the early universe, our beginnings.
Space Telescope Science Institut/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO
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STScI
The study of the Carina Nebula, shown here, gives us deeper insights into how stars are born.
So I see, at all levels of education, these images helping to engage the curiosity in each of us. In terms of research, these areas of research are each going to be expanding the scales that we’re talking about, going from planetary scales on the smallest, to the universe on the largest. We have a range of astronomers, geologists and chemists. When you’re talking about other worlds, the understanding of biological processes, we have a range of research possibilities, those research findings, which will then come into the classroom and help students learn more about how their entire universe works.
Snyder: Could we see these images and the other data we’re seeing – and we could see in the future from the Webb Telescope – be used as an education tool, maybe outside of college or higher ed classrooms?
Best: Most definitely. We will see these images engaging the public. We have already seen these images engage the public through various outreach programs, both formal and informal. The public hungers to understand its world around it. We can look back to 2017, the first total solar eclipse that was visible in the continental United States in a generation and the public engaged. They traveled across the country so that they could be in that relatively narrow path where the eclipse could be seen. The public cares about its world, the public cares about seeing what’s happening around it. So not only within classrooms, scientists, educators of all sorts are extending the outreach mission that astronomy is known for. Historically, astronomy has been about research, it has been about teaching, it has been about outreach. Those avenues are simply going to be enhanced by being able to show these types of images, to be able to talk about the data coming from the James Webb Space Telescope, the analyses that are going to be conducted and that are already being conducted. We will see this as a larger part of our science, education mission.
Space Telescope Science Institute/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
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STScI
These pictures of the Southern Ring Nebula display what will happen when stars of certain sizes are about to transition into the end of their life.
The public in the United States pays for science. That’s important to remember. NASA is a government agency. It’s funded by you, by me. It’s a public trust. And astronomers have always believed that it’s important to show the public what this investment means. Because in truth, discovery has no roadmap. Not only the data coming from the James Webb Space Telescope, but the technologies that will go into things like helping people with better eye correction, to be able to help with other resources that heretofore we haven’t thought about yet. Since discovery has no roadmap, it’s important for us, as astronomers, to engage with the public to show them what their investment means and why it matters so much to them.
Snyder: Do you think this is a stepping stone for more in depth astronomy research in the future? What sort of programs or initiatives could we potentially see being explored as a result of these images?
Best: In terms of how we look at astronomy research, we always build upon what it is we’ve seen before so that we can understand more in the future. Hubble, for a generation of scientists, has provided an incredible platform in terms of our understanding the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope builds upon that platform for planetary scientists, stellar astrophysicists, extragalactic astronomers, cosmologists, astrochemists, astrogeologists, across the spectrum of our science. The discoveries that we are making and will continue to make will allow our science to continue to grow, will allow our discoveries to continue to be understood within the greater context of what it is we know. And in truth, this tool will help us be smarter tomorrow than we are today. But that’s what science is really all about. We know something today. We hope to know more tomorrow.
Snyder: Just finishing up here, did you have any closing remarks before we go ahead and end this interview?
Best: I often tell my students that the first three words that any astronomer says are, “I don’t know.” The three words after that are, “Let’s find out.” The James Webb Space Telescope is going to help us find out much more than we knew. It will make the next generation of astronomers smarter than the current generation. And that’s how it’s supposed to work. Because then that generation will help the public know more, and appreciate more. And that’s how, as a society, we continue to grow positively in our knowledge.
West Virginia native Emily Calandrelli has built a career encouraging kids, especially girls, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
She recently spoke with Eric Douglas about her passion for space and a new project based right here in the Mountain State.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: Tell me a little bit about all the stuff you do.
Courtesy: Emily Calandrelli
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West Virginia native Emily Calandrelli is the “Space Gal” on television.
Calandrelli: I’m a WVU and MIT engineer turned science communicator. I host Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab. I host and executive produce a show on Fox called Xploration Outer Space. I’ve worked with Bill Nye on his show, Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix, and I have a series of children’s books. The main ones that people might know are the Ada Lace Adventures, which features a West Virginia girl who loves science and technology.
Douglas: Why was it important for you to use a West Virginia girl in your stories?
Calandrelli: It was important for me to have a girl as the main character first. When I was a kid, I didn’t find a lot of books about adventure and science that featured little girls as the main character. And it was also important to me that she be from West Virginia because I think as West Virginians, we know that a lot of times when we are in the news or make national headlines, it is not often for positive things. And I think that we just need a bit more positive stories about West Virginians in the world.
Douglas: Have you ever received any pushback from the publishers or anybody saying, West Virginia is such a small state? Let’s go with a kid from New York or California or something like that?
Calandrelli: It was kind of the best of both worlds because she’s a West Virginia girl who moves to California. I was a West Virginia girl who moved to California and they say write about what you know. And so there’s a little bit of West Virginia and California in there.
Douglas: Tell me about what this project you’re working on now. As with most of your projects, you’re working on STEM education, encouraging people, young people, especially young women to pursue careers in, in STEM. But tell me tell me what, what this project is all about?
Calandrelli: This is a project called The Future is You with West Virginia Public Broadcasting in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Education. And it’s all about featuring women in aviation throughout the state, the education opportunities that are right here in West Virginia, and also the job opportunities in aviation that you can get right here in West Virginia after you get that education and training.
Douglas: What are some of the growth opportunities for young people, especially young women, in West Virginia in the aviation industry.
Calandrelli: We went to the Robert C. Byrd Aerospace Educational Center at Pierpont Community College and they’re training A and P mechanics. So airplane mechanics and they’re just not very many women in that field. And it’s such a good career. I mean, it’s two years of education and the average salary of an A and P mechanic is $60,000. People later in their career can make over $100,000 with a two year certification. I think that’s really, really incredible. And those jobs are in high demand right now. The percentage of women in that field is so low. A really good way to fulfill the demand in that position is just to have more women join. And so I’d love to see more women in that field.
We went to Marshall University. They had a new flight school just open up. It’s brand new, and it looks gorgeous. And they have these new, slick planes that they’re training pilots. And they have a waiting list because there’s so many students who want to become pilots that they literally have a waiting list for students who want to learn how to fly these planes. And so they’re now working on ways to buy more planes to fill the demand there. And so it’s really, really exciting that all of this is happening all around the state.
Douglas: A lot of West Virginians probably don’t even realize there’s a really large aviation industry up in the Clarksburg-Bridgeport area
Calandrelli: Yeah, the Pratt Whitney is there and Aurora Flight Sciences. There’s a lot of jobs right there.
Douglas: You could get the A and P certification, which is airframe and powerplant I believe, and stay right here in West Virginia. It’s not like you’re getting training here and then have to move away to some other place.
Calandrelli: Sometimes the problems that we see, you get the training here in West Virginia, and then you look around, and there’s no jobs in that field that you wanted to work in. But that’s not the case in aviation. I mean, just like you said, you can get the A and P certification, and then literally go across the street from where you got that certification, and work at one of these leading aerospace jobs that are located right here in the state.
Douglas: I know you recently had a daughter of your own. What are your hopes and dreams for her as far as all of this goes?
Calandrelli: I just want every opportunity to be available to her. I want her to see every career that is available and imagine herself in it. Because all too often, sometimes when we see these careers, like pilot, for example, . You picture a certain type of person in that role. And for women, that person doesn’t always look like them. And I’m hoping that that demographic will change for a lot of these careers, especially in aviation and aerospace, so that she can see herself in all sorts of careers when she gets older.
Douglas:What’s the next big thing on the horizon for you?
Calandrelli: Oh, gosh. For me personally, I’m filming season seven of Xploration Outer Space. We’re producing that season now. So picking what we’re going to film and then we’ll go film it soon enough. I am writing more books. I have a new book coming out next year called Reach for the Stars that I wrote after my daughter was born. It’s my first picture book. And then I have a book of experiments coming out called Stay Curious and Keep Exploring that’s coming out later next fall, so about a year from now, and working on a few animated shows that we’ll be pitching very soon. So a few irons in the fire, I guess.
The project on women in aviation in West Virginia called The Future is You with West Virginia Public Broadcasting in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Education is slated to be out later this fall.
Free solar eclipse viewing glasses and free moon pies are being offered to people participating in Marshall University’s viewing event on Aug. 21.
Marshall’s College of Science, Student Affairs groups and West Virginia Science Adventures are sponsoring the program set for 1:07 p.m. to 3:56 p.m. at Buskirk Field in Huntington. Peak viewing time is expected to be at 2:34 p.m.
A telescope view of the eclipse will be projected onto a big screen, and space-themed music and fun science facts will be included.
On Friday, March 17, 2017, in an event sponsored by WOWK and the Clay Center, Senator Joe Manchin joined students from across West Virginia to Skype with NASA astronauts, who are aboard the International Space Station.
Senator Manchin was thrilled to be a part of this opportunity. He mentioned that it was an out of this world career day fair and went on to encourage students to be curious and learn.
Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Dr. Peggy Winston fielded questions from students across southern West Virginia.
Questions came from a broad range of topics. WVPB recorded this first-time engagement and posted the exchange to our YouTube Channel.
To hear the questions students from your area asked, we have identified the time stamp and the school that was represented.
3:41 South Charleston High School 4:42 Poca Middle School 5:40 Hurricane High School 7:17 Cabell Midland High School 8:22 George Washington High School 9:40 Nicholas County High School 10:18 South Charleston High School 10:52 South Charleston High School and for Preston County High School 12:58 Hurricane High School 13:32 George Washington High School 14:50 Poca Middle School 15:16 for Preston County High School 17:08 South Charleston High School 18:00 Poca Middle School 18:40 George Washington High School 19:37 South Charleston High School 20:27 Parkersburg High School 21:31 South Charleston High School
West Virginia students experiment with robotics after the Skye call with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station
A West Virginia-based NASA analyst with expertise in software has contributed to the Juno spacecraft’s five-year, 1.8 billion-mile trip to Jupiter.
The solar-powered spacecraft entered Jupiter’s orbit Monday, last leg of a $1.1 billion mission to gather scientific data and photograph the giant planet.
Sam Brown, an analyst for NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, said he worked on the project while dividing his time between his West Virginia office and facilities in California and Colorado.
He told the Charleston Gazette-Mail Friday that he sought to find and fix any bugs with the spacecraft’s critical operating software.
“We find things that may be problems in the future, we point them out and they get fixed,” Brown told the paper.
