Students from the UCCS and Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) together participated in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Region V Student Paper Conference, held April 3–4 at the University of Minnesota. This annual conference brings together students and faculty from across Region V, which includes Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and portions of Canada.
Kinzy Pearson, an Aerospace Engineering major, represented UCCS in the Undergraduate Individual category. She presented her research titled “Space Debris That Isn't Debris – Cybersecurity Analysis on Hidden Space Structures.” Her work explores the cybersecurity challenges posed by unidentified or disguised structures in orbit, which may not be considered traditional "debris" but could present significant risks.
Three students, Joseph Bate (Physics), Evan Martin (Aerospace Engineering), and Cody Leeper (Engineering, Pikes Peak State College) presented in the Undergraduate Team category. Their project, titled “Fungal Bioleaching in Microgravity: Fungal Approaches to Metal Recovery,” investigates the use of fungi to extract metals in microgravity environments.
Excitingly, this experiment is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year, where it will operate for a few weeks in microgravity. The research could have meaningful implications for sustainable resource extraction in space.
Winning second place in the Undergraduate Team category, Anna Daetz, a Aerospace Engineering major, presented her UCCS Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Senior Design team’s work titled “Sound of Crickets: Design of Experimental System for Analysis of the Effects of Rocket Launch on Acheta domesticus Cricket Eggs”.
The cricket rocket launch interdisciplinary project is part of the NASA RockSat-C program, which launches student experiments on sounding rockets from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to the Kármán line (100 km above Earth). The project’s main goal is to design an Environmental Control Chamber (ECC) to preserve Acheta domesticus (house cricket) eggs during the extreme conditions of rocket launch and suborbital flight. The purpose is to investigate the viability of using crickets as a sustainable protein food source for long duration space missions.
The primary cricket experiment is being developed by the UCCS MAE Senior Design program team. The control experiment will be assembled by high school students at Widefield High School in collaboration with Widefield School District 3 (WSD3). This partnership provides funding and exposes younger students to real-world STEM research.
This research is groundbreaking, as there is currently no experimental data regarding how rocket launches affect cricket egg development. If crickets are to be used in future space missions, understanding their post-launch viability is essential. This mission will fly in June 2025.
For more information on any of these projects, contact UCCS AIAA Student Branch Advisor and Mechanical and Aerospace Department Associate Professor, Lynnane George at [email protected].