The Seahawk

Issue date: 2/24/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of Project Helios Mark Smith, Erik Minges, Andrew Whitley, and Anthony Tatum (l to r). The Project Helios team plans to launch a balloon into space.

A small group of students at UNCW is making big plans: they want to go to outer space. Seniors Andrew Whitley and Mark Smith are the project directors for "Project Helios," part of a nationwide competition called the SEDS Innovation Challenge.

Project Helios is a combined project between the Society of Physics (SPS) and the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). They plan on sending unmanned balloons and "rockoons" (rockets being launched from weather balloons) into near or suborbital space.

UNCW will be competing against five other universities including MIT, the University of Alabama Huntsville and the University of Arizona - all nationally recognized for their advancements in space technology and engineering. Whichever school sends their "rockoon" the highest will win the competition and a grant towards further research.

"We hope to send our rocket about 30 miles up," said Whitley. "The balloon will carry the rocket about 20 miles, until the helium expands and the balloon pops. Then we'll activate the rocket from the ground and hopefully send it to space."

The rocket will house a camera which will take pictures of the voyage. These photos will contribute to the research we do here at UNCW.

"The preparation for this competition includes several months of research into aerodynamic, thermodynamic, mechanical and electronic design," explains senior Erik Minges, a developmental lead for Project Helios. Because the project incorporates so many types of research and design, students from over half a dozen majors are participating, including physics, chemistry, computer science, math and film studies.

"We hope it will attract positive media attention, both local and national, toward UNCW as a whole," said Minges. "It will also reflect positively on the ingenuity of UNCW students, attracting many prospective students to study at UNCW, especially in the areas of science."

"We want this project to be the beginning of a continuing space program at UNCW," said Whitley. He's hoping that this project will help expand the physics department and provide more resources for space research here at UNCW.

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