U-Design Flight School on Wednesday

For projects today the students made final revisions to our Cadet planes and we attempted to fly them.  After several crash landings, we came back to the lab, made repairs and went out for a second round of flying after lunch.

In the early morning, Sean Anderson showed the students the work he is doing with Atomic Force Microscopy.

In the morning, Professor Sheryl Grace introduced us to how a jet engine works.  As a prop, she used an old full size jet engine which has had a section cut away so the students can see the inside of the engine.

In the afternoon, David Campbell demonstrated the wind tunnel and how pressure sensors in the air foil can be read.  He also showed us how the pressure drops during a stall.
David Campbell demonstrate a Wind TunnelDavid Campbell demonstrate a Wind Tunnel

After lunch, Professor Glynn Holt talked to the students about with years with NASA and his research into the science of bubbles and drops.  Dr. Holt served as Co-Investigator on STS-50, directing efforts of the Yale research team on design and implementation of ground-and space-based experiments for the inaugural flight of the Drop Physics Module (DPM) on the first United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) on STS-50. The experiments investigated the dynamic effects of small concentrations of surfactants dissolved in water drops positioned in the DPM using acoustic fields. Dr. Holt served as an Alternate Payload Specialist (APS) on STS-73, the second United Microgravity Laboratory mission (USML-2), which flew October 20 – November 7 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia.

Many thanks again to all of our great speakers today!