Student assistants and senior physics majors Joshua Joyce of Stroudsburg, (left) and Joshua Maichin of Delaware Water Gap, who assisted Professor Elwood in launch of his balloon

EAST STROUDSBURG - Two East Stroudsburg University professors, along with their students in the computer science and physics departments, are spearheading projects that NASA believes may be essential to future space exploration.  These projects have been made possible through ESU’s partnership with the Marine Science Consortium, a nonprofit research center located in Wallops Island, Virginia, and the MSC’s recent collaboration with NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, an affiliation proposed by ESU President Robert Dillman in February of 2009. 

President Dillman currently serves on the MSC’s Board of Directors, and was one of the three founding members of the nonprofit educational corporation more than 40 years ago.  These faculty/student research programs are designed to serve the missions of both NASA and the MSC, and expand the opportunities available to ESU and the Consortium’s other member schools.

By working with computer programs and robotics, Computer Science Professor Haklin Kimm hopes to apply the skills he teaches ESU students to making satellites more efficient and resistant to failure, while Associate Professor of Physics John Elwood’s project aims to gain a clearer understanding of cosmic rays, the energetic particles that can affect astronauts and devices at high altitudes.

Professor Kimm presented part of his project to develop programs for use in NASA satellites on Nov. 13 in the university’s Hoeffner Science and Technology Center’s Niedbala Auditorium.  This presentation featured three robots carrying out a complex program designed by Professor Kimm and his students.   The long-term goal for this project is to develop a program that would link CUBE satellites—small, single-task satellites—together for NASA’s use, increasing the stability of these systems and establishing a standard for future design. 

In the physics department, Associate Professor John Elwood has begun processing information on cosmic rays gathered during a NASA high-altitude balloon launch in September.  

With these projects occurring on-campus, ESU students and faculty are on the cutting-edge of the next generation of space research, participating in the projects that will shape the way aerospace technology can work in future spacecraft, from space suits to satellites.  Through ESU’s ties to NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility, students have access to the technologies and experiments that will lead the space exploration of the next century.