Blue Origin Launches Carthage College Experiment Into Space

VAN HORN, Texas – A promising technology developed at Carthage College in partnership with NASA successfully launched into space today aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Carthage’s Modal Propellant Gauging (MPG) technology is on track to be included in NASA’s Artemis program, which promises to put the first woman and the next man on the moon within the next 10 years.

In development at Carthage since 2011, MPG uses acoustic vibrations to gauge the amount of fuel left in a spacecraft tank.

“We are developing a new and powerful approach to solve a problem that has been around since the Apollo era,” says Carthage College physics professor Kevin Crosby. “It’s a hard problem because liquids in space behave in strange ways that we’re just beginning to understand.”

“The Artemis program calls for propellants that have never been used in deep space missions,” Dr. Crosby continues. “Getting accurate measurements will be critical to both a mission’s safety and success. Even a 1 percent improvement in our ability to measure propellant translates into hundreds of pounds of additional materials we can bring to the moon, and right now, MPG is one of only a few viable approaches to deep space fuel gauging.”

In addition to Carthage, Blue Origin’s mission today carried research payloads from NASA, University of Florida, and a handful of other universities and private companies. Dr. Crosby and three student researchers — Taylor Peterson ‘21, from Sturtevant, WI; Cassi Bossong ‘21, from Trevor, WI; and Bennett Bartel ‘22, from New London, WI — were in Texas for the launch.

“We are proud to be both small and mighty, and I’m thrilled Carthage is in space once again,” says Carthage College President John Swallow. “Carthage’s long history with NASA is the result of our commitment to something much easier said than done: bringing cutting-edge research questions to undergraduates, and facilitating their design and execution of innovative solutions.”

Carthage’s long partnership with NASA began in 2008, when Carthage was one of ten colleges and universities selected for NASA’s Systems Engineering and Educational Discovery program. Carthage went on to become one of just two colleges in the country to participate in the SEED Program for all six years of the program’s existence. While many student teams designed one-off experiments, each of Carthage’s experiments has been adopted by NASA researchers for continued development.

In August 2014, Carthage was named the lead institution for NASA’s Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. WSGC is part of a national network of 52 university-based Space Grant consortia funded by NASA’s National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program.

“Dr. Kevin Crosby and his students’ contributions have greatly benefited NASA and our plans to return humans to deep space,” says Rudy Werlink, the NASA research engineer who first developed the idea behind the MPG project. “This has been a collaboration for over nine years, and I am looking forward to additional space flight demonstrations of the technology in the years to come.”

Says Dr. Crosby: “This is a great learning experience for our students and a chance for them to contribute directly to the success of the American space program.”

ABOUT CARTHAGE

Located on the shore of Lake Michigan in the thriving Chicago-Milwaukee corridor, Carthage College enrolls 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. Named a Best Midwestern College by the Princeton Review and a Most Innovative School by U.S. News & World Report, Carthage has been a top producer in the nation of Fulbright U.S. Students for four years running. Carthage is ranked No. 3 in the country among baccalaureate institutions for student participation in short-term study abroad. New this year, the College has launched The Aspire Program™, a comprehensive four-year career development program for all students. The Aspire Program builds on Carthage’s strong history of providing students with the skills they need to succeed after college.

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NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.