News & Events

Aug. 2009
As of August 1, 2009 FSI has consolidated all of its space center operations at the AMF Center for Space Education at the KSC Visitors Center. This consolidation will provide for more efficiency in faculty and staff interfaces, and will allow for more interaction between research and academic programs.

July 2008
Dr. Eastes and the GOLD Program: UCF physicist strikes GOLD

Sept. 2007
FSI Professors Larry Andrews and Ron Phillips have been asked to server as Science Advisors to the Strategic Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency DARPA to assist in the development of a new mobile communication system. The system will be a combination of RF and laser links. This will permit high speed communications in any military theater of operations. The project is envisioned to be of the order of $100 million over a period of three years. DARPA has asked that all of the contractors use the theory developed by Andrews and Phillips, published in their three books, in the design of their proposed system. The program is described below.

Optical RF Communications Adjunct (ORCA) Effort BAA07-55
Description: This BAA announces an opportunity for research in optical and Radio Frequency (RF) communications to provide a high data rate gateway network capability to warfighters. This includes airborne nodes; on-the-move (OTM) and on-the-halt (OTH) ground vehicles; and Global Information Grid (GIG) Points of Presence. In this capability, the ground vehicles will act as stub networks. To ensure technical maturity of what is being developed, there will be a series of demonstrations and experiments throughout this effort.

Aug. 24, 2006
UCF Professors to Work on Weather Instrument Design for 2012 NASA Launch    GO TO THE GOLD WEBSITE: http://fsi.ucf.edu/GOLD/.
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala

Two University of Central Florida professors have been awarded a NASA grant to design a special instrument that will allow officials to better predict space weather.

Assistant Professor Richard Eastes of UCF’s Florida Space Institute and Professor James Harvey of the College of Optics and Photonics are designing an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer that would give scientists a better view of how space weather affects the earth. The instrument also promises to open up more avenues for fellow researchers to send experiments into space more quickly.

The $988,553 grant will allow the team of researchers to design the instrument for a program called Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disc, or GOLD.

If the researchers are successful, they will receive a $45 million grant to build and launch their design as part of the 2012 Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission. The UCF scientists are teaming up with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration among others for this effort.

“We’ve got a great team assembled here,” Eastes said from his offices at the Florida Space Institute at the Kennedy Space Center.

Improving satellite technology has become more important as people rely more on satellites for everything from cell phone service to the coordination of troop movements. When the sun gives out energy, it affects the space environment around the Earth. The changes can affect satellites making them drift from their orbits, black out long-distance communications and disrupts global navigational systems.

The UCF proposal is unique in that it would be the first time NASA would fly an experiment on a commercial satellite in geostationary orbit.

NASA normally builds an entire satellite to send up with experiments. That means there have to be enough experiments with similar requirements to fill the satellite. And the satellites tend to be expensive because they have to operate in a harsher environment than those in low Earth orbit. If the use of commercial satellites is successful, it would create another avenue for ideas to be tested more quickly and at less expense, Eastes said.

“NASA seemed as excited about the partnership and the possibility of flying on a commercial satellite as the science behind it,” he said. “If it all works out, it would have great impact for other groups that want to do scientific research but can’t get on government satellites.”

The team has one year to come complete its study. If the design is approved, the manufacturing and assembly would be conducted in 2009. The launch would be in 2012.

Aug. 2, 2006
FSI's own Dr. John Brandenburg is hosting and teaching the Harlem Children Society Students this summer. Please check the following link for the full story. http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004105bd60439010c0c76ce2f00764d&mode=news

May 18, 2006
The Super-Loki Dart sounding rocket program roared back to life today, May 17, 2006 at 1000 hours, from LC-47 at CCAFS. The launch, sponsored by the Brevard Community College (BCC) SpaceTec program, under a grant from the Department of Labor, with additional support from the Florida Space Institute (FSI), Florida Space Authority (FSA), and the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC), was the first successful launch since a flight anomaly stopped the program over a year ago. As a result of that anomaly extensive testing and analysis was performed, the results of which would confirm to flight safety that the vehicle was safe to fly. The analyses were completed, the results were positive, and the Super-Loki was cleared to launch. Two attempts produced no results, one stopped by a faulty electrical switch, another by the Florida weather. Third time was a charm, and the vehicle launched and appeared to perform flawlessly. Good radar tracks were obtained, and visual observations indicated no problems.

This program operates under an agreement between the US Air Force 45th Space Wing and the Florida Space Authority, providing the only rocket launch facility for educational use on Federal property in the US. The Florida Space Institute operates the site under an agreement with FSA, providing launch operations, payload support, and business development to help attract programs. Partnering with FSI is the Brevard Community College, providing facilities support and assistance with launch support, again under an agreement with FSA.

News From:

Jaydeep Mukherjee, Ph.D
Interim Director, Florida Space Institute

I am pleased to announce that FSI professor Dr. Richard Eastes has been awarded a NASA grant under the Geospace Science Program. The title of his proposal is "Neutral Densities and Temperatures in the Lower Thermosphere". The award is for 3 years and the total funding is $264,620. His proposal was rated as excellent by the review committee and only 29 proposals were funded form a total of 136 reviewed proposals.