This day-long event brings together students, academics, NASA representatives, industry professionals, and many others working in space and NASA-related fields. This year’s speakers will bring their expertise on exploring Earth and beyond using open-source science.
The Symposium also celebrates student research from across North Carolina. In addition to speaker presentations, student poster presentations and lightning talks will be featured. To end the day, students are invited to participate in an open science workshop facilitated by NASA professionals.
Update March 13: The workshop is now full, but students can still begin their open science journey with NASA TOPS Open Science 101 curriculum. General registration is still open until March 15.
North Carolina Space Grant looks forward to seeing you at the 2024 North Carolina Space Symposium on Friday, March 22, at the McKimmon Center on NC State’s campus.
For logistics, including information on parking, accessibility, and hotels, please see the link below.
Registration is now closed. On-site registration will be available.
Open Science is the principle and practice of making research products and processes available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, maintaining security and privacy, and fostering collaborations, reproducibility, and equity. In this workshop, participants will explore Open Science, the current landscape, as well as the benefits and challenges. Learners will gain insights into the practices of open science through case studies.
Last year’s event featured incredible speakers, including NASA’s Artemis Launch Director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, and impressive student research.
Blackwell-Thompson enthusiastically speaks to the audience about the future of space exploration. Over 200 students and professionals joined the NC Space Symposium to celebrate student research and learn about cutting-edge topics in space research. Mackenna Wood, graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill and NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellow, presents research about the Carina Stellar Association, a young stellar association with an uncertain age. Young stellar associations are groups of stars that all formed at the same time and place. Previous age measurements for the Carina Stellar Association have spanned 13-45 million years. Wood finds that the association is 41 ± 3 million years old.The UNC Charlotte Astrobotics Team received an NC Space Grant Team Experience and Competition Award to compete in the 2023 NASA Lunabotics Competition. The team presents about their experience, which involved designing and manufacturing an autonomous mining rover capable of traversing, mining and depositing icy regolith.The NC State AquaPack Robotics Team received an NC Space Grant Team Experience and Competition Award to compete in the RoboSub competition. AquaPack Robotics demonstrates an autonomous vehicle that can navigate in marine environments, SeaWolf VIII, at the NC Space Symposium.Cadence Davis, Western Piedmont Community College student, is part of the 2022-2023 Community College Undergraduate Research Cohort. Davis presents research on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the White Creek watershed. White Creek is considered an impaired stream flowing into Lake James due to having consistently low macro-invertebrate data and increased sedimentation over the last 5 years. In this research, Davis assessed forestry in and out of burn zones, monitored invasives, and identified areas damaging the stream’s stability such as sediment deposits and damaged stream banks.Jonathan Soltren, undergraduate student at Fayetteville State University, received a NASA Internship Award at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Summer 2022. Soltren presents this experience at the NC Space Symposium: Soltren worked on two agents of autonomous spacecraft, the mother craft and the daughter craft. Specifically, he developed the daughter craft node for the purposes of simulation.Evan Yee, undergraduate student at Duke University and NC Space Grant Undergraduate Research Scholar, presents research about the combined effects of microgravity and space radiation on cardiovascular function. Yee finds that environmental stressors of spaceflight can invoke cardiovascular injury and cell damage.Deirdre An, recent graduate of NC State University, received a NASA Internship Award at NASA DEVELOP in Summer 2022. An presents this experience at the NC Space Symposium: An evaluated the flooding and drying cycles of rock pools in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ, and meteorologic and climatologic conditions to inform habitat monitoring and protection in the Western Sonoran Desert.Career panel participants from left to right: Ashlee Bracewell, Riley Beaman, Jeff Mobley, James Ainsworth, and Mike Rice. James Sherman, Senior Research Scientist at Appalachian Interdisciplinary Research Facility (AppalAIR), kicked off the session with a presentation about how air quality is changing in the Southeastern United States, a study that is informed by 15 years of measurements taken from NASA and NOAA sites. Aurora Toennisson, Ph.D. student at NC State University and NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellow, spoke about her research on using bacteria to promote plant growth in space. Her research will help space scientists to grow food as they travel beyond earth.
Pa Chia Thao, Ph.D. student at UNC Chapel Hill and NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellow, gave a presentation on her initial findings on HIP 67522b, a newly discovered young gas giant planet, and how its atmospheric composition can tell scientists more about the early lives of gas giant planets.
Scott Asbury, Senior Director of Programs and Orbital Reef Program Manager at Sierra Space, kicked off the session with a talk about the future of orbital reefs and space destinations. Asbury notes Sierra Space is working to create new civilizations in space and using space exploration to improve life on Earth. Orbitals reefs will be mixed-use space stations in low Earth orbit for commerce, research and tourism. “The future is orbital reef,” his presentation states.Austin South, recent graduate of UNC Charlotte and Summer 2022 NASA Internship Awardee, talked about his research on implementing virtual and augmented reality for decision-making at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Nicholas Mazzoleni, Ph.D. student at NC State University and NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellow, spoke about the use of robotic exoskeletons to prevent astronaut muscle atrophy in microgravity environments. He focuses on soft and suitable alternatives whereas traditional exoskeletons are rigid.
Williams-Byrd shares tips to students about building a great career in STEM: 1) Study and be prepared. 2) Never give up and dream big! 3) Find good mentors. 4) Learn from failure and rebound. 5) Build relationships. 6) Thank people! And 7) Pass it on… be a mentor to others! Ashlee Bracewell, Structural Test Engineer at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, spoke about structural testing at NASA for research, development and resolution of structural issues.
Riley Beaman, Unmanned Aerial Systems Manager at the NC Department of Transportation, opened the session and spoke about North Carolina’s use of drones, which includes traffic monitoring, environmental impact surveys, infrastructure assessment during natural disasters, and more. In the state, drones are increasingly being used and taught about in the classroom. “NC is leading the next frontier of aviation,” his presentation states.Olivia Scott, undergraduate student at NC State University and Summer 2022 NC Space Grant Career Internship Awardee, spoke about her internship at Collier Aerospace. She studied structural optimization, which is the analysis of potential structural designs involving the optimization of materials for structural uses.Sterling Van Adams, undergraduate student at UNC Chapel Hill and Summer 2022 NASA Internship Awardee, presented about her internship at NASA Ames Research Center where she studied weather predictions for Mars landing sites.
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Blackwell-Thompson enthusiastically speaks to the audience about the future of space exploration.
