In the past few years, Brown geology students have met professional astronauts, directed satellite cameras above Jupiter and its moons and traveled to Antarctica, thanks to federal funding.
Federal funding for academic research at universities such as Brown benefits not only the scientific community, but also students, according to Professor of Geological Sciences James Head Ph.D. '69. Head, who has worked with NASA for 37 years, has trained astronauts, headed NASA committees and assisted on specific projects, including the Apollo missions.
Brandishing a box of moon rocks that are four billion years old, Head said, "This is why it's so important to do this kind of stuff at Brown. We can bring this stuff to introductory students." Students will look at slides of the moon rocks, provided by NASA, in GE 5: "Mars, Moon, and the Earth."
During NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter, which ran until 2003, Brown undergraduates helped design the photo sequence for the satellites right from a Brown control room, Head said. The mission gathered extensive data about Jupiter and its moons Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto.
Brown undergraduates have also attended professional science conferences, Head said. When professors present research at agency-hosted conferences, they sometimes bring students, who in the past few years have met astronauts and participated in mission meetings.
Two Brown graduate students and a recent Brown grad traveled to Antarctica with Head last fall. The four, who worked with a team from Boston University, spent six weeks gathering data in subzero temperatures and collecting samples of ice that may be some of the oldest on the Earth, Head said.
Only research universities such as Brown can offer students such opportunities, Head said. "We have the best of a small-scale college but all the advantages of a university," he said. "We're doing heavy-duty, cutting edge research."
Head cited a quote from James Webb, an early NASA administrator, to describe the relationship between research universities and scientific government agencies. Webb described NASA as resting on three legs: government, industry and university. "NASA needs universities to get ideas. ... This (relationship) optimizes the capabilities of the U.S.," Head said. He added that exposing students to professional research helps NASA recruit future engineers and researchers.
University research is usually initiated by governmental grants. Agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation typically send out announcements asking for proposals on a specific subject. Proposals must clearly outline the plan for their research and must include a detailed budget accounting for personnel, equipment and other costs. "It isn't just like sending (NASA) a letter saying, 'Hey, I want a million dollars,'" Head said.
There are two basic types of research for agencies such as NASA, Head said. The first type is data analysis. Scientists use data collected on NASA or NSF missions to posit a new theory or draw a new conclusion about the subject of interest. Head gave the example of studying impact craters on the moon and theorizing about how they formed.
The second type of research is mission planning. "We want to help NASA design new instruments," Head said. "Somewhere along the line, someone's got to get that data." Research teams at universities design missions and new equipment to collect specialized data. Universities are often the impetus for NASA and other agency missions, especially those in the Discovery Solar System Exploration Program.
Head cited a current mission to study debris in a Martian glacier. His team built a spectrometer to study the glacial deposits in order to determine how and why the Martian climate has changed to eliminate or displace that glacier.
After receiving proposals, NASA then organizes a review panel comprised of top scientists and professors. Head has served on such review panels in the past. The proposals are then evaluated and ranked, and funds are distributed to the best.
Recipients of grants must periodically give updates on their progress, often at scientific conferences, in order to justify continued funding. But conferences are more scientific show-and-tells than mandated roll calls, according to Head. "You really want to go to show all your neat stuff," Head said. "It's not like I get on a plane to go to Houston because I have to, it's because I'm excited."
In the future, it may be harder to procure NASA grants, Head said. An influx of data has led to a greater number of missions and areas of interest for exploration. "But the budget doesn't increase with each planet you explore," Head said.
