TEAM Projects
ASU Space Grant supports student engineering teams to work on a variety of projects and challenge opportunities. These projects complement regular classroom learning by offering direct hands-on systems engineering experience. Our flagship project is the ASCEND (Aerospace STEM Challenges to Educate New Discoverers) high-altitude ballooning project. We have also supported other teams in past years.
Students who are members of engineering teams are encouraged to apply for NASA Space Grant internships. Funded students are designated as the Space Grant Team Lead where in addition to performing a research project, they will be responsible for reporting STEM activity information to Space Grant. These interns are supported to lead their project teams, but they can also choose to work on independent research projects with a faculty mentor.
Space Grant Team Leads must meet NASA Internship eligibility requirements: U.S. Citizen and an undergraduate enrolled full-time in a STEM field. Team membership does not automatically guarantee an internship. Applicants must adhere to the same competitive process as general Space Grant internship candidates.
Notable Space Grant Affiliated Team Projects
ASCEND!
Aerospace Scholarships to Challenge and Educate New Discoverers (ASCEND) is a statewide Arizona Space Grant workforce development program designed to engage undergraduate students across the state in the full “design-build-fly-operate-analyze” cycle of a space mission. Student teams define science goals and then design and build payloads to achieve those objectives on high-altitude weather balloons that typically reach altitudes up to 100,000 feet. Payload instrument packages are designed to measure a variety of atmospheric data as a function of altitude. Onboard cameras obtain images and videos to document the flight and capture images from the edge of space. Novel structural designs provide strong lightweight platforms for instrument packages.
Membership on the ASCEND team is open to all interested students who wish to gain experience designing spacecraft to obtain scientific measurements at high-altitudes. Contact the ASCEND Space Grant team lead Alec Arcara [email protected] or Dr. Tom Sharp [email protected] for membership information.
Sun Devil Satellite Laboratory
The Sun Devil Satellite Laboratory (SDSL) is a student organization under the guidance of the Fulton Schools of Engineering and the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Team members apply their fascination with the universe, spacecraft, and engineering to supplement the academic experience at ASU, while pursuing the design and development of satellite and satellite-related technology.
The Luminosity Lab
The Luminosity Lab is an interdisciplinary research and development lab in the Fulton Schools of Engineering. It is driven by hand-selected teams of students from ASU who design, build, and deploy novel solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Teams utilize systems thinking, strategic design, and rapid product realization to create solutions in industries such as space and exploration, healthcare, education, sustainability, and energy. Team members work and learn in dynamic student-led teams and collaborate with faculty, staff, and corporate partners to develop solutions from novel to complex.
The Luminosity Lab has received three NASA Big Ideas Challenge Awards in association with NASA Space Grant:
2020 - Variable Exploratory Lunar Observation System (VELOS) - a launcher and probe system to explore the permanently shadowed regions of the moon.
2022 - Crater Hydrogen and Regolith Laboratory on Technical Terrain Environments (CHARLOTTE) - a lunar rover to traverse and explore craters on the moon.
2024 - The AEGIS - an Inflatable Lunar Landing Pad System, which will enable rockets to safely and successfully land on the moon.
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is an ASU student organization that promotes space related activities and events on the ASU campus. The SEDS rocketry division (SEDS-Rocketry) is a student organization in the Fulton School of Engineering that provides hands-on experience designing and flying rockets.
Sun Devil Rocketry
Sun Devil Rocketry is a student-run organization dedicated to the design, manufacture, and launching of large high-powered rockets. Members undertake advanced astronautical engineering projects to enhance their educational experience and develop professional skills. Team members participate in rocket building, launch competitions, and in conferences. For many years, Sun Devil Rocketry has been supported by sponsors including ASU/NASA Space Grant, Raytheon Missile Systems, Alliant Techsystems, Orbital Sciences, Aerojet-Rocketdyne, DATAQ Instruments, and many more.
Contact the Sun Devil Rocketry team lead Bria Erimli ([email protected]) for membership information.