Call for Proposals – Near-Space Balloon Competition 2015
The 2015 Near-Space Balloon Competition is now accepting proposals!
For more in-depth information and more updates, visit the NSBC website: http://blogs.und.edu/nsbc/
NASA plans to launch a crewed mission to Mars by 2035 and they need your help. The 2015 Near-Space Balloon Competition (NSBC) invites teams to propose a pre-cursor Mars mission, one that will provide data for NASA scientists and engineers that can help them design a future crewed mission to Mars. You have the opportunity to design a payload (engineering/science experiment) that will be launched to the stratosphere (100,000 feet!) onboard a high altitude balloon to collect your data.
This balloon launch introduces a unique environment that allows you to answer various questions about the atmosphere or planetary surface that can be applied to equipment/procedures used on a Martian mission. Will you study the temperature, pressure, ultraviolet radiation strength, or atmospheric composition? Or will you perform remote sensing to show NASA the Martian surface features and the best landing sites? What experiment will your team design, benefiting future Martian astronauts?
This NASA competition is open to 6th to 12th grade North Dakota students in teams of 3-20. Space Grant will fund accepted proposals with up to $250 per payload and reimburse travel funds to the launch at the University of North Dakota in late fall/early winter 2015.
Proposals due: October 2, 2015
Read more about NSBC and watch a video of past competitions here.
Below are links with important information regarding this year’s competition!
Please contact Marissa Saad, project manager, at balloons@ndspacegrant.org with any questions. Good luck!
http://aero.und.edu/uploads/news/images/NDSGC Balloon Program Coordinator GRA announcement_demo_2018-01-05_05-16-15-PM.pdf
