9.1.9 Orbital Sciences/Northrup Grumman
On November 18, 2014, Orbital Sciences Corp., Technical Services Division of
Greenbelt, MD was awarded a contract for NASA’s Science Balloon Operations
program. The contract, won in a competitive selection process, is valued at up to
approximately $186 million over its 5 year term. The contract is administered by
the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Wallops Island, VA. Orbital operates all the
facilities including the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine,
TX and the permanent balloon staging facility at Fort Sumner, NM. The contract
also covers work at GSFC in Greenbelt, MD, the WFF balloon launch sites, and
Orbital’s facility in Greenbelt. Orbital also will provide operational balloon flight
support including launching, tracking, and recovery of the scientific balloons and
their payloads, plus engineering services for operational support, quality control,
and balloon research and development.
9.2 UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS
9.2.1 High Altitude Student Platform (HASP)
Universities support scientific balloon flights and campaigns in several ways. In
some cases universities provide principal investigators, program directors, and
scientists for their own flights as well as graduate and postdoctoral students who
are also working on their own instruments and experiments. Scientists may fly
experiments on dedicated flights, but students generally participate in the High
Altitude Student Platform (HASP). This program is a collaborative partnership
between Louisiana State University (LSU), the NASA Balloon Program Office
(BPO), and the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF). Personnel from
these institutions jointly manage the HASP program, interact with and mentor
student teams, maintain and update the HASP systems as appropriate, conduct
student payload integration, and perform HASP flight operations and recovery. As
of late 2020, HASP had flown 14 times, accumulating close to 190 hours (or about
8 days) at float altitude, carrying more than 130 payloads involving more than
1,400 students from 48 unique institutions globally. The student payloads tackled
almost every major research topic and all NASA Mission Directorates, and students widely disseminated the results of their experience and flight data with close
to 200 papers, posters, presentations, and other publications.
The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE) is a Designated Consortium
in the NASA National Space Grant and Fellowship Program designed to network
colleges, universities, and state education boards with viable partners in business,
industry, and the non-profit sector to promote, develop, and strengthen aerospace
science, research, technology, education, and awareness.
9.2 University Scientists and Students 209
On November 18, 2014, Orbital Sciences Corp., Technical Services Division of
Greenbelt, MD was awarded a contract for NASA’s Science Balloon Operations
program. The contract, won in a competitive selection process, is valued at up to
approximately $186 million over its 5 year term. The contract is administered by
the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Wallops Island, VA. Orbital operates all the
facilities including the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine,
TX and the permanent balloon staging facility at Fort Sumner, NM. The contract
also covers work at GSFC in Greenbelt, MD, the WFF balloon launch sites, and
Orbital’s facility in Greenbelt. Orbital also will provide operational balloon flight
support including launching, tracking, and recovery of the scientific balloons and
their payloads, plus engineering services for operational support, quality control,
and balloon research and development.
9.2 UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS
9.2.1 High Altitude Student Platform (HASP)
Universities support scientific balloon flights and campaigns in several ways. In
some cases universities provide principal investigators, program directors, and
scientists for their own flights as well as graduate and postdoctoral students who
are also working on their own instruments and experiments. Scientists may fly
experiments on dedicated flights, but students generally participate in the High
Altitude Student Platform (HASP). This program is a collaborative partnership
between Louisiana State University (LSU), the NASA Balloon Program Office
(BPO), and the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF). Personnel from
these institutions jointly manage the HASP program, interact with and mentor
student teams, maintain and update the HASP systems as appropriate, conduct
student payload integration, and perform HASP flight operations and recovery. As
of late 2020, HASP had flown 14 times, accumulating close to 190 hours (or about
8 days) at float altitude, carrying more than 130 payloads involving more than
1,400 students from 48 unique institutions globally. The student payloads tackled
almost every major research topic and all NASA Mission Directorates, and students widely disseminated the results of their experience and flight data with close
to 200 papers, posters, presentations, and other publications.
The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE) is a Designated Consortium
in the NASA National Space Grant and Fellowship Program designed to network
colleges, universities, and state education boards with viable partners in business,
industry, and the non-profit sector to promote, develop, and strengthen aerospace
science, research, technology, education, and awareness.
9.2 University Scientists and Students 209