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As part of NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, we are funded to promote aerospace-related research, education, and public service programs to encourage a Diverse Workforce. This is accomplished through a national network of colleges, universities, industry and federal agency partners.
The Nebraska Space Grant offers several Funding Opportunities, including mini-grants and travel grants. Through our Higher Education and Public Programs, we focus on teacher training and workforce development. Additionally, we support NASA Education's Pathfinder Initiatives.
News
NASA Nebraska Space Grant annouces Call for Mini-Grant Proposals!
Applications Due: August 10
See Mini-Grant Funding Opportunities webpage for details
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University of Nebraska Student and Staff Member Launch Experiments to Space on NASA Rocket
Nearly 100 university faculty, staff, and students from 21 states saw their experiments rise into the sky at 5:30 a.m. on the morning of June 26 with the successful launch of a NASA suborbital sounding rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The week prior to the launch, participants prepared their scientific payloads during an intensive hands-on workshop called Rock On. The two-stage Terrier-Orion sounding rocket carried the experiments to an altitude of 73 miles, and as planned, dropped back to the Earth landing in the Atlantic Ocean. The payloads were recovered and the participants successfully retrieved data from their experiments. Andrew Kelly, Senior from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Michael Sibbernsen, Staff Member of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, were participants. Sibbernsen, the Outreach Coordinator for the 
NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium, said of the workshop, "This was an incredible experience for all involved." Nebraska Space Grant anticipates sending additional students and faculty from the state to participate in future suborbital rocket workshops. Full Press Release.
Nebraska University Students Compete in the 2009 CanSat Competition
The CanSat Competition is an annual student design-build-launch competition for space-related topics. The competition is available to university and college students from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. The NASA Nebraska Space Grant funded a team from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln to compete this year. Their faculty mentor, Dr. Kevin Cole, said, "The UNL team gained so much from the experience, and we had a great time." This annual competition allows teams from universities and colleges to design and build a space-type system, according to the specifications released by the competition organizing committee, and then compete against each other at the end of two semesters to determine the winners. The UNL team designed and built a satellite about the size of a pop can, which they launched on a rocket and it performed numerous tasks; such as: transmitting altitude and GPS information, photographing its landing site, and transmitting measure ground temperature data. The competition was held June 12, 2009 in Amarillo, TX. The UNL team consisted of 10 students from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, and computer engineering. Out of 18 teams UNL ranked 7th. For a full listing of the rankings and photos please visit the website at http://www.cansatcompetition.com/2009_Winners.html.
Nebraska Space Grant Sponsored Student, Sandra Behncke, wins the American Astronomical Society, "Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award."
The Astronomy Achievement Student Awards are given to recognize exemplary research by undergraduate and graduate students who present at one of the poster sessions at the meetings of the AAS. Awardees are honored with a Chambliss medal and a certificate.
Nebraska University Student selected into NASA's First Student Ambassadors Virtual Community
Omaha, NE (June 3, 2009) - Andrew Kelley, a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was selected from hundreds of exceptional NASA interns across the country into NASA's pilot Student Ambassador Program and Virtual Community. This program is intended to engage undergraduate and graduate students in NASA science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, research and interactive opportunities. NASA has inducted more than 80 high-performing interns into this new program. This first group includes interns from 35 states and 64 different universities. Full Press Release
Omaha Public Schools Partners with the Space Foundation and NASA Nebraska Space Grant to Present Space Discovery Institutes
Omaha, NE (May 29, 2009) - The Space Foundation will deliver two weeks of Space Discovery Institute programming to teachers and students from the Omaha Public Schools. These courses will be delivered on the UNO campus beginning June 1 and teachers are eligible for graduate credit through UNO's College of Education. This important new relationship has been made possible through grants to Omaha Public Schools by the Omaha-based Sherwood Foundation and the NASA Nebraska Space Grant. Full Press Release
Credit: Creighton University
Congratulations to Senior Physics Major Sandra Behncke who has been named the NASA International Year of Astronomy Student Ambassador for Nebraska.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and NASA has selected ambasadors to actively participate in, and help coordinate their own outreach programs within the local community and beyond. Sandra's enthusiasm for Astrophysics started quite a while ago. "I've wanted to conduct space research since I was a little girl to further the knowledge of our planet's past and understand our mysterious universe." Sandra has been working on broad-absorption line quasar (BALs) research with Dr. Gabel since January 2008 and will continue until she graduates in May. By then, she hopes to determine "if mass outflow is characteristic of all quasars, settling the battle between the orientation and evolution theories.
We hope to clarify our understanding of the composition and significance of the mass outflow. This may further our comprehension of the physics behind the supermassive blackhole at the quasars' center." As an NIYA Ambasador, Sandra will receive a $2000 reward and up to $700 for materials and travel reimbursement. She may also be selected to go to the International Year of Astronomy Opening Ceremony in Paris, France! To view IYA calendar events for Nebraska visit the Nebraska International Year of Astonomy Website at http://iyanebraska.org
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