SALISBURY — Salisbury University and NASA have formally signed off on a partnership that will allow students to learn from some of the top experts in the space industry and expand the national agency’s imprint on the campus.
While the university and NASA have a long-standing history of working together on the Eastern Shore, Goddard Space Flight Center and SU leaders signed the Space Act Agreement during a March 28 ceremony inside the Great Hall at Holloway Hall.
The agreement is designed to provide enhanced experiential learning opportunities for students at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Additionally, NASA will have the ability to become more involved on campus, including bringing in guest speakers and participating in job and career fairs.
Salisbury University President Dr. Carolyn Ringer Lepre said the agreement shows a commitment to not only advancing science research and exploration but also strengthening the connection between academia and industry.
“NASA Wallops has long been at the forefront of space exploration, pioneering breakthroughs that have expanded our understanding of the universe and inspired generations of scientists, engineers and dreamers,” Lepre said. “Similarly, SU has a proud tradition of academic excellence and a dedication to pushing the boundaries of knowledge across various disciplines.”
Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, the director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said Salisbury University, Goddard and Wallops have a lot in common, making it a successful partnership.
“There’s a commitment to excellence, innovation and really a drive for expanding our horizons,” Lystrup said.
David Pierce, the director of the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, said the two organizations have a history of working together, with many Salisbury University students going on to work for the space agency after graduation. He said it underscores the importance of the partnership, which will create an innovative and diverse workforce to advance NASA’s mission well into the next century.
In 2021, eight SU students designed and built a ThinSat that was launched from Wallops for delivery to the International Space Station. Officials said the small satellite relayed information to help determine thunderstorm impacts on the magnetic field in the lower thermosphere and to identify weather phenomena more difficult to detect with ground-based instruments.
Previous SU-Wallops initiatives have included a study of the effects of microgravity on metastasizing cancer cells, in collaboration with Old Dominion University.
SU’s connections to NASA are not limited to just the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, officials said.
Through the Virginia Spaceport Authority, Wallops has hosted SU interns not only with science and geography backgrounds but also in fields like public relations. Two SU art students have designed mission patches flown to the International Space Station through a program hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park.
NASA officials have also spoken at the university, including Space Shuttle astronaut Richard Arnold II, Hubble Space Telescope Mission deputy project manager Jim Jeletic and, most recently, Dr. J. Tanner Slagel, research computer scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
Dr. Laurie Couch, SU provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, noted how the students will benefit from the NASA experience.
“Our students are going to have opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research and also in development projects,” Couch said. “They’re also going to develop critical skills that are going to set them on a course for a lifetime.”
Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at [email protected].
