{"id":120245,"date":"2021-05-24T15:47:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T19:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=120245"},"modified":"2021-06-01T15:24:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T19:24:43","slug":"ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Research Flies Three-for-Three on Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>University of Central Florida research has now flown on the first three flights of Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, with Saturday\u2019s successful launch and landing at Spaceport America in New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was exhilarating and moving to share the experience with the large group of family and friends of Virgin Galactic employees on hand for the flight,\u201d says Josh Colwell, a UCF <a href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/physics\/\">physics<\/a> professor who attended the flight and whose project was aboard the spaceplane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe flight was beautiful, and we had a nice clear view as SpaceShipTwo rocketed to space,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_120276\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\" class=\"figure float-right\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"figure-img size-medium wp-image-120276 img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Virgin Galactic Unity in Space\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"figure-img size-medium wp-image-120276 img-fluid lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20300%20200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Virgin Galactic Unity in Space\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20300%20200%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web.jpg 1200w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/Unity21-VSS-Unity-in-space-over-New-Mexico_for_web-300x200.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">VSS Unity in space over New Mexico on May 22, 2021. Photo credit: Virgin Galactic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The research project is known as Collisions Into Dust Experiment, or COLLIDE. It tested how dust particles behave in microgravity, which was achieved when SpaceShipTwo coasted for several minutes above the earth\u2019s atmosphere. The particles are designed to simulate asteroid regolith, or loose dust and rocks on an asteroid\u2019s surface. For this flight of COLLIDE the researchers used particles up to a quarter inch in size.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw with the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-professor-briefs-planetary-sciences-community-about-nasas-osiris-rex-mission-during-conference\/\">sampling of the asteroid Bennu<\/a> by OSIRIS-REx just how fragile and loose the material on the surface of an asteroid can be,\u201d Colwell says. \u201cCOLLIDE helps us better understand how that material responds to very gentle disturbances so that we can design the appropriate mechanisms for landers and astronauts to work on and near the surfaces of small asteroids in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On this flight, the researchers tested a new type of regolith simulant and also addressed a problem that caused the experiment to run early on the previous flight, which resulted in it missing the microgravity test conditions they wanted.<\/p>\n<p>The research involves shooting an impactor into a simulated asteroid surface very slowly in a microgravity environment and observing what happens using high frame-rate video.<\/p>\n<p>The experiment rode aboard SpaceShipTwo, a Virgin Galactic spaceplane that was launched from its mothership before reaching its apogee and then gliding back down to a runway on earth.<\/p>\n<p>COLLIDE rode on Unity\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-research-flies-aboard-1st-virgin-galactic-space-flight\/\">maiden<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-three-peats-space-another-ride-virgin-galactic\/\">second<\/a> voyages as well in December 2018 and February 2019, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Physics Assistant Professor Adrienne Dove is a co-investigator on the project, which has had contributions from many UCF students over the years. For instance, Richard Wakefield, a UCF senior studying mechanical engineering, has been working on optimizing the COLLIDE system, such as mechanical changes to make it lighter and stronger, electrical updates, and an overhaul of the experiment\u2019s software.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in this research,\u201d Wakefield says. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to know that the things I\u2019m designing and building will be going to space. It\u2019s the kind of thing that appeals to the curious kid inside of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The flight was funded through NASA\u2019s Flight Opportunities program.<\/p>\n<p>Colwell is a Pegasus Professor of physics and assistant director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/fsi.ucf.edu\/\">Florida Space Institute<\/a>. He received his doctorate in astrophysical, planetary and atmospheric sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his bachelor of science in physics from Stetson University. He joined UCF\u2019s Department of Physics, part of UCF\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/\">College of Sciences<\/a>, in 2006.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The findings could help scientists better understand what would happen if astronauts or robotic landers were to work on the surface of a small asteroid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":120275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,23,24],"tags":[982,10899,1775,15761,14916,4361],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-120245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-research","category-science-technology","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-department-of-physics","tag-florida-space-instit","tag-pegasus-briefs","tag-research","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UCF Research Flies Three-for-Three on Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo Unity | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The findings could help scientists better understand what would happen if astronauts or robotic landers were to work on the surface of a small asteroid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Research Flies Three-for-Three on Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo Unity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The findings could help scientists better understand what would happen if astronauts or robotic landers were to work on the surface of a small asteroid.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-24T19:47:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-01T19:24:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2021\/05\/VC01_84_for_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Wells\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Wells\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Robert Wells\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9512118dceafb8df4e29be3674361895\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Research Flies Three-for-Three on Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo Unity\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-24T19:47:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-01T19:24:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":545,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-research-flies-three-for-three-on-virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-unity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VC01_84_for_web.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Sciences\",\"Department of Physics\",\"Florida Space institute\",\"Pegasus Briefs\",\"Research\",\"space\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Colleges &amp; 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