Student spends summer in ‘space’ via remote NASA internship
GREENWICH — Like so many students around the country, Sacred Heart Greenwich senior Piper Gilbert was confined to her home in the spring and summer. But her focus was 40 million miles away.
Gilbert, who has been interested in astronomy since she was young, is one of only two Connecticut students selected as an intern in the 2020 Student Enhancement in Earth and Space Science (SEES), a program offered by the University of Texas in partnership with NASA.
Working with students from around the country, for a month over the summer Gilbert conducted research using real NASA data and helped to build a concept for a Mars base to accommodate up to 14 astronauts.
“I worked on the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), the ventilation, heating, cooling, food situation and water situation,” Gilbert said. “Some of the other teammates worked on power, transportation, the landing system and figuring out how we get to Mars.”
Gilbert was one of 60 students chosen from more than 600 applicants originally selected to participate in the program in the spring. The program, however, was amended at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a typical year, the internship would have included 30 hours of a distance-learning earth science course, 30 hours of a remote Python course, and 30 hours of project specific work, before a two-week onsite internship working with a NASA subject matter expert on a project at the University of Texas.
The distance learning courses were offered as usual, but all on-site instruction was canceled. Instead, the program was expanded to more than 300 students, all remote, who worked with NASA mentors virtually on a variety of projects.
“So more students were able to participate this year but we missed the personal interaction, college experience, collaborating with likeminded students, and visit to a NASA center which have been highlights from previous attendees,” said Margaret Baguio, program manager, education and outreach at the
NASA Texas Space Grant.
“They were really good at accommodating everyone,” Gilbert said. “The only difficulty my group had was we were spread out all across the country, from California to Connecticut. So it was difficult to find a time to work with everyone. But other than that we really didn’t have any issues.”
Gilbert and other seniors who missed the in-person aspects of the internship will have an opportunity in the spring to visit a NASA center, if they reopen. And, even from her home in Greenwich, Gilbert got to interact and work with experts in the field of aeroscience. Her assigned mentors were Humboldt Mandell, a NASA scientist and expert on Mars exploration, and Adam Nokes, a professor at the University of Texas.
Much of her group’s work was completely new to Gilbert, who didn’t have any experience with ventilation, heating or cooling. She did, however, bring with her extensive experience relating to food.
The project completed by Gilbert and her team during the internship was, in a way, a continuation of work she had already begun at Sacred Heart, testing whether plants could grow in Martian soil, or regolith.
“I ordered simulated Martian soil,” Gilbert said. “And I plant tomatoes, potatoes, radishes and lettuce to see if it grows.”
The results, she said, have been positive. During her senior year, which began earlier this month, she said she would continue the experiment, this time adding nutrients, such as potassium, to test whether they aid the growth of the plants.
“I’m really looking forward to the next phase,” Gilbert said.