Scholarships offered
Warren County SWCD leaders believe the youth of our county are the conservation stewards of the future. This belief fuels the decision of the Board of Supervisors to offer two distinct scholarships annually to qualifying Warren County Students. Applications are available at https://www.warrenswcd.com/scholarshipopportunities.html
The yearly application deadline for both scholarships is the first Friday of April at 4 p.m.
The Thomas C. Spellmire Future Conservation Leader Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship awarded to a high school applicant who plans to enroll in a two or fouryear undergraduate program in one of the following courses of study: natural resource management, agriculture, forestry, equine science, wildlife, geography, ecology, environmental science or other related fields of study.
The Vince Uetrecht Environmental Stewardship Scholarship is a $1000 scholarship awarded to a college student who graduated from a Warren County high school and is currently enrolled in a two or four-year undergraduate program in one of the following courses of study: natural resource management, agriculture, forestry, equine science, wildlife, geography, ecology, environmental science or other related fields of study.
On Feb. 18, University of Akron research associate professor Heather Oravec and her NASA Glenn colleagues waited anxiously as the space agency’s Perseverance rover descended toward Mars’ surface.
The craft was scheduled to touch down in Jezero Crater near the equator of the Red Planet, and the Cleveland center had played a modest role in its development.
For one, the lander deployed a parachute design once tested at the Cleveland NASA’s wind tunnel. In addition, two Glenn employees had been on the review team for Perseverance’s tires.
As the minutes counted down, the anticipation increased.
If the landing was successful, Oravec — the facilities and test lead for the Mars Spring Tire Project — knew the tire design she and her team had been working on for more than a year would become part of the most ambitious Mars mission yet proposed.
That mission is designed to bring rock and dust samples gathered during the Perseverance mission back to earth.
“As a team, we were all together watching the lander [and] we all jumped up with excitement,” Oravec said in a recent phone interview. “If there wasn’t success, then we wouldn’t be continuing with what we’re doing now.”
Tires built to handle martian terrain
The titanium and nickel sheet metal tires developed by Oravec’s team are designed to enable a rover to better traverse martian terrain. The mesh configuration conforms to rocks dotting the surface of the planet and exposed bedrock and will provide better traction on the sometimes powdery martian soil.
NASA Glenn’s contribution to the Perseverance mission included early wind-tunnel testing of the JPL parachute design used to land it and the Curiosity rover in 2012.
Lancert Foster, who managed the wind-tunnel testing at NASA Glenn, said the work he and his team did in 2008 provides an enduring sense of accomplishment as new rovers descend to Mars’ surface.
During the Curiosity mission, Foster said he was nervous until the rover landed successfully.
“I was very proud of the work we did, [but] you’re watching one of those missions and they don’t always work,” he said. “God forbid the rover didn’t land and they look and something went wrong with the parachute.”
Foster said that realization that he and his team helped to safely land a spacecraft on another planet continues to be a source of awe.
“They are going to use that and put that on Mars,” he remembers thinking before Curiosity landed.
That initial success led to the latest.
“This is the second time they used the same kind of parachute to land a Mars rover,” he said.
The parachute is featured prominently in footage filmed during Perseverance’s descent that has garnered more than 14 million YouTube views.
Foster said that NASA used photogrammetry to analyze the motion of the prototype parachute to analyze its performance.
“They record motion to see where all the dots are going in three dimensions,” he said.
The process is probably best known for its use to create the character Gollum in the 2001 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and two sequels.
The parachute is made of nylon, Technora — a heat-resistant synthetic fiber — and Kevlar.
Search for ancient martian life
If Perseverance continues to perform as intended, it will collect rock and dust samples as it winds its way through Jezero Crater, where scientists are hoping to discover evidence of ancient martian life. The crater is about 30 miles in diameter and housed a lake about 3.5 billion years ago.
Oravec said Perseverance’s mission is even more exciting because of what it means for her high-tech tire team.
The titanium-nickel tires will be used on a proposed 2026 mission currently being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency to retrieve samples left along the Perseverance route.
Assuming the Perseverance mission proceeds as planned and the 2026 mission is approved, the NASA Glenn tires will be making tracks on the Red Planet in 2027. Oravec said the team is currently in the second of a four-phase design analysis cycle that includes 300 tire performance requirements.
“It’s been a very fun project to work on,” she said. “We are all having a lot of fun working on this project together. We’re also dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s.”
The tires have utility beyond off-world missions, Oravec said. Those include military and possibly sports — think Tour de France — applications.
“There’s a lot of people interested in this,” she said.
A key feature of the tire is the ability to withstand the difficult terrain Mars presents to rovers, Oravec said. Aluminum tires on the Curiosity rover have degraded over time, worn down by the rocky surface and interaction with bedrock. The mission and rover are still operating after more than eight years.
Oravec said the spring mesh design is about 30 times more durable than the aluminum tires used by Curiosity.
“Our two main focuses are traction and durability,” she said. “…We need to make sure it’s not going to fail in that respect.”
She said that testing so far has given the team confidence its titanium tires can do the job when the mission comes to bring pieces of Mars back to Earth.
“It’s a very exciting time right now,” she said.
William “Bill” Patrick, 87, passed away on March 6, 2021, in Otterbein Assisted Living
Facility. He was born on May
21, 1933, in Dayton, OH, and was the son of the late William
D. and late Emily (Howell)
Patrick. Bill was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years,
Frediwyn “Dolly” Patrick; sister, Patricia Shapiro; and many friends. Bill is survived by his sons, Stephen (Donna) Patrick of Hurricane, WV, and John (Cathy) Patrick of Waynesville, OH; 4 grandchildren, John (Christina) Patrick of Venice, FL, Tonya Patrick Shuler of Hurricane, WV, Khristen Patrick Grennell (Scott) of Savannah, GA, and Jami Patrick of Waynesville, OH; 7 great-grandchildren, Kathleen, Christopher, Sean, and Elizabeth Patrick of Venice, FL, William, Finn, and Melody Shuler of Hurricane, WV; 3 step-grandchildren, Zachary (Kala) Huffman of Lynchburg, OH, Nicholis Grennell of Hinesville, GA, and Rebekkah Grennell of Lynchburg, OH; 2 great-great-grandchildren, Olivia and Owen; one sister, Mary Rhoades; and brother-in-law, Jack Luce of Fairborn, OH; and many nieces and nephews. Bill retired from Dayton Newspapers Inc. after a 40-year career. He was a 1952 graduate of Fairborn High School and a 4-year veteran of the United States Naval Reserve. He was a 33rd degree Mason, a drummer in the Antioch Drum and Pipe and an amateur ham radio operator. He enjoyed fishing and traveling both here and abroad with his friends and family. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions to The Byron Church, 3230 Trebein Rd., Fairborn, OH 45324 or Hospice of Otterbein. Per his request, Bill will be cremated and interred with his wife, Dolly, in Byron Cemetery. A celebration of Bill’s life will be held at a later date due to the COVID pandemic under the care of Belton-Stroup Funeral Home, Fairborn. Condolences may be made to the family at
www.BeltonStroup.com