Engaging Undergraduate Students in Planetary Science Research for Parabolic Flights

Microgravity investigations are key to understanding the behavior or regolith, or dusty granular material, that is ubiquitous on planetary surfaces. We see features on other planets that resemble avalanches and landslides seen here on Earth, while eroded craters and so-called ponds (smooth level dusty deposits at the bottom of some craters) reveal the action of various regolith flow mechanisms. The SLOPEs experiment was designed by an undergraduate group to address questions on the statics and dynamics of granular matter on the surfaces of small Solar System bodies, including a) the flow behavior of granular material along slopes (landslides and avalanches) under reduced-gravity conditions; and b) the displacement of granular matter in response to impact-induced seismic vibrations. It is funded through the NASA Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Program (USIP), and was operated on a parabolic airplane flight in March 2018 in order to take advantage of the variable low-gravity (low-g) environment. We will discuss undergraduate student roles throughout the project, including challenges faced throughout the multi-year process, the design and operation of the experiment, and some results from our initial data analysis.