Inhuman Rampage

Check out that awesome hair. Sexy, isn't it.

As this semester draws to a close, so many projects and trips are on the horizon I can barely keep up with them myself. So much has transgressed since my last update that I doubt I'll be able to cover everything that has happened, but since much of it is mundane class details, I will leave it out in this account.

To start, the most amazing thing of all is that not only have I been accepted to the International Space University's Summer Session Program (held in Beijing, China from June 23rd to August 24th), I managed to raise the necessary 16,000 Euros needed to secure my spot for the program. I thank God because it has to be more than sheer luck that this has happened. Last September when I heard about the university, I couldn't even have dreamed I would make it a reality. I thought that maybe I'd have a chance one day after I've completed all the schoolwork I'll ever do, not before I even finish my bachelor's degree. I've already met a lot of my future classmates on Facebook, and I know a couple from when I met them in Spain last year. Until then, I need to learn some Chinese so I can get by in the city. Ni hao, mugous!

Because I was accepted, I was feeling a little cocky when I got an email saying the deadline to submit abstracts for the International Astronautical Congress was approaching. "What the hell do I have to lose?" I thought to myself as I wrote an abstract over Spring Break about my adventures and experiences at the Mars Desert Research Station. I figured once again that I didn't have a chance, but because of my initiative and quick actions, things worked out for me once again. The abstract was accepted and I'll be presenting the paper and a poster at the conference in September. This is the same conference that the Space Generation Congress and the SEDS International Congress attaches themselves to so students can attend all three. This year they will be held in Hyderabad, India, and I hope to be able to receive funding because I am presenting a paper. I have already submitted the paperwork for the UCF SGA to give me $250, which should cover about 1/10 of the total cost, but I might have some other sources as well. We shall see what the future holds for me.

I applied for the Astronaut Foundation Scholarship through the Honors College at UCF, and now I am one of two finalists competing for a $10,000, renewable scholarship for serious research students. If I manage to pull that in, I'll be able to pay for my Instrument Flight Rating and keep working towards my commercial pilot's license. I should find out about that sometime in the Fall of this year. I also applied for a handful of engineering scholarships and managed to score one that was supposed to cover the cost of my plane ticket to Beijing, but it doesn't pay out until next fall.

Research at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory has been going well. Things have been moving slow, but should be picking up over the summer. I had been working on a presentation for the AIAA Conference in early April. I came in 3rd place in the Regional category, and one of my coworkers came in 1st place, so it was quite nice to have a strong UCF presence at the undergrad awards. I also submitted and won Honorable Mention in the Engineering category at the Showcase of Undergradute Research Excellence (SURE, or, if you don't want to be a pompous blowhard, a science fair-type poster display competition at UCF). We're now in the stages of putting the flame speed rig back together since we used in in December to start the serious high-pressure research.

This semester, classes were difficult, although nothing beats the hell I plowed through in Feedback Control. With 15 credit hours, I managed to pull a 4.0. Stellar Astrophysics was by far the hardest class I had in terms of sheer magnitude of material I had to learn. It was all pretty interesting, but I could definitely do without another one of those kinds of classes. Discrete Control of Aerospace Vehicles aka Mechatronics started off fine but got harder and harder as it went along. The most interesting we did was build a scanner out of LEGOs. You read it right, a scanner using LEGOs. Here is the picture we scanned. For the final project we had to build a LEGO robot that could climb up three steps, turn, climb down another, and drop a bag of rice into a box. Our group couldn't quite pull it together, but we had the most innovative design and best robot name, Dragonforce.

Last month AIAA made a huge move and held a skydiving trip. It's definitely not easy getting 15 people to commit to a huge, costly, dangerous event like this, but we managed. We all went tandem with an expert because we hadn't been trained to go individually. I sure as heck am happy we did, and here's why.

Skydiving is one of the most dichotomous undertakings I have ever done. On one hand, the obvious rush one would expect from jumping out of a plane is there. As you stand inside the plane watching the guy before you plunge further and further away, you realize that you're next. If you back out now, the guy behind you (whether you're tethered to him or not) will push you out, so you're going to make the dive no matter what. Once your feet leave the deck as your head passes the bottom of the plane, you feel the pull of gravity release itself for a moment as your body careens towards the ground. The wind batters yours face momentarily until you reach terminal velocity.

At that point, I experienced what I've never truly experienced before: complete and total relaxation, the complete opposite of what I was expecting. Once the wind stopped battering me it became softer than the smoothest cushion I've ever laid on. The drool coming off my face dried up faster than it could come out and pester me. The ground even didn't move at all; 13,000 feet felt the same as 3,000 feet. Around me was a perfect sea of blue sky, gray and white clouds, the sparkling blue ocean over Sebastian, the boats sailing lazily in the water between the coastal island and the mainland, and a wonderful aura of peace and tranquility numbing my perception of reality.

Every five seconds or so my mind switched back and forth between the two extremes, but the peaceful feeling dominated over the experience. That's why I was glad I was tethered; if someone else hadn't been paying attention for me, I most certainly would have splatted on the runway pavement. Maybe next time I'll have the skill necessary to pay attention to a wrist altimeter (a very cool piece of equipment, might I add).
-----------------------------------------------------
I was elected President of SEDS at UCF in late March. I have a lot of work ahead of me building up the organization, keeping members involved with projects, and offering something for new members. I also need to make sure that the conference in November goes well, that I don't get entirely furious with SGA for being filled with a bunch of power-hungry, time-wasting, pompous jerks, and that I have enough fun to not go insane. I'm certainly looking forward to it (well, except for the SGA stuff, but no one does).

For now, I'm at home taking some much needed time off. I am giving a presentation to the FWB Rotary Club tomorrow that I sure hope goes as well as the one I gave to the Niceville Rotary. I was going to study for the GRE and learn some Chinese while I was home, but hanging with friends is better. Studying can wait a little while longer.

"Rise over shadows, mountains blazing with power!
Crossing valleys, endless tears, in unity we stand,
Far and wide, across the land, the victory is ours.
On towards the gates of reason,
Fight for the truth and the freedom! Gloria!"