On Nov. 18, 2022, Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, the lead appropriator on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) with jurisdiction over NASA, released comments congratulating Kansas suppliers of  the NASA  Artemis 1 launch. "...suppliers across Kansas helped make this mission a success and many more will be involved in years to come." said Moran, offering the list below.

Kansas Suppliers Connected to Artemis:

• Fastenair Corp. – Wichita
• MPM Inc. – Wichita
• Pasternack Enterprises Inc. – Wichita
• Wichita State University – Wichita
• Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp. – Wichita
• Galaxy Technologies Inc. – Winfield
• Firelake – Arrowhead NASA Services – Lawrence
• US Bank National Association – Overland Park
• YRC Inc. – Overland Park
• NDT Supply Com Inc. – Lenexa
• Mid-State Aerospace Inc. – Olathe
• Smiths Interconnect Americas Inc. – Kansas City
• Heartland Precision Fasteners Inc. – New Century
• Aircraft and Commercial Enterprises – Derby
  
• DJ Engineering Inc. – Augusta

WICHITA--Subatomic particles called neutrinos hold some of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics. WSU researchers are taking a lead role in investigating them.

Once thought to be massless, the big question now is why do they  and how do they have mass, according to Jonathan Folkerts, Wichita State graduate student and researcher. 

Last fall, WSU researchers Folkerts, Jarred Novak and Trent English presented papers on their neutrino detector prototype at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris. They represented the $2 million NASA-funded Solar Neutrino Orbiting Laboratory Detector Development Project awarded to WSU in 2021. This project will allow the research team to design a solar probe to look for neutrinos.

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Photo: WSU students and staff working the grant project, "Cube-sat Space Flight Test of a Neutrino Detector" include (L-R) Jarred Novak, Trent English, Ayshea Banes, Jonathan Folkerts, Brian Doty and Octavio Pacheco.  Courtesy photo

LAWRENCE--A team of University of Kansas researchers is studying microscopic organisms in extreme environments to see if life is possible beyond Earth. The primary research question is whether microbial communities adapted to extreme environments are more resilient to space-like stresses and whether resilience to one of these stresses — such as radiation — makes a community more resistant to multiple other stresses. Where and how are they doing their fieldwork? Read more

Photos: KU Office of Research