Chapter Starter Kit:
Programs, Activities, and Technical Projects
Introduction
Okay, so you’ve established an organization... now what? Good programming and activities are not only vital to the existence of your group , but will be your biggest recruitment factor in gaining new members as well. There is no more rewarding experience than to be able to properly answer the question, What do you do? You will find that the best publicity is your own action. The most important step in discovering new activities is to close no doors on ideas. Brainstorming is a budding society’s best friend.
Ideas for Programs & Activities
- Speakers/Lecturers - local professors, researchers, industry professionals, government/NASA officials, authors, astronauts, even you r chapter advisor could make an interesting lecture about space
- Research/Education - design contests, star parties, astronomy events, model rocketry, technical projects, visiting schools, open houses, idea sharing sessions
- Social/Entertainment - pizza or ice cream parties, science fiction film parties, science non-fiction film parties, Yuri’s Night
- Field Trips/Tours - planetariums, observatories, industrial, research, academic facilities, IMAX, OMNI theatres, museums, shuttle launches, rocket launches
- Fundraising - cookouts, merchandising, group events, (make sure you OK the fundraiser with your institution) -
- Campus/Community Events - space art contests, high school educational events, environmental activities, radio, newspaper, TV interviews with professionals, conferences, science fairs
- Joint Efforts with Other Groups - projects with other groups at your school or with SEDS-USA
Many SEDS chapters, as part of their activities, work on a large-scale project together. These may differ in many ways and always remember to never close your thinking to what is limited on this page. As with space exploration, there is no limit to what you can do.
Illinois High Altitude Rocket - The objective of The Rocket Project is start a rocket program at U of I that will continually build year after year. We’ll start out small and learn the ropes, working our way to our eventual goal of designing and building a multistage rocket to reach an altitude of 75 miles. We want to reach this goal in 3-4 years. Along the way our team members will get hands on experience in electronics, aerodynamics, structures, and propulsion.
Reduced Gravity Flight Program - The Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program provides a unique academic experience for undergraduate students to successfully propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment of their choice over the course of six months. The overall experience includes scientific research, hands-on experimental design, test operations and educational/public outreach activities.
ICARUS - The ICARUS Project was founded in the Fall of 2003 at Embry Riddle and its primary mission is to build a sounding rocket capable of placing a payload in space and recovering it. Though the accepted altitude of space is 62.5 nautical miles, we felt it necessary to shatter the barrier with an altitude attempt of 75 nautical miles.
CUBESAT - The CubeSat program was initiated in 1999 by Stanford University in an effort to meet an educational need: to make available a satellite that could be developed in one to two years, at very low cost, with low mass resulting in reduced launch cost. The Illinois Tiny-Satellite Initiative (ITSI) began work designing a CubeSat mission for the University of Illinois in August of 2001.
