STEM QueSST Grant Supports X-59 Overflights

Collaborative Initiative Engages Communities in STEM Education for NASA’s QueSST X-59 Overflights

NASA has selected five universities to develop plans for the community overflight phase of its QueSST mission: Carthage College (Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium), Cornell University (New York Space Grant Consortium), Old Dominion University (Virginia Space Grant Consortium), University of Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium), and the University of California, San Diego (California Space Grant Consortium).

The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and Carthage College will partner with the UT Austin Center for Space Research (Texas), Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM (Wisconsin), and The Everett Group (Tennessee) to develop a strategic implementation plan. This plan aims to engage students and educators in communities selected for the overflights.

Regional STEM Network Development

The overflight of the X-59 QueSST presents a unique opportunity to engage a broad and diverse community around the possibilities of commercial supersonic flight. The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and its partners seek to identify STEM and STEM-related activities and partnerships that can be established before and sustained long after the X-59 overflight.  The project leverages the QueSST program to accelerate the development of sustainable STEM ecosystems grounded in accessibility.

This project aims to achieve nationwide scale through a network that is geographically broad and diverse. The network will execute a two-tiered implementation plan of STEM activities sourced from NASA’s QueSST resources: for grades K-5, general STEM activities, and for grades 6-12, acoustic monitoring across the overflight region that will transition to weather and environmental monitoring post-flight. 

STEM Objectives

The QueSST overflight offers opportunities to directly engage K-16 students, educators, and community members in large-scale scientific endeavors, much like eclipse viewings or other astronomical events. A primary objective is to increase STEM identity among K-12 students. With our partners, we develop and leverage research-based STEM engagements that educate stakeholders about the QueSST mission, provide standards-based curriculum support for aeronautics STEM content, and importantly, support STEM identity formation through authentic, hands-on research related to the overflight and the future of commercial supersonic aircraft.

Secondary objectives include measurable gains in content knowledge and skills for both students and educators in areas associated with the QueSST program.

STEM Partnerships

The proposed community engagement is a collaboration among various stakeholders, including:

• Space Grant Consortia Affiliate Colleges and Universities
• STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Internships
• Department of Transportation Aviation Career Education (ACE) Program
• Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
• Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM (GLAS)
• Tribal Colleges
• Public Library Systems
• Public Museums
• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Chapters

If you would like to learn more about engaging in the community overflight activities, please reach out to Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.

Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium
spacegrant@carthage.edu
262.551.6054

Kevin Crosby, WSGC Director
kcrosby@carthage.edu

Christine Bolz, WSGC Assistant Director
cbolz@carthage.edu