Monthly Archives: May 2015

Commencement

The class of 2015 graduated in style on May 11.  Those of us who have been around a while (that would be just me, this year!) were surprised to find that faculty and students were lining up in the Oak … Continue reading

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April is the busiest month

So many things happened in the department in April that I got totally behind. In fact, April was so busy that I’ve only barely caught up here at the end of May. But, some great things happened so I want … Continue reading

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The Flight of the Dragon

Last week, SpaceX conducted a successful pad abort test of its innovative Crew Dragon spacecraft. Powered by hypergolic monomethylhydrazine CH3(NH)NH2 fuel and nitrogen tetroxide N2O2 oxidizer, which ignite on contact, the Super Draco engines accelerated Dragon from 0 to 100 mph in … Continue reading

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The Unveiling of Pluto

As a kid, I poured over diagrams in Popular Science magazine describing possible Grand Tours of the outer solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) made possible by a rare alignment of the planets. Unfortunately, budget cuts reduced the Grand … Continue reading

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