Colorado Mesa University physics club students Josh Mathews, Matthew Keaney, Nick Clemmer and Megan Joslin love the endless possibilities of outer space.
“It’s a new field of study we have started to skyrocket in what we know in space,” Keaney said.
“The possibilities are endless in what you can discover,” Joslin said.
When the four had an opportunity to build and launch two balloon satellites into space, they jumped at the chance. They first built the satellites back in January at the University of Colorado-Boulder at the Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC).
And for the team to just arrive at the workshop, they had to brave the elements.
The four hopped into Clemmer’s truck and drove what is normally four and a half hour car ride to an eight hour adventure. However, at first they thought their hopes were almost dashed as a snow storm rolled through I-70 and closed the interstate in three different stretches.
But as soon as they saw the roads open up, they took their chance to drive to Boulder. After leaving Grand Junction around 10 a.m., the group did not arrive to Boulder until 8 p.m. To make matters worse, the four had to be at the introduction for the workshop at 8 a.m. the next day.
The four then built their satellites with the intent to collect data and take pictures of the Earth’s curvature. Mathews joked that the four could also brag to people that they launched satellites into outer space.
The two balloon satellites were then launched on April 8 in Eaton, Colo. The satellites were later found north of Sterling which was over 80 miles north of where the satellites were originally launched.
The four’s love for science started at an early age.
Mathews first introduction into science and space was the 1995 film “Apollo 13.” After watching Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton float around in outer space, Mathews wanted to become an astronaut which led him to become a physics major.
Clemmer’s journey to become a physics major began when he was only a mechanical engineer major. He took a couple of physics courses and loved the content in the classes.
“Space is just an interesting topic in physics,” Clemmer said. “It’s still kind of unexplored frontier, there is still a lot that can be discovered and studied in it. It’s one of those things where you have this basket of research to work with.”
He then decided to double major in physics and mechanical engineer.
Like Clemmer, Keaney took a few courses, loved the classes and decided to become a physics major. Another reason was because of the physics professor’s enthusiasm in what they are teaching.
“You are not just another statistic,” Keaney said. “You’re not another physicist or engineer. They have a tightknit relationship with their students.”
The rest of the group agree with Keaney and all of them pointed out Physics Professor Chad Middleton’s energetic style of teaching as inspiring them in their future careers.
For Joslin, she has loved science ever since she could remember. When she took Middleton’s 100 level class, the course helped her kickstart her start into physics.
The CMU Physics Club meets bi-weekly on Fridays at 2 p.m. in Wubben Hall room 213. The last meeting will be held on May 5 and is open to any CMU student.
