The approach of launching rockets from Earth’s atmosphere is new. This secured Hernandez McCloskey a position as a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Fellow in 2022.
UTSA doctoral students use non-invasive methods such as lasers to measure the properties of gases in harsh environments such as high-temperature, high-pressure rocket exhausts. His goal is to evaluate the performance of next-generation rocket technology.
“We are establishing a foundation in San Antonio to train students in rocket propulsion. We are leveraging resources at UTSA and working with metal 3D printers to create the hardware and “It shows that rocket propulsion research is possible,” he said. “We have a really strong student base here, and I think we have a lot of future space professionals.”
UTSA alumnus Jahsiah Toby ’20 ’23 discovered a course on rocket propulsion during his senior year. This undergraduate course, developed and taught by Pineda, made Tobey’s ultimate dream of getting people to the surface of Mars possible.
“It gave me the insight into rocket engine design that I needed,” Tobey said. “Every concept in the class was a step beyond what we had already learned throughout our undergraduate curriculum, so it helped make it a reality. I love space in general, but The rocket propulsion class was a huge deciding factor.”
Now, UTSA graduates are putting what they learned as students into practice in their roles designing rockets in relative space.
Relativity Space is focused on revolutionizing the rocket process from design to flight. The company built and launched the world’s first 3D printed rocket, Terran 1, in March 2023. Currently, Toby and colleagues at Relativity Space are working to bring the Terran R, a reusable launch vehicle, to market.
Toby developed his knowledge of 3D printing at UTSA. He worked on the project as a student in the UTSA Aerospace Engineering graduate program, designing, manufacturing, and analyzing a small-scale additively manufactured rocket engine.
He developed engine components as a graduate student. His experiments included thermal and propulsion performance analysis and post-fire inspections.
At one point, Toby was investigating the properties of an orifice that directs propellant flow for engine efficiency. Typically, information about these components is readily available at the time of purchase, but because the group was building the parts themselves and drilling the orifices together, they had to gather the information on their own through component-level testing. did.
Jahsiah Toby ’20 ’23 builds a 3D printed rocket engine using additive manufacturing.
At the time, it seemed like a small step toward a larger project, but it ultimately set Toby apart at Relativity Space.
“A few months later, we had a similar problem here and needed to better understand the characteristics of a custom part manufactured in-house. Because it was there,” he said.
The UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy also offers opportunities to study and research space science. It offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in physics and offers an astrophysics graduate program in collaboration with the Southwest Research Institute.
Michael Velez, a graduate student in the UTSA joint doctoral program, is scheduled to complete his degree in May 2025. Before he passes the graduation stage, he will take to the skies of the galaxy as a contributing member of the Europa Clipper mission. The mission, scheduled to launch in October 2024, will help scientists on Earth determine the potential habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
As members of the UTSA Aeronautics and Rocket Club, students are equipped with competitive skills for successful careers.
Veres plans to conduct stellar occultation observations with the Europa-UVS instrument and will perform multiple flybys of Europa. He created a catalog of ultraviolet bright stars to help guide the instrument. He published his research in The Planetary Science Journal, furthering his goal of working on future missions.
“I know Voyager was before my time, but it was still influential because when you look at these photos, you can see all the work that went into it and the people who had to work on it. Because I can think of all the people who have died, and now that I think about it, I’m one of them,” Velez said. “This is an opportunity I never thought I’d get, so I’m thrilled that NASA is offering graduate students the option to participate in these missions and that universities and programs like this can offer that to their students. Thank you very much.”
UTSA faculty have made significant contributions to space science research in recent years. For example, in the lead-up to the 2024 total solar eclipse, Angela Speck, professor and chair of UTSA’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, was a leading authority providing insight into the phenomenon.
In 2023, UTSA astrophysicist Thayne Curry partnered with the Subaru Telescope and the European Space Agency to capture one of the first images of an exoplanet ever observed by JWST.
That same year, NASA awarded UTSA faculty member Xinting Yu a Planetary Science Early Career Award to establish a Planetary Materials Characterization Facility. In 2022, UTSA astronomer Richard Anantua played a key role in the Event Horizon Telescope project, contributing to the first-ever image of the black hole Sagittarius A*. UTSA faculty also collaborate on several NASA-funded small business innovation and technology transfer projects.
