PROPOSAL ADVICE

• Emphasize science in the proposal - there should be some theory, postulate, data or calculation that leads you to believe that the phenomena you are investigating will react differently in microgravity than in your 1-G lab. Simply proposing to do something "to see what happens" will probably weaken your proposal's technical merit. A well-stated hypothesis with underlying rationale on why you believe something will happen will probably strengthen your proposal's technical merit.
  
  
• Students are invited to propose free-floating experiments. If teams wish to propose a free-float, they should provide a technical justification as to why it has to float. Why will attaching the experiment to the floor of the aircraft degrade their test results? What information will be lost if it does not float in the cabin? Free- floating hardware should weigh less than 50 pounds and measure less than 24" on a side (assuming a cube). Only two free-float experiments will be flown each flight week (one on Tues/Wed and one on Thurs/Fri), so free- floaters will be judged first on scientific merit, then again on how many were selected. We will select up to 10 free-floaters for participation in the program during any given year.
  
  
• For those teams proposing free-floating experiments: First time flyers often have the misconception that experiments will pop-up off the floor when zero-g starts, stop and float in the middle of the cabin for 20 seconds, and then fall to the floor in the pull out. The realities are:

1. Experiment hardware may pop-up off the floor if the aircraft experiences a "negative" pulse, but many times must be pulled up and centered in the aircraft's cabin.
2. Hardware rarely floats in the middle of the cabin; it floats to one side or the other.
3. A float of 6-8 seconds before contacting a wall is outstanding.
4. The smaller the package, the farther it can float before touching a wall.
5. Umbilical cords/wires may be used, but the mass of the cords will interfere with smaller packages.

• Proposals must be original. Plagiarism (copying any text from a previous proposal) will result in disqualification.

• The weight limit for a student experiment is 300 pounds maximum, and the maximum volume is 24" X 60" X 60".

USING OLD PROPOSALS-be very careful

Please do not use any text from older proposals. Even if you wrote a section for last year's proposal and have been assigned to write it again this year, please resist the temptation to include last year's work in this year's proposal. If your ideas are basically the same, find another way to present them.   The best advice is to start from scratch - you'll be a lot safer. Copying from a previous proposal, for purposes of this program, is called plagiarism. We don't want you to get caught in that trap. Please be careful. If you feel you must include a small amount of previous text, cite it properly.

Why are we so strict about this?

Because this is an educational program, and each team should submit original work.