Four West Virginia University engineering students will conduct experiments in a zero-gravity aircraft Aug. 8-18 at NASA s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The students will attempt to control the movement of a manganese chloride solution with a magnet while aboard a KC135A , a remodeled 707 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses to train astronauts for weightlessness.

Manganese chloride is a pink crystalline solid that makes a pink solution when dissolved in water. The ability to control the compound in space could have far-reaching impacts, from restarting rocket engines without having to rely on heavy auxiliary thrusters to designing cooling systems without pumps for space shuttles and satellites.

The four mechanical and aerospace engineering students will pair off and take turns spending up to three hours per day in the plane conducting the experiments, said student Jennifer Hazelton of Newell. The environment aboard the plane will alternate between 25 seconds of weightlessness and two minutes of gravitation.

The students will store the manganese chloride solution in a small glass wedge with a slit to release the compound, and on each side of the wedge will be long, narrow tubes, Hazelton said. The students will use a magnet to move the manganese chloride along one tube and compare their manipulations with the other tube, which will not be influenced by the magnet. The experiment will be housed in Plexiglas and Lexan boxes for safety.

Before going up in the plane, the students will undergo physical examinations to ensure they are healthy enough to withstand a zero-gravity environment, she added. NASA doctors will also have medicine available should the students become sick.

In preparation for the project, the students have built much of their equipment and conducted mini-experiments in their Engineering Sciences Building lab, said mechanical and aerospace engineering Professor John Kuhlman, one of the faculty advisers on the project. They have also developed computer models to help predict the experiments outcomes.

The project, part of the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, has helped the students sharpen their technical skills and taught them organizational skills and teamwork, Dr. Kuhlman added.

Besides Hazelton, other students participating are Matthew Lechliter of Ridgeley; Austin Barnard of Terra Alta; Andrew Starn of Parkersburg; and Chris Wilkins, a Morgantown native who attends Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Donald Gray, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, is the other faculty adviser.

Funding for the project has come from the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, and the departments of mechanical and aerospace engineering and civil and environmental engineering.