University of Scranton awarded nearly $5.5 million NASA grant for space science education

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — The University of Scranton has been awarded nearly $5.5 million from NASA to lead a nationwide project that will bring space science into classrooms, libraries, museums and communities across the country.

The five-year grant, totaling $5,495,781, will fund an initiative designed to help the public better understand space weather and how activity on the sun can affect communications here on Earth.

Nathaniel Frissell, an associate professor of physics and engineering at the university, will lead the project, called “Discovering the SPARC: Space Physics Through Amateur Radio Connections.”

The initiative is funded through NASA’s Science Activation program and will continue through 2031.

“This is an extremely competitive and significant grant,” Frissell said. “SciAct is a premier program in which NASA gives its science back to the very people who fund this work — the American people.”

One of the project’s main features will be the creation of interactive “Discovery Stations” at public locations, allowing visitors to view real-time space weather data and learn how solar activity affects radio communications.

Space weather refers to conditions in space caused by activity on the sun, including solar flares and other disturbances that can interfere with radio signals, GPS systems and satellites.

The grant will also fund approximately 85 Citizen Science Space Weather Monitors across the United States.

Those monitors will track radio signals and conditions in Earth’s ionosphere, a region of the upper atmosphere that plays an important role in long-distance radio communications.

The information collected will contribute to scientific research while giving students and amateur radio enthusiasts an opportunity to participate in real-world discoveries.

Teachers will also benefit from the project through educational materials developed by the American Radio Relay League’s Teachers Institute, connecting classroom lessons with live NASA data.

The University of Scranton will work with several major research and educational organizations, including MIT Haystack Observatory, the Space Science Institute, the University of Alabama and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Frissell said the project represents an opportunity for the university to play a national role in making space science more accessible.

“Not only does this award recognize The University of Scranton as a national leader in the field of space weather and citizen science, but it also gives us a unique opportunity to partner with NASA and other SciAct grantees in a way that will magnify our ability to have a meaningful impact,” Frissell said.

Organizers hope the project will establish a lasting network of educators, amateur radio operators and citizen scientists who can continue exploring space weather long after the NASA funding ends.