Help Me Get to Space!
Donation protected
I have recently been accepted by Project PoSSUM and the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) into the Advanced PoSSUM Academy Class at Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida. I am writing to express my desire to accept this outstanding opportunity that I have been awarded that will begin in March. Throughout my years at Fresno City College, I have had a strong passion for the sciences and have taken every opportunity to expand my knowledge.
About Me:
I am a Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) major currently attending Fresno City College (FCC). My areas of focus as an MCB major include stem cell research, gene editing, space medicine, and astrobiology. As a native first-generation student and Chicana of the Central Valley, California, I plan to transfer to UC Berkeley in the fall. I am currently a member of FCC’s Leon S. Peters Honors program, president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society’s Theta Beta Chapter, and Vice President of Science of FCC’s Science and Engineering club. I continue to stay involved on campus by providing tutoring services to students for both subjects of biology and chemistry every week. Besides tutoring and staying involved on campus, I have studied abroad in Costa Rica and Panama to research cultural impacts on the health of citizens in third world countries. In 2022, I was awarded first place in the Central Valley’s Honors Research Symposium for my research on the treatment of sickle cell disease with gene therapy. For the past two years, my time has also been dedicated to NASA’s National Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program. From being a project manager to researching on base, I have worked with NASA to research ways to evolve NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility opportunities and space flight missions. My ultimate goal is to continue giving back to my community and the communities around me to make a change in this world.
About the Program:
Project PoSSUM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education program researching our mesosphere and communicating the critical role that it plays towards the understanding of our global climate. Only about 10 students get accepted, internationally, per class. The PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Candidate Program prepares its candidates for suborbital human space flight to build unprecedented models of this region of our atmosphere through tomographic imaging and in-situ sampling of noctilucent clouds. The program also evaluates the candidate’s suitability to conduct future research activities with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), including spacesuit evaluation work, bioastronautics research, and aeronomy research. Overall, the program will provide the principles of the PoSSUM Program and an understanding of the mesosphere, noctilucent cloud dynamics, observational methods and history, noctilucent cloud structures, aerospace physiology, and life support systems relevant to suborbital flight.
Training elements include:
- Introduction to suborbital space flight simulation
- Mission simulation and Crew Resource Management Training
- PoSSUMSim
- High-G and microgravity Space Physiology indoctrination flight using an aerobatic aircraft.
- Airborne scientific imagery training flight using Piper Twin aircraft (Scientist-Astronaut Program only)
- Anti-G Garment and AGSM training
- High Altitude mission training in a full altitude chamber facility using simulation for slow-onset hypoxia scenarios.
- Initial Spacesuit Training (don, doff, regulating pressure, basic mobility, fine motor skills, flight system control)
- Introduction to Spacesuit Contingency Operations (contingency operations, decompression, smoke and hazardous environments, post-landing scenarios, egress and sea survival systems, capsule egress fundamentals, and aircraft ejection systems)
- Full Scientist-Astronaut Mission simulation training in spacesuits in PoSSUMSim
- Introduction to Virtual Reality technologies for space mission training
- Individualized instruction on PoSSUMCam and scientific video camera systems
How aid will help me:
By receiving financial help, I will be able to provide my knowledge in the research of our mesosphere and global climate while training for suborbital human spaceflight. This opportunity will impact my life significantly by introducing me to all of the things I have learned through NASA’s NCAS program. I am on the path of researching ways that humans can stay in space for a longer duration of time without losing as much bone density and muscle. By finding the solution to this problem, humans will be able to research for a longer duration and have major breakthroughs that could evolve our ways of living. This opportunity has the potential to provide me with knowledge and experiences that will benefit our world. Participating in this program as a community college student from Fresno City College will also shed light on the opportunities you can have even without going to a university first. Students will know they don’t have to give up on their dreams by going to community college first. I believe this could be an amazing opportunity for myself and Fresno City College to set an example for current and future students that want to shoot for the stars. Help me set that example!
Fundraising team: Team fundraiser (3)
Amarisa Gonzalez
Organizer
Fresno, CA
Rodney Olsen
Team member
Julio Trevino
Team member