A speaker from the University of Idaho (UI) told tales of urine and fishy astronauts at a lecture titled “Fishnauts: A NASA Story” in Molstead Library on March 7.
The speaker was Ed Galindo, the Director of the Natural Resources Tribal Cooperative at the University of Idaho, and a faculty member in the UI Near-Space Engineering Program.
Galindo regaled the audience, made up largely of younger students in high school and below, with stories of experiments he’s done with Shoshone-Bannock students over the years with NASA, and his Fishnauts projects with UI.
Alongside Galindo were three of his students from the Vandal Atmospheric Science Team (VAST): Kevin Witkoe, the flight director; Jake Liddicoat, in charge of their photo equipment; and Forest Tanner, the assistant flight director, and previously their communications lead. The three students ended the talk by answering questions from the audience with Galindo about their experiences with their atmospheric balloons.
During the lecture, Galindo said that many of the experiments they do are part of creating closed systems to use on the Moon or Mars to provide fish and plants for sustenance.
Their current project, Fishnauts, is looking at the capability of fish eggs to survive around 10,000 feet, and beyond.
Galindo was also involved in the previous “Spuds in Space”, aimed at testing the ability to grow potatoes in soil from Mars; and the “Fun with Urine” experiment, targeting the painting needs of astronauts on long-term missions utilizing urine.
The VAST group also spoke about the newly-opened exhibit on their atmospheric balloon, set in the Molstead Library. The exhibit includes a balloon and a capsule, informative posters, and a small gallery of pictures taken from the upper atmosphere by the balloon’s visual equipment. Galindo also invited attendees of the lecture to sign their names on the gallery.
The talk, Galindo said, was an attempt to bridge a gap between NIC and UI.
“What we want to do is stir excitement- stir the excitement pot, but also show that, ‘hey, we’re neighbors,” Galindo said. “We want to share our assignment with our fellow institution here, North Idaho College.”
Galindo said that the two institutions, NIC and UI, should be working more closely together than they are now.
“I know there are some really good students here, and maybe they’re doing something that I’ve never even thought about!” Galindo said. “I don’t know that, because I haven’t talked to them.”
