Redwire Space Team

Emma Dolan (GRS’25) (foreground) with aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company Redwire Space team. Redwire, which builds reactors and instrumentation used at international space stations, tested their FAME reactor during a NASA-funded parabolic flight February 29. Dolan, completing a PhD in flow chemistry, was on the project because she has extensive experience building flow reactors. Aaron Beeler, assistant director of BU’s Center for Molecular Discovery and a CAS associate professor of chemistry, collaborated with Redwire on their Fluid and Altitude Mixing Experiment (FAME) project. Dolan and Beeler designed a flow reactor to help test fluid dynamics in zero gravity, one of four tested during the flight. One FAME payload reactor will be installed on SpX-30, heading to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral on March 21. Dolan will assist the Redwire team in analyzing results once their reactor is installed on the ISS. The project’s goal: to better understand fluid dynamics in microgravity to help improve reactor design and expand the scope of chemistry that can be accomplished on the ISS. Photo courtesy of Redwire Space Team