
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 22, 1993                   TAG: 9304220187
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV14   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RU GETS $110,000 NASA GRANT

Radford University will receive $110,000 over the next three years from NASA as part of an effort to bring university scientists and students into the space program.

Radford professors Bernard Kuennecke, a geographer, and J. Dana Eckart, a computer scientist, will work with NASA scientists at two of NASA's research centers.

They will work with remote sensing and geological studies as part of NASA's Joint Venture program.

The program, in its fifth year, is designed to make challenges and research opportunities of NASA's planned space science missions available to a broad spectrum of colleges and universities.

At the same time, the program fosters outreach programs to elementary and high schools.

Through the initiative, NASA makes data from active missions available to selected university professors through electronic links with research teams at NASA field centers.

The initiative also sponsors a 10-week, summer research orientation for selected professors, pays for equipment, travel and some student support and provides partial summer salaries.

In exchange, the university affords research time for the faculty members at no charge to NASA, allows undergraduate and graduate students to work on the data, and helps with the outreach effort for area schools.

Activities will begin this summer.

Radford was one of 21 universities selected to participate in the program, according to Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, who made the announcement Wednesday.

by CNB