Abstract
The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) engaged 53 teams of students from across the United States to fly experiments on high-altitude balloons for the 2023 annular and 2024 total solar eclipses. By many measures, NEBP was a successful project. However, the teams did encounter challenges. To better understand what could be improved for similar future projects, this study engaged project partners in examining strengths, challenges, and recommendations across four topics: project structure, education and research approach, broadening participation, and funding. Analysis of the topics was completed through written comments followed by remote focus group discussions. The project director and evaluator then synthesized the written and focus group comments to provide the results shared here. Identified strengths included a project structure facilitating regional-scale collaboration within a national network and a focus on providing undergraduate students with innovative, mission-based experiences. Partners also identified challenges including, for example, making in-depth engagement with analyzing project data and drawing scientific conclusions accessible to undergraduate students. Key recommendations include the need for real-world interdisciplinarity, a leadership group that reflects team types, a robust communication platform used at all levels, a modular approach for participation levels and time lengths, and flexibility in funding choices.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1659329 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
| Volume | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2026 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2026 Covitt, Des Jardins, Agrimson, Ash, Bailey, Barber, Bastidas, Bering, Bernards, Choi, Conklin, Do, Etten-Bohm, Finney, Flaten, Freedman, Humphrey, Kelsey, Kim, Lee, Lee, Marquis, Minder, Pallis, Pawlowski, Qiu, Rivers, Ruszkowski, Schmidt, Sharp, Slaboch, Smith, Snowden and Sperling.
Funding
The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) is a student-centered, scientific research initiative funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation since 2015. This paper shares reflections regarding the implementation of the most recent phase of the NEBP and recommendations for similar future collaborations. The project director and project evaluator convened partners as co-authors to gather broad perceptions concerning strengths, challenges, and recommendations related to four themes: project structure, education and research approach, broadening participation, and funding. The 2022–2025 NEBP was supported by a large NASA grant under Science Activation and the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. With the support provided, teams accomplished a great deal, benefiting their institutions and students. Of course, further resources, such as student and mentor stipends and more travel funding, would have been beneficial. To help ensure their proposal would be selected for funding, the project leadership budgeted funds in a manner they felt balanced the funding entities’ goals and the project’s needs. Future project leaders should analyze the funding agency’s desired outcomes to ascertain if a project that fully supports a smaller number of teams and students would make a viable proposal, or if tradeoffs need to be made to accommodate a larger number of participants.
| Funders |
|---|
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| National Science Foundation |
| NASA |
Keywords
- ballooning
- broadening participation
- collaboration
- higher STEM education
- network
- solar eclipse
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics