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As a culmination of a year’s worth of research on rocket acoustics that started at Rollins, physics major Makayle Kellison ’25 has published a peer-reviewed article in JASA Express Letters, a scholarly journal devoted to important new research results and technical discussion in all fields of acoustics.

The article—which is featured on the cover of the journal’s latest edition—furthers results gleaned from the November 2022 launch of the Artemis I rocket, which marked a new era of lunar space travel. Kellison first worked alongside physics professor Whitney Coyle, fellow physics major Maggie Kuffskie ’25, and a research team from Brigham Young University (BYU) led by professor Kent Gee to measure the sound levels produced by a rocket launch and their impact on everything from the rocket itself to the launchpad, surrounding communities, and the environment. Kellison then went on to publish a paper in the Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) and work alongside Gee once again during a summer research experience at BYU through the National Science Foundation.

All of these efforts have culminated in Kellison’s most recent journal article, which builds on previous findings by reporting a sound power analysis of Space Launch Systems (SLS) and comparing NASA’s current lunar rocket to the Saturn V, the original launch vehicle that was developed under the Apollo program in the late ’60s. Additionally, Kellison just returned from Sydney, Australia, where she presented findings from her multiple research experiences at the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.

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