Category: Uncategorized

Robotics Contest: Watch, Cheer and Send Questions

In a challenge simulating planetary exploration, tabletop-size robots must perform different tasks within two minutes. The tasks include placing sensors in volcanoes, deploying habitats and rescuing a stranded “moon buggy,” or small robot. This robotic competition aims to excite and engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Competition Game BoardSixteen student teams from nine elementary, middle and high schools will put their software-enabled, battery-powered LEGO robots against the clock in the 5th Annual Southern California Robotics Competition at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday, March 15, 2011. 

Involve your students in the competition by watching the broadcast live on the Web from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. PDT. You are invited to send in advance your students’ questions about careers in robotics to jplspaceeducation@gmail.com. During the career talk portion of the live program, NASA/JPL robotics engineer Paulo Younse will answer some pre-submitted questions. All questions must be received by Friday, March 11. Questions should be along the lines of “careers in robotics.” Please include either the student’s first name only or school name.


Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.


Piedmont School Hosts Sen. John D. Rockefeller and Special NASA Guest

Students from Piedmont Elementary School in Charleston, W.V., had the honor of hosting West Virginia’s U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV on Feb. 24, 2011. During the senator’s visit, the fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in a 15-minute interactive video conferencing program about the International Space Station. 

During the conference, the students also had a surprise visit from former astronaut and NASA’s Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin, who gave a quick message from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center via Skype. 

Rockefeller is sponsoring legislation supporting science and mathematics by providing scholarships to potential teachers who focus on these disciplines with a commitment to teach in schools with a high number of students from families below the poverty line. This was a great way for the senator to see an exemplary school in action.

Piedmont Elementary has two enthusiastic teachers, Lindsay Lucas and Kimberly Landers, who are participating in the NES project.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.


NES Recognition Opportunity Sparks Idea for Classroom Activity

Research Vessel
NASA Explorer Schools educator Cheryl May, a teacher from Lebanon Middle School, created a great activity called Tracing the Toxins after attending last year’s NES Coastal Observation recognition opportunity. The goal of the activity is for students to understand the difference between toxic and harmful algal blooms. They determine the effects of phytoplankton on the aquatic food webs and learn how NASA monitors algae.

You may become eligible for this research experience by using and reporting on your use of the following: one classroom content module, one NASA Now, and one e-PD. Find out more by logging into the NES Virtual Campus and following the link called Recognition Opportunities. 

You will find a link to this exciting activity in NEON. Register, log in, join the NES group, and navigate to other NASA-related activities and look for the Tracing the Toxins forum.

Capt. Kirk Wakes Discovery Crew

William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series, provided a special message to the crew of space shuttle Discovery during the 3:23 a.m. EST wakeup call on Mon., Mar. 7.


As Alexander Courage’s “Star Trek” theme song played underneath, Shatner replaced the original television introduction with, “Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before.”

The “Theme from Star Trek” received the second most votes in a public contest from a Top 40 list for NASA’s Song Contest. Shatner recorded the custom introduction for Discovery’s final voyage — its 39th flight and 13th to the International Space Station.



Glory Satellite Fails To Reach Orbit

NASA’s Glory mission ended Friday after the spacecraft failed to reach orbit following its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

NASA has begun the process of creating a Mishap Investigation Board to evaluate the cause of the failure. Telemetry indicated the fairing, a protective shell atop the satellite’s Taurus XL rocket, did not separate as expected. 

The launch proceeded as planned from its liftoff at 5:09 a.m. EST through the ignition of the Taurus XL’s second stage. However, the fairing failure occurred during the second stage engine burn. It is likely the spacecraft fell into the South Pacific, although the exact location is not yet known. 

NASA’s previous launch attempt of an Earth science spacecraft, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory onboard a Taurus XL on Feb. 24, 2009, also failed to reach orbit when the fairing did not separate. 

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory Mishap Investigation Board reviewed launch data and the fairing separation system design, and developed a corrective action plan. The plan was implemented by Taurus XL manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corporation. In October 2010, NASA’s Flight Planning Board confirmed the successful closure of the corrective actions. 

The Glory Earth-observing satellite was intended to improve our understanding of how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth’s climate. 

NES Project's 1,000th Participant — All About Marty Carmicle

Marty Carmicle

NASA Explorer Schools welcomed the 1000th teacher to the NASA Explorer Schools project this past month: Marty Carmicle. She joins over a thousand NASA Explorer Schools educators from all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and Department of State schools in Turkmenistan and Mexico.


Marty is in her 10th year of teaching at Casey County Middle School in Liberty, Ky., where she currently teaches both 7th- and 8th-grade mathematics classes. 

Marty’s favorite part of teaching is the “Ah ha!” moment when a student finally “gets” the concepts. She also likes working on special projects with her classes.  For example, she completed a project through the University of Kentucky early this year in which her students designed and built a hovercraft.  

Marty has used some NASA educational materials in the past and looks forward to seeing what the NASA Explorer School Virtual Campus has to offer.  

She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lindsey Wilson College, a master’s degree in education from Eastern Kentucky University, and a master’s degree in special education from Campbellsville University.

Welcome, Marty!

NASA Now: Solar Storms

NASA Now logo

Dr. Holly Gilbert discusses what a solar storm is and how it occurs. She explains how solar storms affect objects that aren’t protected by our atmosphere such as astronauts on the International Space Station.


Every day our Earth experiences storms of all kinds including thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. One type of storm we often don’t realize we are experiencing is a solar storm. Thanks to our protective atmosphere and magnetic field called the magnetosphere, we’re safe from the dangers of solar storms.

NASA Now Minute: Solar Storms





Puffy Heads and Bird Legs

cartoon drawing show student in position for this activity.NASA Explorer Schools educator Holley Sykes, a resource teacher from Briarwood Elementary, just finished an activity called Fluid Shift. Students are challenged to simulate the bodily fluid shift seen in astronauts while in space. After taking a baseline heart rate and baseline ankle measurement, students lie on the floor and point their legs upward against the wall. Every minute their lab partner takes an ankle measurement and every two minutes a new heart rate. After 10 minutes, students compare their ankle measurements and heart rates. 

See additional activities at http://neon.intronetworks.com/#. Register, log in, join the NES group, and navigate to Other NASA-related Activities I’ve Done forum and look for the Astronauts in Space entry.

If you do this, or another NASA-related activity, with your students be sure to get credit toward NES recognition by adding it to your activities profile on the NES Virtual Campus.

Build a Solar Oven

Cartoon drawing-sun and solar panelsHere is a great idea for the Messenger: Staying Cool — My Angle on Cooling Effects of Distance and Inclination module. Your students can create solar “cookers.” One of the variables is choosing how the sun enters the cooker, either directly or at an angle. Share with us on NEON your students/ results.

Read more about the activity Build a Solar Oven in NEON. Register, log in, join the NASA Explorer Schools group and find Messenger: Staying Cool — My Angle on Cooling Effects of Distance and Inclination forum. The solar oven lesson is available in that forum.

Spacesuits Protect STS-133 Astronauts

STS-133 astronaut conducting a spacewalk outside the ISSAstronauts aboard STS-133 are wrapping up a series of scheduled spacewalks, or extravehicular activities. When astronauts venture outside of their spacecraft, they need spacesuits to protect them from the solar radiation, the cold temperatures of space and fast-moving particles called micrometeoroids.

Check out a great activity called Potato Astronaut: Spacesuit. Students investigate the effects of high-speed simulated micrometeoroid impacts and penetration depth. They also learn how layered materials protect astronauts. You will find the activity in the Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon Educator Guide on Page 133.

See additional activities in NEON. Register, log in, join the NASA Explorer Schools group, and find Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon. The activity is available in that forum.