Have you Heard the one About the Rubber Chicken?

Camilla the rubber chicken at Kennedy Space Center in front of the Vehicle Assembly BuildingLast month, when the sun unleashed the most intense radiation storm since 2003, peppering satellites with charged particles and igniting strong auroras around both poles, a group of high school students in Bishop, Calif., knew just what to do.They launched a rubber chicken.The students inflated a helium balloon and used it to send the fowl, named “Camilla,” to an altitude of 36.6 km, or 120,000 ft, where it was exposed to high-energy solar protons at point blank range.


Camilla flew twice–once on Mar. 3 before the radiation storm and again on Mar. 10 while the storm was in full swing, giving the students a basis for comparison.


Read more about how the chicken got to the “other side” by visiting http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/19apr_camilla/


If you’re interested in ballooning, check out the NES lesson, Engineering Design: Forces and Motion — Balloon Aerodynamics Challenge (requires log in to the NES Virtual Campus website).

Historic Shuttles to Arrive at Permanent Locations by Year's End

Silhouette of shuttle and transport jet during sunsetBy the end of 2012, NASA’s space shuttles will be in their new homes.


Recently, the shuttles were on the move as part of the transition and retirement activities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


On Feb. 1, Bart Pannullo, NASA vehicle manager for transition and retirement, watched as shuttle Endeavour was backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building and towed to Orbiter Processing Facility-2.


The next day, shuttle Atlantis made an appearance outside the VAB as it was towed from the VAB transfer aisle into high bay 4 for temporary storage. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2013.


To read more about the final destinations for NASA’s historic space shuttles, you may visit https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/shuttles_tr.html.


This story is a great extension to share with your students after completing the NASA Explorer Schools featured lesson Linear Regression: Exploring Space Through Math — Space Shuttle Ascent. This lesson can be found on the Virtual Campus website.


NASA Now – Engineering Design Process: Hubble Space Telescope

NASA NowNASA engineer Russ Werneth discusses the continuous nature of the engineering design process and shares what it was like to design and plan the spacewalks that were key to the Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions.


This episode of NASA Now is available on the NES Virtual Campus beginning Apr. 18.


Preview of NASA Now: Hubble Space Telescope


NES Educator and Students Embark on a High-Flying Adventure

Hey, NASA Explorer Schools teachers! NES educator Kaci Pilcher Heins has a great way to get students involved with STEM — high-altitude ballooning! She says, “Usually each state has a ballooning organization and is very willing to get students involved. We are heading to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott tomorrow (April 12, 2012) to launch our payload of temperature sensor, pressure sensor, camera, and sensitive film to try and capture gamma rays on board a high-altitude balloon. This is also a great opportunity for my sixth-graders to talk with university students as we tour the campus.” Pilcher Heins reports that they are also using amateur radio with the repeater on the balloon.

Here is a picture of the predicted flight path (prepared prior to the flight)

Map showing the projected flight path of the high altitude balloon


Here are two pictures of Earth taken during the high-altitude balloon flight on April 12

Photo showing curvature of Earth against the black of space as seen from the high-altitude balloon flight.

Photo showing curvature of Earth as seen from the high-altitude balloon flight.

Directly related to this activity is the NES featured lesson, Engineering Design: Forces and Motion — Balloon Aerodynamics.

And be sure to make a note in your calendar — on May 2, “NASA Now: Balloon Research” comes to the NES Virtual Campus.

NES Events Next Week

Chat!

NES Video Chat: Space Shuttle Discovery Fly Out

On April 16, from 1-2:30 p.m. EDT, your students have an opportunity to interact with NASA experts who will be on hand at the Space Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to celebrate the Space Shuttle Discovery Fly Out.


Recognition

NES Recognition Opportunities Overview

NASA Explorer Schools recognizes teachers, schools and students who become highly engaged with all the NES project has to offer. Highly engaged participants have the opportunity to apply for unique, expenses-paid recognition opportunities for teachers, students and schools. Attend this session on Apr. 17, from 4-5 p.m. EDT and learn how your can participate in these exciting recognition opportunities. Click on the title of this section to register.


Algebraic Equations: Calculator Controlled Robots Professional Development Web Seminar

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute Web seminar on Apr. 18, 2012, at 8:15 p.m. EDT. Discover a unique way of integrating robotic technology into your algebra classes. Robotic missions engage students and provide a unique way of bringing to life the concepts you are teaching. Learn to use programmable Texas Instruments, or TI, calculators and Norland Research Robots to solve problems requiring substituting values for variables in formulas.


This seminar provides an overview of using robotics in algebra so you can make an informed decision about purchasing the robots and other equipment. You do not need to have a Norland Research Robot or programmable TI calculator to participate in this seminar, or know how to program the calculator.

For more information and to register online, click on the title of this section.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.


Fourth Grade Students Request and Receive GRAIL Moon Image

One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the lunar surface from its onboard camera. Fourth grade students from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont., received the honor of making the first image selections by winning a nationwide competition to rename the two spacecraft.


To read more about this student opportunity and see the image, visit the NASA feature story page. This story details an opportunity NASA opened to students to rename two spacecraft and of students getting involved in moon research serves as an excellent extension to the NASA Explorer Schools featured lesson, Engineering Design Process: On the Moon. Be sure to share this with your students who have completed this activity. To access this lesson, visit the NES Virtual Campus.


NASA Now: Scientific Method — Using Robots for Inquiry

NASA NowPaulo Younse is a robotics engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory located in Pasadena, Calif. and is an expert on NASA’s newest Mars rover, Curiosity. In this NASA Now classroom video he talks about how each mission to Mars is determined by the information gained from previous missions. He explains how scientists and robots work together using the scientific method of research.


This video is available on the NES Virtual Campus beginning Apr. 11.


Preview of NASA Now: Using Robots for Inquiry

NASATalk NXT Tweetup

NXT Robot Controller with ArmThe NASATalk NXT Tweetup will provide a light introduction for those new to Twitter, while at the same time presenting several NXT robotics resources for use in classroom or informal education settings, on Monday-Friday, April 9-13, from 4-5 p.m. EDT.

This event focuses on NXT robotics questions, answers and comments being addressed within the activities presented in the Group Activities on the NASATalk NXT Tweetup website.


The activities include:

   • Circles, Ratios and Robot Navigation.
   • Robot Virtual Worlds.
   • Decibel Detection (Using Sound Sensor).
   • Rocker Bogie Rover Wheel System.
   • Gear Ratios Applied to Robots.


For more information, including a short file with Twitter instructions, see https://www.nasatalk.com/collaboratives/robotics/nasatalk-nxt-tweetup.html.

If you’re on Twitter, follow @NXTtweetup. One tweet will be added every 15 minutes during the event.

Direct your NASATalk NXT Robotics Tweetup questions to the following:

   • Meri Cummingsabout appropriate activities and the Tweetup schedule.
   • Kendyl Morrisabout creating a Twitter account and tweeting.
   • Chris Ruckmanabout using NASATalk.

NASA Now: Lasers and Light — STORRM

Byron Meadows, a laser systems engineer at NASA, describes his work on the Sensor Testing for Orion Relative Navigation Risk Mitigation, or STORRM, project. STORRM is a sensor and laser technology that will make it easier for space vehicles to dock to the International Space Station.


This sensing technology also could be used for applications on Earth such as climate and environmental observations, robotic maneuvering, topographical surveillance, and hazard avoidance systems for cars or aircraft.

Meadows explains why NASA wants to develop technology that can operate autonomously, how STORRM accomplished this goal, and how lasers make the project possible.

This program is available on the NES Virtual Campus beginning Apr. 4.

Link to the NES Virtual Campus home page.


Preview of Lasers and Light — STORRM