Month: July 2013

Summer Renovations

Around the house and the school building, summer is a good time to renew and renovate. By coincidence, the NASA website is undergoing renovations too. You may have seen What the Heck Happened to NASA.gov? But you may have arrived at the NASA site a different way and missed the announcement about the site changes. The NASA website contains a massive amount of information, so updating all the pages is no small task. As with all large-scale renovations, this one will take time to complete.

So how do the renovations affect the DIY Podcast site?

First, the URL for the blog post has changed. If you subscribed to the RSS feed via bookmarks, you’ve noticed that the old posts have disappeared. But now, of course, you’ve found us again!

One of the many changes is that NASA has moved all their videos to YouTube. We realize that the move has a major impact on our audience. Using YouTube is a great way for more people to see our clips. Unfortunately, it also means that at this time you will not be able to download videos from the most recent modules. Rest assured we are working on a solution, and we’ll keep you updated on our progress!

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Top 10 Reasons to Participate in the EDC

A list of reasons to participate the NASA Exploration Design Challenge

What’s one of the most exciting things going on this year with NASA Education? The answer is the NASA Exploration Design Challenge! If you haven’t heard the news, the challenge asks students to think of a solution for protecting astronauts from radiation.

In my opinion, this is a cool, relevant way to involve teams of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Why should you consider participating with your class, homeschool, troop or club? Here are my top reasons.

The Top 10 Reasons for Students to Participate in EDC:

10. It’s free!

9. Students will think like scientists and solve problems like engineers in this real-world STEM problem.

8. Teams will join an activity in which students from more than 30 countries are participating.

7. Resources include standards-based activities, background information, safety procedures and videos for students in K-12.

6. Looking for answers to a real-world problem can be a powerful learning experience.


Why Should Students Get Involved With the NASA Exploration Design Challenge? Kelvin Kirby explains. Kirby is deputy director for the Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration at Prairie View A&M University in Texas.

5. Students learn about Orion, NASA’s next spacecraft for human explorers.

4. Team members and their sponsors will be a part of history as their names will be stored in the Smithsonian Institute as Orion’s virtual crew.

3. EDC motivates students toward STEM careers they may not have considered.

2. Winning high school teams will be invited to the inaugural launch of Orion.

1. Participants will serve as honorary, virtual crew members for Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1!

The challenge has already begun. But it’s not too late to … Plan to kick off your 2013-2014 school year in an exciting way by involving your students. High school students must submit their solutions by Jan. 14, 2014. All others must register for the virtual crew by March 14, 2014.

This post is part of a series about the NASA Exploration Design Challenge.

NASA Exploration Design Challenge

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