NASA Education “Science WOW!” Message — May 31, 2017

2017 von Kármán Lecture Series — Attend in Person or View Online
Audience: All Educators; Students in Grades 9-12 and Higher Education
Next Lecture Date: June 1, 2017, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)

The Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, named after the founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and presented by JPL’s Office of Communication and Education, shares the excitement of the space program’s missions, instruments and other technologies.

Lectures take place twice per month, on consecutive Thursdays and Fridays. Thursday lectures take place in JPL’s Theodore von Kármán Auditorium, and Friday lectures take place at Pasadena City College’s Vosloh Forum. Both start at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT). Admission and parking are free for all lectures. No reservations are required, but seating is limited. The Thursday evening lectures are streamed live for viewing online. Archives of past lectures are also available online.

Next Lecture in the Series:

The Golden Age of Exploration
Event Date: June 1 and June 2, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2017&month=6
Missions managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have visited every planet in our solar system. Mars has been explored by rovers; samples from a comet’s tail and the solar wind have been returned to Earth; planets have been discovered around neighboring stars; and new insights into our planet’s environment have been acquired. Join Charles Elachi, recently retired director of JPL, for a discussion about this golden age of exploration.

For more information about the Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, including a complete list of upcoming lectures, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.php.

Questions about this series should be directed to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/contact_JPL.php.

Student Spaceflight Experiments Program — Mission 12 to the International Space Station
Audience: School Districts Serving Grades 5-12, Informal Education Institutions, Colleges and Universities
Inquiry Deadline: June, 15, 2017
Start Date: September 5, 2017

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education announce a science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, opportunity for school districts across the U.S. and space station partner nations. The newest flight opportunity, Mission 12 to the International Space Station, gives students across a community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit on the space station. This opportunity is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, or SSEP.

Each participating community will receive a microgravity research mini-laboratory capable of supporting a single microgravity experiment and all launch services to fly the minilab to the space station in spring/summer 2018 and return it to Earth. An experiment design competition in each community — engaging typically 300+ students — allows student teams to design and propose real experiments vying for their community′s reserved mini-lab.

Content resources for teachers and students support foundational instruction on science in microgravity and experimental design. Additional SSEP programming uses the experiment design competition to engage the community in embracing a learning-community model for STEM education.

This competition is open to students in grades 5-12 and college. Informal education groups and organizations also are encouraged to participate. Interested communities must inquire about the program no later than June 15, 2017. The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education is available to help interested communities in the U.S. secure the needed funding.

To learn more about this opportunity, visit the “SSEP Mission 12 to International Space Station” National Announcement of Opportunity at http://ssep.ncesse.org/2017/03/new-flight-opportunity-for-school-districts-announcing-student-spaceflight-experiments-program-ssep-mission-12-to-the-international-space-station-starting-september-2017/.

SSEP is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the use of the International Space Station as a national laboratory. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (http://www.iss-casis.org/) is a national partner of SSEP. To view a list of all SSEP national partners, visit http://ssep.ncesse.org/national-partners/.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email SSEP National Program Director Jeff Goldstein at jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org.

**NEW** New Forever Stamp to Commemorate Solar Eclipse 2017
Audience: All Educators and Students
Release Date: June 20, 2017

To commemorate the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse, the U.S. Postal Service will release a first-of-its-kind stamp that changes when touched. The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp is the first U.S. stamp application of thermochromic ink. Using the body heat of a person’s thumb or fingers, the eclipse image will transform to reveal an underlying image of the moon. The stamp reverts back to the eclipse image once it cools.

Tens of millions of people in the United States hope to view this rare event, which has not been seen on the U.S. mainland since 1979. The eclipse will travel a narrow path across the entire country for the first time since 1918. The path will run west to east from Oregon to South Carolina and will include portions of 14 states.

The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamps can be pre-ordered now at usps.com/shop for delivery after the June 20 issuance. Please share the news and your eclipse experiences using the hashtag #EclipseStamps.

For more information, visit http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_020.htm.

Please direct questions about the Total Solar Eclipse Forever stamp to Mark Saunders at mark.r.saunders@usps.gov.

Science Opportunities for Educators of Grades K-12

Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional Development
Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators

The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University is presenting a series of free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources that bring NASA into your classroom. Registration is required to participate. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.

NASA Digital Badge for Educators: A Way to Personalize Your Learning
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: May 31, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT
Digital badges, or microcredentials, are online representation of online learning experiences. They offer educators an opportunity to personalize their professional development. NASA EPDC Digital Badging System offers various opportunities for educators to learn about NASA topics and classroom activities while earning hours of professional development. This webinar will offer a walkthrough of the Digital Badging System and will look through some current opportunities for all educators. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/242639

**NEW** Journey to Mars: Radiation
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: June 6, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. EDT
Learn about NASA’s Journey to Mars and how radiation impacts our planning. Participants also will learn about current research at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/254169

For a full schedule of upcoming NASA Educator Professional Development webinars, visit http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/.

Questions about this series of webinars should be directed to Steve Culivan at stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov.

Be a Citizen Earth Scientist With the ‘GLOBE Observer’ App
Audience: All Educators and Students

Want to be a citizen Earth scientist? To contribute to NASA’s studies of our home planet, all you need is a smartphone, access to the outdoors, and the “GLOBE Observer” app.

Now available for Apple and Android phones, the app is an initiative of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program. For over two decades, GLOBE has enabled schools and students in over 110 countries to investigate their local environment and put their observations in a global context.

To learn more, visit https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-launches-new-citizen-science-opportunity and http://observer.globe.gov.

Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions

**NEW** 2017 Girls in STEM Event at NASA’s Glenn Research Center
Audience: Summer Camps and Out-of-School-Time Groups for Girls in Grades 6-8
Registration Deadline: June 2, 2017
Event Date: July 14, 2017

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is hosting a “Girls in STEM” event for girls in grades 6 to 8 who participate in summer camps or other out-of-school-time summer groups and organizations! The event will take place on July 14, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT.

This activity-filled event includes a career showcase, a panel of female scientists and engineers, an engineering design challenge, and facility tours to encourage future leaders to pursue careers in STEM.

Online registration for the event is open through Friday, June 2, 2017. Attending students and chaperones must be U.S. citizens. Each group must have 10 to 25 students.

For full event details and to register online, visit https://events.grc.nasa.gov/girlsinstem/Default.aspx.

Questions about this event should be directed to Stephanie Brown-Houston at sdbrown-houston@nasa.gov.

2017 Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
DEADLINE EXTENDED — Abstract Submissions Due: June 2, 2017
Workshop Dates: Aug. 21-25, 2017

The annual Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop will be held Aug. 21-25, 2017, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop encourages knowledge sharing, professional development, and networking throughout the thermal and fluids engineering community within NASA, academia and the aerospace community at large. STEM faculty and university students are encouraged to attend, submit a poster or paper on their thermal/fluids work, take free training, or do a combination thereof.

Registration to attend the workshop is free. Participants interested in presenting at the conference, via manuscript or technical poster, must submit an abstract by June 2, 2017.

For more information about the workshop and how to submit an abstract for consideration, visit https://tfaws.nasa.gov/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Ramona Cummings at ramona.o.cummings@nasa.gov.

Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships
Audience: Undergraduate and Graduate Students at U.S. Universities and Colleges
Application Deadline: June 2, 2017

The Space Studies Board is seeking applicants for the Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships for autumn 2017. The goal of the program is to provide promising undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to work in the area of civil space research policy in the nation’s capital.

Established in 1958, the Space Studies Board is the principal advisory group providing independent scientific and programmatic advice to NASA and other government agencies on all aspects of civil space research and associated ground-based activities. Interns typically undertake one or more short-term research projects designed to assist with or to enhance ongoing study projects.

Applicants must be registered students (undergraduate or graduate) at a U.S. university or college who have completed their junior year. Applicants should have long-term career goals in space science research, applications or policy.

For more information and a full list of eligibility requirements, visit http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/SSB_052239.

Please direct questions about this internship to Dr. David H. Smith at dhsmith@nas.edu.