NASA “Science WOW!” Message — Jan. 31, 2018

Free Program — Cubes in Space™
Audience: Students Ages 11-18 and Educator Mentors
Registration Deadline: Feb. 2, 2018

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Langley Research Center, along with the Colorado Space Grant Consortium and idoodledu, inc., are offering a free STEAM education program for students ages 11-18. Cubes in Space™ lets students design and compete to launch an experiment into space. Selected student-designed payload cubes will be launched via a sounding rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, in late June 2018 or from a high-altitude scientific balloon from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in New Mexico in late August 2018.

Registration closes on Feb. 2, 2018. For more information, visit http://www.cubesinspace.com/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to info@cubesinspace.com.

Diving Into Ocean Worlds — Titan: A World With Two Styles of Ocean
Audience: All Educators and Grade 9-Higher Education Students
Event Date: Feb. 8, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 p.m. EST)

Earth is not the only ocean world in the solar system. The exploration of ocean worlds in the outer solar system is a hot topic of research in the planetary science community.

Join Dr. Ralph Lorenz from Johns Hopkins University for a discussion of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and the two styles of oceans found there. Attend the event in person at the Lunar Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, or watch the event live online. Archives of past lectures also are available online.

For more information, visit https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/cosmic-explorations/.

Please direct questions about this event to CosmicLecture@lpi.usra.edu.

**NEW** New Resource: CubeSat 101 — Basic Concepts and Processes for First-Time CubeSat Developers
Audience: K-12 and Higher Education Educators and Students
Category: Educational Resources

Do you want to start a CubeSat program and launch a small satellite? The CubeSat Launch Initiative gives students, teachers and faculty a chance to get hands-on, flight hardware development experience while designing, building and operating small research satellites. This opportunity is open to U.S. nonprofit organizations and accredited educational organizations.

A new resource is available to help you learn how to take a great CubeSat idea and make it into an actual spacecraft that is launched into orbit. The “CubeSat 101: Basic Concepts and Processes for First-Time CubeSat Developers” can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_csli_cubesat_101_508.pdf.

To learn more about the CubeSat Launch Initiative, visit http://go.nasa.gov/CubeSat_initiative.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Carol Galica at Carol.A.Galica@nasa.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.

ISS YES: Toys in Space — Basic Physics in Microgravity
Audience: 5-12, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: Feb. 1, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. EST
Participants will get an overview of NASA’s International Toys in Space resources. Discussion will focus on hands-on activities showing basic physics in the special case of microgravity. The activities presented in this webinar address the Next Generation Science Standards PS2 and PS3.
https://www.eiseverywhere.com/303570

**NEW** ISS YES: Teamwork Strategies
Audience: K-12, Informal and Pre-service Educators
Event Date: Feb. 8, 2018, at 5 p.m. EST
Learn how NASA helps crew members develop skills to prepare to live and work together during space missions. The webinar’s activities help students learn and practice skills applicable in everyday life. Activities on the following topics will be presented: Self Care/Team Care, Cultural Competency, Leadership/Followship and Teamwork Communication. Register online to participate.
https://www.eiseverywhere.com/307521

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.

Free Education Workshops From NASA Stennis Space Center Office of Education
Audience: In-Service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal STEM Educators

The NASA Stennis Space Center Office of Education is presenting a series of free workshops open to all educators. All workshops will take place at the Infinity Science Center in Pearlington, Mississippi. (map) Registration is required to participate. Each workshop is limited to 30 participants. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.

International Space Station: Beyond the Classroom
Audience: Educators of Grades 4-8
Registration Deadline: Feb. 4, 2018 (maximum of 30 participants)
Event Date: Feb. 8, 2018, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. CST
Explore ways to integrate the International Space Station into your STEM, arts and social studies instruction. Participants also will learn about the Year of Education on Station — two former classroom teachers, now astronauts, spending a combined year in space delivering STEM activities related to the space station.
https://www.eiseverywhere.com/298599

Forces and Motion of Flight
Audience: Educators of Grades 4-8
Registration Deadline: March 4, 2018 (maximum of 30 participants)
Event Date: March 8, 2018, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. CDT
Learn about the forces and motion of flying things with a wide variety of hands-on aerospace STEM activities, lesson plans and online resources. Discover some of the many aeronautics technologies developed from NASA research.
https://www.eiseverywhere.com/298601

For a full schedule of upcoming educator workshops, visit https://www.nasa.gov/centers/stennis/education/educators/workshops.html.

Questions about this series of webinars should be directed to April McIntosh at april.l.mcintosh@nasa.gov.

Opportunities for Higher Education and Informal Institutions

2018-2019 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowships
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Proposal Deadline: Feb. 1, 2018

The NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship program is accepting proposals for the 2018-2019 academic year. Applications must be from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of individuals pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines.

NASA will award training grants to the respective universities, with the advisor serving as principal investigator. The maximum NESSF award is $45,000 per year.

Proposals are due Feb. 1, 2018. For information, visit https://go.nasa.gov/2AsHckq.

Questions about Earth Science Research NESSF opportunities should be directed to Claire Macaulay at Claire.I.Macaulay@nasa.gov.

Questions about Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research and Astrophysics Research opportunities should be directed to Marian Norris at mnorris@nasa.gov.

2018 Planetary Geology and Geophysics Undergraduate Research Program
Audience: Undergraduate Students Majoring in Geology or a Related Science
Application Deadline: Feb. 21, 2018

The Planetary Geology and Geophysics Undergraduate Research Program pairs qualified undergraduate students with NASA-funded investigators at research locations across the U.S. for eight weeks during the summer. Students spend the summer at the NASA scientists’ home institutions. Selected students receive a cost-of-living stipend and compensation for housing and travel.

Undergraduate students majoring in geology or related sciences are eligible to apply. Students graduating in 2018 who have not started graduate school yet are also eligible. Preference is given to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Applications are due Feb. 21, 2018.

For more information, visit http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~tgregg/pggurp_homepage.html.

If you have questions about this opportunity, please email Robyn Wagner, PGGURP administrator, at pggurp@buffalo.edu.

NASA Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program
Audience: Higher Education Researchers Who Are U.S. Citizens
Application Deadline: Feb. 22, 2018
Fellowship Dates: June 4 – Aug. 10, 2018

The NASA Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program provides opportunities for STEM faculty to do research for 10 weeks during the summer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Applicants must be U.S. citizens working full time at an accredited university or college in the U.S. The program provides stipends and covers limited travel expenses. Qualified male and female faculty from majority- and minority-serving universities and colleges, including underserved groups and persons with disabilities, are encouraged to apply.

Applications are due Feb. 22, 2018. For information, visit https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/MSFC-Faculty-Fellowship.html.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to frank.six@nasa.gov.

Call for Abstracts: 69th International Astronautical Congress
Audience: Full-time U.S. Graduate Students Attending U.S. Universities
Submission Deadline: Feb. 27, 2018

NASA is seeking abstracts from full-time graduate students interested in presenting at the 69th International Astronautical Congress taking place Oct. 1-5, 2018, in Bremen, Germany. Abstracts must be original, unpublished papers that have not been submitted in any other forum. Abstracts must be 400 words or less, written in English and related to NASA’s ongoing vision for space exploration.

Abstracts are due Feb. 27, 2018. For more information, visit https://iac.nasaprs.com/iac/home/index.cfm.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to abstract@nasaprs.com.

Call for Proposals — NASA Fellowship Activity 2018
Audience: First-year Master’s or Doctoral Students
Pre-proposal Teleconference Date: Feb. 5, 2018, at 10 a.m. EST
Proposal Deadline: March 20, 2018, by 5:59 p.m. EDT

The NASA Office of Education Fellowship Activity funds candidates for graduate research at their respective campuses during the academic year under the guidance of their faculty adviser and a NASA researcher. Proposals must be student-authored and independently conceived.

To be eligible to submit a proposal, candidates must be U.S. citizens or naturalized citizens who hold a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field earned before Aug. 31, 2018. Candidates must be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program no later than Sept. 1, 2018, and intend to pursue a research-based master’s or Ph.D. program in a NASA-relevant field.

Proposals are due March 20, 2018.

For full program details, visit https://go.nasa.gov/2rjqjYO.

An informational webinar about this fellowship will be presented on Feb. 5, 2018, at 10 a.m. EST. The telecom number is 1-844-467-6272, and the passcode is 993012. The information to join the meeting via the web will be posted on the solicitation webpage once the information is available.

Please direct questions concerning these program elements to Elizabeth Cartier at elizabeth.a.cartier@nasa.gov.

**NEW** ‘RockOn! 2018’ University Rocket Science Workshop
Audience: Higher Education Faculty and Students
Early Bird Registration Deadline: March 22, 2018
Registration Deadline: May 2, 2018

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is hosting the “RockOn! 2018” workshop June 16-21, 2018, in partnership with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia. University and community college faculty and students are invited to the weeklong workshop to learn how to build and launch a scientific experiment into space.

Participants at the hands-on workshop will build an experiment that will be launched to an altitude of more than 70 miles. Workshop participants must be U.S. citizens.

For more information, visit http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/national-programs/rockon-2018-home.

Please direct questions about this workshop to Keith Koehler at koehler@colorado.edu.