NASA Selects Innovative Museum Exhibits And Planetarium Shows

Ann Marie Trotta

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1600

ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

 

WASHINGTON -- Exhibits, planetarium shows, and community-based programming are among 18 projects NASA has selected to receive agency funding in 2012. The projects consist of 11 informal education providers and seven NASA visitor centers that will share $10 million in grants through NASA's Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums Plus Opportunities for NASA Visitor Centers and Other Informal Education Institutions.

Project topics will feature NASA missions in engineering, astronomy, human spaceflight, aeronautics, technology, and Earth science. The selected projects will partner with NASA's Museum Alliance, a nationwide network of informal education professionals at more than 500 museums, science centers, planetariums, NASA visitor centers, Challenger centers, visitor centers at observatories and parks, nature centers, aquariums and zoos.

"Informal education providers are an important part of NASA's education family," said Leland Melvin, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Education in Washington. "By using compelling NASA content, they help us stimulate interest in science, technology, engineer and mathematics, or STEM. Increasing STEM literacy in students today is key to having the talent NASA will need to embark on future missions of science and discovery."

Projects selected in this year's program will engage learners of all ages, as well as educators who deliver formal or informal STEM education. The projects will produce NASA-inspired educational opportunities, including planetarium shows, exhibits, community-based programming, and other hands-on activities.

In conjunction with NASA's Museum Alliance, the grants focus on NASA-themed space exploration, aeronautics, space science, Earth science, microgravity or a combination of themes. Some projects will include partnerships with elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, as well as with community-based organizations.

The museums, science-technology centers, and planetarium selected for project funding are located in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The eleven grants have a maximum five-year period of performance, and range in value from approximately $370,000 to $857,000.

The selected NASA visitor centers are located in Alabama, California, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. The seven visitor center projects have a maximum five-year period of performance and range in value from approximately $200,000 to $900,000.

Proposals were selected through a merit-based, peer-reviewed process from the 63 proposals received. Institutions from 30 states and the District of Columbia competed. NASA's Office of Education, agency mission directorates and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory collaborated to solicit and review the grant applications. This integrated approach distinguishes NASA's investment in education from other federal grant makers. Before new grants or cooperative agreements are issued, selected institutions must complete required business and policy review by working with the NASA Shared Services Center in Mississippi.

Congress established the inaugural Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums in 2008. NASA will open the fourth competition for new proposals in Fiscal Year 2013.

For a list of selected organizations and projects descriptions, visit http://go.nasa.gov/NKC2V0.

For information about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., leads the Museum Alliance for NASA. For information about the Alliance, visit http://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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Cubesats "Land" at National Science Foundation on Thursday, May 24th

Scientists, engineers, educators from cubesat projects will showcase their projects at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Virginia

Imagine a fully instrumented satellite the size of a half-gallon milk carton.

Small low-cost satellite payloads, built mainly by students and hitching rides into orbit on Air Force and NASA launch vehicles, have been making recent history in successes many herald as a "space revolution."

Called cubesats for the roughly four-inch-cubed dimensions of their basic building elements, each one is stacked with modern, smart-phone-like electronics and tiny scientific instruments.

Several cubesat projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) are currently operating in orbit, making first-of-their-kind experiments in space and providing new measurements that help scientists understand how the Earth's upper atmosphere responds to solar activity.

And more are on the way.

Several other payloads are already built and awaiting launch this summer with their host spacecraft. Yet others are in the process of being constructed or designed, all poised to provide new scientific measurements to answer questions in space and atmospheric science.

But this is just the beginning, say scientists.

The future of cubesat projects is only limited by the imagination, researchers believe. The capabilities of cubesat systems are growing at an ever-increasing rate as technological advances are made.

Opportunities are many to accelerate this technology through engineering research in an array of fields, including materials research, 3-D printing, sensor miniaturization, micro-electro-mechanical systems, systems engineering, radio science, communication algorithms and networks.

Private firms and government agencies are also adopting the cubesat concept as a low-cost way of flying payloads in space while creating important educational opportunities for future leaders of industry.

The projects stimulate widespread excitement and involve a unique set of skills and interests. They appeal, say researchers, to a broader range of participants than more traditional science and engineering projects.

What will it take for future cubesat projects to provide the crucial measurements from space needed to solve critical societal problems, such as climate change, land use and resource management, pollution and disaster monitoring, communication and space weather?

On May 24, NSF will host an event titled: "Workshop to Explore the Utility of Cubesat Projects for Scientific Research and Technology Advances and STEM Education and Workforce Development."

Scientists, engineers and educators will showcase their current NSF-funded cubesat science and engineering projects.

Presentations will explore the potential for cubesat projects to play a major role in solving critical societal problems and enabling scientific discoveries and engineering innovation.

The event will feature posters and exhibits presented by the project teams, as well as presentations highlighting current and future cubesat capabilities.

Who: Cubesat project scientists, engineers, educators and students

What: Workshop to Explore the Utility of Cubesat Projects for Scientific Research and Technology Advances, and STEM Education and Workforce Development

When: Thursday, May 24, 2012, noon to 3:00 p.m. ET

Where: National Science Foundation Atrium, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230

Detailed Agenda:

Organizers:

•Therese Moretto Jorgensen, NSF program director for Space Weather Research and Instrumentation in the Geosciences Division of Geospace and Atmospheric Sciences

•Rathindra DasGupta, NSF program director for Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers in the Engineering Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

•Kevin Simmons, Senior Policy Analyst in the Engineering Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

Schedule:

Noon to 3 p.m.--Posters and exhibits are staffed

1 p.m to 3 p.m.--Presentations:

•Michael Morgan, NSF Division Director for Geospace and Atmospheric Sciences--Welcome and introduction

•Jordi Puig-Suari, California Polytechnic (to be confirmed)--Cubesats as a disruptive technology

•James Cutler, University of Michigan--Experiences with student-built cubesats

•Norman Fitz-Coy, University of Florida--Utility of cubesat data to developing countries, especially those in Africa, for addressing socio-economic needs

•Eloisa de Castro, Princeton Satellite Systems, Inc.--Industry involvement in cubesats and education.

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NASA Officials Participate in 2nd Annual White House Science Fair

Ann Marie Trotta
Headquarters, Washington     

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other senior agency officials joined President Obama in honoring student science fair winners from across the country at the second annual White House Science Fair today in the East Wing of the White House. The event highlighted student achievement and excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

In November 2009, the president announced his "Educate to Innovate" campaign and emphasized the importance of encouraging students to pursue STEM studies and careers. NASA has developed a wide variety of education programs that use the inherent excitement of space exploration and science to inspire students and generate interest in STEM.

"Programs like this science fair help students develop critical skills and get hands-on experience that will serve them and our nation well in the future," Bolden said. "These talented students are tomorrow's science leaders, and their skills will be critical to helping us make an American economy built to last."

Joining Bolden at the event were NASA's Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin and Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. Both Melvin and Grunsfeld also are veteran space shuttle astronauts who frequently use their flight experiences as catalysts for engaging students' interest in space and science. NASA Chief Technologist, Mason Peck, NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati, and Paul Hertz, chief scientist for the agency's Science Mission Directorate, also attended the fair and met with student honorees.

Among the winning science experiments displayed at the White House today were two that related directly to NASA's mission, including entries from a girls' rocket team and a FIRST Robotics alliance.

The "Young Women Rocketing to Nationals" team featured Janet and Ana Karen Nieto of Presidio, Texas, who are members of the Presidio High School Rocketry Team that competed as a national finalist in the Team America Rocketry Challenge in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Gwynelle Condino, a 7th grade student at Lucy Franco Middle School in Presidio, is the team's leader this year.

"A Winning Robotics Alliance, with Astronauts Cheering Them On" team was comprised of John Drake of Schaumburg, Ill., Sean Murphy of Atascadero, Calif., and Eric Bakan of San Jose, Calif. They represented the winning alliance of the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship and were mentored by engineers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Two other NASA-related education programs also were represented at today's event.

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), is a hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program where students, teachers and scientists worldwide collaborate on investigations of the environment and the Earth system. Participants work in close partnership with NASA and other federal agencies.

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) was launched in June 2010 by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. Student teams in grades 5-12 propose microgravity experiments for flight in a research minilab that may be flown to the International Space Station. SSEP is enabled through a space act agreement as part of the International Space Station's use as a National Laboratory.

To learn more about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

To learn more about NASA's science missions, visit http://www.science.nasa.gov.

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