Hitch a Ride on the Glory Satellite

Do you want to hitch a ride on NASA’s next climate monitoring satellite? Join the Glory mission, which will launch no earlier than Oct. 1, 2010, by surfing over to the Send Your Name Around the Earth Web page. Names will be recorded on a microchip built into the satellite, and you will get a printable certificate from NASA acknowledging your participation. There are already 226,323 names on the chip, but there’s still plenty of room. You may not submit your name more than once.

To add your name to the microchip, visit http://polls.nasa.gov/utilities/sendtospace/jsp/sendName.jsp.

Glory carries two scientific sensors dedicated to understanding the effects of aerosols and the sun’s variability on Earth’s climate. The Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor will collect information about tiny liquid and solid particles suspended in the atmosphere that absorb or reflect sunlight. The Total Irradiance Monitor will measure the intensity of incoming sunlight that can vary over time.

To learn more about the Glory mission, visit
http://glory.gsfc.nasa.gov/
.

Become a Friend to the Glory Mission on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1368706679&ref=profile

NASA Moon Work Contest – Notice of Intent Due Dec 15, 2009

Engineering students, you could win a NASA internship!

The 2010 NASA Moon Work engineering design challenge seeks to motivate college students by giving them first-hand experience with the process of developing new technologies. To participate in the contest, students will submit their original design for tools or instruments that can help astronauts live and work on the moon.

Top-ranked students will be offered a chance to intern with a team from NASA’s Exploration Technology Development Program.

The Exploration Technology Development Program develops new technologies that will enable NASA to conduct future human exploration missions while reducing mission risk and cost. The program is maturing near-term technologies to help enable the first flight of the Orion crew exploration vehicle and developing long-lead technologies needed for possible lunar exploration missions.

Winning Moon Work contestants also will have a chance to attend field tests conducted by the Desert Research and Technology Studies Program, managed by NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The program conducts annual tests of new technologies in landscapes that are close analogs of the moon and other harsh space environments.

Students should submit a notice of intent to enter the contest by Dec 15, 2009. Final entries for the Moon Work challenge are due May 15, 2010. All entries must be from students at U.S. colleges or universities. Although non-citizens may be part of a team, only U.S. citizens may win NASA internships or travel awards.

For complete details and to enter the contest, visit:

http://moonwork.larc.nasa.gov

Apply Now for STS-131 In-flight Education Downlink Opportunity – Deadline Jan 6, 2010

Call for Proposals
NASA is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host a live, in-flight education downlink during STS-131, the flight of educator and Mission Specialist Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger. To maximize these downlink opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and make a large-scale impact on education. Educational themes for the STS-131 mission include robotics and attracting and retaining girls in STEM disciplines.

Opportunity
During the STS-131 mission, Metcalf-Lindenburger and selected crew members will participate in downlinks. Downlinks are approximately 20 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the crew aboard the space shuttle through a question and answer session. A downlink is a modified video conference in which participants see and hear the crew members live from space, but the crew does not see the audience. Downlinks afford education audiences the opportunity to learn first-hand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space. Downlinks are broadcast live on NASA TV. Downlinks can happen any day during the mission and are not always scheduled during normal business hours. Because of the nature of human spaceflight, hosts must have maximum flexibility to accommodate changes in downlink dates and times.

Background
No earlier than March 18, 2010, the STS-131 crew will launch into space aboard space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks to be transferred to the laboratories of the International Space Station. U.S. Navy Captain Alan Poindexter will command the seven-person crew of STS-131. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Dutton Jr. will serve as Discovery’s pilot. Mission specialists are NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio, Clay Anderson, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger and Stephanie Wilson, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. Dutton, Metcalf-Lindenburger and Yamazaki will be making their first trip to space.

Who Can Host a Downlink?
Members of the U.S. formal and informal education communities are eligible to host a downlink. Examples include museums and science centers, local school districts, national and regional education organizations, and local, state and U.S. government agencies. NASA provides this opportunity at no cost to the host organization. Downlinks support national education standards and initiatives.

What You Need to Host a Downlink
To host a downlink, you need to receive NASA TV and have two dedicated telephone lines. The audio for the downlink is received through a telephone line. The second telephone line is needed so that NASA audio technicians have direct access to the host organization’s technical point of contact. The video is received through NASA TV. A LIMO channel is the preferred way to receive the video feed; however, receiving the feed through satellite or cable channels is also acceptable.

Review of Submitted Material
NASA is committed to inspiring the next generation of explorers. Proposals will be reviewed for relevance to the education community, education content, diversity of participants, continuity, and community involvement. Successful proposals will articulate how the host organization will maximize this opportunity.

Process and Deadline
The deadline to submit a proposal for an STS-131 downlink is Jan. 6, 2010 . Proposals must be submitted electronically to Teaching From Space, or TFS, a NASA Education office. A committee will review all proposals and notify organizations of their status. TFS personnel will work with the host to plan the downlink.

Interested parties should contact TFS to obtain information related to program expectations, content, format, audience, application guidelines and forms by sending an e-mail to JSC-TFS-STS-131@mail.nasa.gov

Opportunities Surrounding the Flight
Numerous opportunities will be available for formal and informal education communities to be actively engaged in the STS-131 mission. Information on the mission and related education activities can be found at
http://www.nasa.gov/education/robotics

SciJinks for Middle School Students

“SciJinks” is a highly interactive Web site that provides middle-school students and audiences of all ages an amazing science education opportunity. Provided by NOAA and NASA, the Web site transports visitors to the wild world of weather to learn about predicting global weather patterns.

SciJinks:

http://scijinks.gov

Click on the Educators link at the bottom of the page for suggestions on how to use the SciJinks resources in the classroom:
http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/en/educators/

Become a Fan on the SciJinks Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/scijinks

Follow SciJinks on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/scijinks

The Space Place – A Great Place For Kids, Parents, and Teachers

The Space Place is an extensive, content-rich Web site for upper elementary-age kids, their teachers, parents, and anyone else who likes a simple, readable, fun presentation of a wide range of space and Earth science and technology topics. Most of the site is great for kids to explore on their own, with interactive games, hands-on projects and fun facts. A Spanish version of most of the site is also available.

The Space Place:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov

The bi-monthly Space Place Newsletter for educators has lots of suggestions on how to use the resources from this Web site in the classroom: See the “Teacher’s Corner” at http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/educators

Rocket ahead with Cub Scout achievements and electives at The Space Place:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/cubscouts/index.shtml

Become a Fan on The Space Place Facebook page:

http://facebook.com/nasaspaceplace

Follow The Space Place on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/nasaspaceplace

2009-2010 NASA Education Resource Showcase Series

NASA’s Digital Learning Network presents a series of videoconferences to assist educators in staying current on NASA education resources and related products.

During each event, product producers, authors and experts will demonstrate their materials designed to optimize awareness and understanding of science concepts. Instructional objectives, accessing the materials and primary contacts for the materials will also be discussed. During the videoconferences, participants will be able to submit questions to the presenter that will be addressed during the presentation.

In the coming months, the following topics will be covered:

– Exploring Space Through Math: Dec. 16, 2009, 4-5 p.m. EST
– STS-131 Robotics: Jan. 27, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EST
– NASA Fit Explorers Feb. 24, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EST
– NASA eProfessional Development Network — Robotics Course: March 31, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EDT
– MoonWorld: April 28, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EDT
– On the Moon: May 26, 2010, 4-5 p.m. EDT

For more information about these videoconferences and to sign up online, visit
http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast/

Digital Learning Network to Host Solar Event for High Schools – Jan. 26, 2010

How intense will the next solar cycle be? Can scientists predict when a violent solar storm will blast Earth with energetic particles? How does this peculiarly low activity of the sun in 2007-2010 counteract global warming trends? These are a few of the questions that scientists anticipate the new Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, will help to answer.

SDO is scheduled to launch in February 2010. To energize students and teachers about this mission, NASA DLN will host a one-hour interactive event with scientists and engineers of SDO. Geared for students in grades 9-12, the event will take place on Jan. 26, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Slots are limited, and schools will be selected upon evidence of need and how the event will match the school’s curricular activities. All schools interested in connecting to this videoconference must send a contact name, school name and address, grade level, number of students to participate, and a short description of how this event will benefit the curriculum to Dr. Marci Delaney, marci.delaney@nasa.gov.

Watch Live as Kids Test Their Inventions in Annual Challenge – Dec 11, 2009

Tune in to see middle- and high-school teams showcase their inventions — cardboard bridges capable of carrying up to 235 pounds (107 kilograms), in this year’s Invention Challenge hosted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The live event will air on the “NASAJPL” channel available on Ustream TV at
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl
 on Dec. 11, 2009, starting at 11:30 a.m. PST (2:30 p.m. EST and 19:30 UTC).

Twenty student teams from throughout Southern California will watch to see if their bridges remain standing as bricks get piled on. Eleven teams of JPL engineers and scientists will also compete in this friendly but challenging contest.

The bridges must meet certain requirements: they must be made of cardboard or paper products, use reasonable amounts of glue, span a 1.2 meter (48 inch) gap, and be no more than 45.7 centimeters (18 inches) wide. The bridges must carry standard-sized bricks (between one and 44) that weigh about 2.42 kilograms (5.35 pounds) each.

If you are on Facebook show your support by saying you’ll “attend” the Invention Challenge remotely at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185358382020

More information about the Invention Challenge is available at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/inventionchallenge/2009/