Celebrate the Launch of Astronaut Joe Acaba – Live Webcast May 15, 2012

Educator and astronaut Joe Acaba will launch to the International Space Station to join Expedition 31. Students and educators can join NASA’s Digital Learning Network on May 15, 2012, at 12 p.m. EDT to celebrate the launch and to meet an astronaut trainer who helps prepare astronauts for their missions. There will also be a chance to ask questions.

Before joining the webcast, be sure to take a moment and visit Teach Station, NASA Education’s newest website for students and educators about the International Space Station. Visit the website often and watch for opportunities to connect with expedition crew members and other NASA education opportunities. Be sure to check out the page A Teacher in Space and meet Joe Acaba. Read about his experience as an astronaut and his transition from being a classroom teacher to becoming an astronaut in the astronaut corps.

Visit the new website at http://www.nasa.gov/education/teachstation.

View NASA’s Distance Learning Network webcast at http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/dln/index.html.

2012-2013 National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition – Registration Deadline Sept 30, 2012

Enter the National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition

The National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition is the Montana Space Grant Consortium’s Education Program for NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, mission. IRIS will use spectrography and imaging in ultraviolet wavelengths to reveal the dynamics of the sun’s chromospheres and transition region.

This yearly competition is open to undergraduate interdisciplinary teams from colleges and universities across the U.S. Teams are challenged to design and build a working ground-based solar spectrograph and demonstrate the capabilities of the spectrograph as defined by their science goal. Typical teams have three to six students and must have a faculty advisor.

Both substantial scholarship prizes and travel prizes will be given in four categories: best design, best build, best science observations and best presentation of results. Teams may apply for funding of $2,000 per team for project materials. Priority for build funds will be given to minority-serving institutions, community colleges and institutions with less aerospace activity.

Applications for build awards and registrations are due on Sept. 30, 2012.

The competition will be held in Bozeman, Mont., in May 2013. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.spacegrant.montana.edu/IRIS/index.html

Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) – Mission 3 to the International Space Station

Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) — Mission 3 to the International Space Station
Communities should apply now for 2012–13 academic year

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC, announces Mission 3 to the International Space Station. This opportunity gives students across a community the ability to design real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit on the Space Station. The program is open to students in grades 5–14.

Each participating community will be provided a real microgravity research mini-laboratory and all launch services to get it to the International Space Station and safely returned to Earth. An experiment design competition in Fall 2012 in each community (September 17 through November 9) allows student teams to design and write proposals for real experiments vying for their community’s reserved experiment slot on the Space Station. Flight experiments are selected by December 7, 2012. Additional programming leverages the experiment design competition to engage the community, embracing a Learning Community Model for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

The flight of the payload to Space Station is expected in early April 2013, and a return to Earth in mid-May 2013, so that the entire Mission 3 program is contained in the 2012–13 academic year.

For more information, visit the SSEP website at http://ssep.ncesse.org/2012/04/announcing-new-ssep-flight-opportunity-mission-3-to-the-international-space-station-for-the-2012-2013-academic-year/

Humans in Space Art Contest – Deadline October 21, 2012

Enter the Humans in Space Youth Art Competition by October 21, 2012

How will humans use science and technology to explore space, and what mysteries will we uncover?

Students age 10-18 are challenged to answer this question through art. Create your musical, literary, visual or video artwork and submit it by midnight U.S. Central Standard Time, October 21, 2012.

Learn more at the Humans in Space Youth Art Competition website:
Humans in Space Art Contest

Host a Real-Time Conversation With Crewmembers Aboard the International Space Station – Apply by July 2, 2012

Apply by July 2, 2012 to participate in HAM radio conversations with the ISS crew as part of the NASA ARISS program.

NASA is now accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, contact between Nov. 1, 2012, and May 1, 2013. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. Proposals are due July 2, 2012.

Using amateur radio, students can ask astronauts questions about life in space and other space-related topics. Students fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with a crew member on the International Space Station for approximately 10 minutes. The technology is easier to acquire than ever before. ARISS has a network of mentors to help organizations obtain the technology required to host this once in a lifetime opportunity for students.

Interested parties should contact Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office, to obtain complete information including how the technology works, what is expected of the host organization and how to obtain the proposal/application form by sending an email to JSC-TFS-ARISS@mail.nasa.gov or by calling 281-244-1919.

Additional information can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/students/ariss.html.

NASA Earth Day Video Contest 2012 – Deadline May 31, 2012

NASA's Earth Day Video Competition

To mark Earth Day 2012, NASA presents the Earth Day Video Contest 2012. For the second year in a row, NASA is challenging the public to create a compelling video vision of NASA’s exploration of Earth — The Home Frontier.

To enter, produce a short video that captures what you find inspiring and important about the unique view and understanding of Earth provided by NASA science. Upload your video to YouTube and tag it using the instructions found on the contest website. NASA will feature the best entry — chosen by a panel of NASA scientists and communicators — on the NASA website. And, the winner will receive a behind-the-scenes look at the next rocket launch of a NASA Earth-observing satellite.

Submissions will be accepted until May 31, 2012.

For more information, official contest rules and to see the winning video from last year, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earthday-vid-2012.html.

If you have any questions about this contest, please email Patrick Lynch at Patrick.Lynch@nasa.gov.

New DIY Podcast Module Available – Space Station

Now available - new NASA Do it Yourself Podcast module about the International Space Station

Are you looking for new ideas to integrate technology into your lessons? Or are you a student looking for a savvy idea for a class project? Then NASA’s Do-It-Yourself, or DIY, Podcast “Space Station” module may interest you.

Learn what astronaut Mike Fincke enjoys doing most while in space. Finke served as a flight engineer on the station as well as the commander for Expedition 18. He shares how extraordinary efforts of teamwork have resulted in the largest space structure ever built — the International Space Station, or ISS.

Ground-breaking research is being done on the space station by NASA and its international partners. Camille Alleyne, assistant program scientist for the International Space Station, shares some of the work being done in space and how it benefits us on Earth. And astronaut Garrett Reisman, flight engineer for Expeditions 16 and 17, takes us on a tour of the station.

So, why are you waiting? Choose from 40 video clips, 25 audio clips and a variety of images to learn about the station while having fun creating a podcast.

How DIY Podcast Works:
– Download NASA video and audio clips.
– Write a production script.
– Record your narration.
– Edit your product.
– Share your podcast.

Visit NASA’s DIY Podcast site at http://www.nasa.gov/education/diypodcast to learn more and to access information and resources for the new Space Station module.

New Space Station Page for Educators and Students

NASA Education is launching a new Web page for students and educators about the International Space Station.

NASA Education is launching a new Web page for students and educators about the International Space Station.

Teach Station is the platform for space-station-focused education resources, science and research information for students and teachers, crew updates, and up-to-the minute education news. Visit often and watch for opportunities to connect with the expedition crew members and other NASA education opportunities.

Take a moment to visit the page “A Teacher in Space” and meet Joe Acaba. Read about his experience as an astronaut and his transition from a classroom teacher to the astronaut corps. Acaba’s next assignment is flight engineer for Expedition 31. He will join the crew on the International Space Station in May 2012.

Visit the new Web page at www.nasa.gov/education/teachstation.

Download a Teach Station bookmark at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Teach_Station_Bookmark.html.