Jul 20 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-195
NASA AND MARY J. BLIGE ENCOURAGE SCIENCE CAREERS FOR WOMEN
WASHINGTON -- NASA is collaborating with award-winning recording artist Mary J. Blige to encourage young women to pursue exciting experiences and career choices by studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). A public service announcement featuring veteran NASA space shuttle astronaut Leland Melvin and Blige debuts this week on NASA TV and the agency's website at: http://www.nasa.gov. NASA's Summer of Innovation (SoI) project and Blige's Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) have much in common. Both show students the many possibilities available if they follow their dreams and reach for the stars. The SoI project is part of the President's Educate to Innovate Campaign. It started earlier this summer to help keep middle school students engaged in fun and stimulating STEM-related activities during the school break. "Working with FFAWN is a rare opportunity to help spread the STEM message into communities not always readily accessible to us, Melvin said. Mary's presence can help NASA make the STEM message more appealing to these communities and increase the pipeline of underrepresented students going into these disciplines. Working with the NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy project at York College of the City University of New York (CUNY), the joint effort is providing on-the-job training for FFAWN high school participants. High school girls in the program will be prepared to deliver NASA SoI content to middle school students this summer at the New York City Housing Authority Van Dyke Community Center and the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy. The FFAWN participants also will have the opportunity to support the NASA Academy fall academic session at CUNY as student aides for grades one through nine later this year.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: 10-100
STUDENTS APPLY SCIENCE AND IMAGINATION IN NASA TILT-ROTOR DESIGN CONTEST
WASHINGTON -- Some helicopters of the future will look very different from today's, at least as imagined by high school students for a NASA aeronautics competition. NASA challenged students to write a paper about a civilian aircraft that could hover, rescue up to 50 survivors of a disaster, land on ground or water, travel at least 920 miles and cruise at speeds up to 345 mph. If that wasn't enough of a challenge, the amphibious tilt- rotor vehicle had to be able to fight fires by siphoning water into an internal tank, and dump it while airborne. The winners were announced Tuesday. For a complete list and links to their rotorcraft designs, visit: http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/competition_winners2010_hs.htm The competition was sponsored by the Subsonic Rotary Wing Project in the Fundamental Aeronautics Program of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington. More than 100 teens entered the contest in teams or as individuals. They represented the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Romania, Singapore and Turkey. Susan Gorton, principal investigator for the Subsonic Rotary Wing Project, led the review panel. She said reading the high school papers showed her how students perceive the future of aviation and NASA's leadership role. "They think anything can be done, and that's refreshing, she said. The most striking design looks like a flying wing with rotor assemblies on top of the nose and between two tail fins. This top-scoring team entry came from two high school seniors at Norfolk Technical Center in Norfolk, Va. Seniors Edric San Miguel and Vito Morlino offered a design called the Versatile Emergency Landing Aircraft. This is the third year in a row that San Miguel has placed in a NASA aeronautics student contest and the second time he has won first prize. The second and third place U.S. teams were from Linwood Holton Governor's School in Abingdon, Va. The second place individual award went to a junior at Bishop Hendricken High School in North Kingstown, R.I. Sharing third place for individual entries were a sophomore from Young Academy in Sidney, Neb., and a sophomore from Virginia's Linwood Holton Governor's School. A trio of juniors from Chung International Secondary School in Hong Kong took top international honors. Two groups of students from Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science in Bucharest, Romania, earned the second and third place awards for international teams. A senior from Anderson Junior College in Singapore, earned the top score for individuals in the international category with a design titled Salvager-7 Pelican. And a freshman from Hilton Head Island High School in Hilton Head, S.C., submitted the top scoring U.S. individual entry titled An Angel in the Sky. NASA hopes to interest students in pursuing careers in aeronautics and engineering by sponsoring design contests. U.S. winners receive cash awards from Christopher Newport University, in Newport News, Va., through a NASA education grant and cooperative agreement. International winners receive a trophy and certificate of achievement. All student participants receive a certificate of participation and a letter from NASA commending them for their work and encouraging them to continue their study of math, science and engineering. For more about NASA and other agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-102
NASA ASTRONAUTS -- INCLUDING SPACE STATION CREW MEMBER FROM MARYLAND -- AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS IN WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON -- NASA Headquarters in Washington will welcome space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 astronauts and International Space Station Expedition 22 and 23 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer for a visit Monday, July 26, through Thursday, July 29. Creamer considers Upper Marlboro, Md., his hometown. He graduated from Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., and Loyola College in Columbia, Md. Ken Ham commanded the shuttle flight and was joined by Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers. The six astronauts' 12-day mission in May was the last scheduled flight of Atlantis. While in the nation's capital, the astronauts will participate in several activities open to the public and journalists. Reporters should refer to individual events for information about how to cover them. At 10 a.m. Monday, Sellers will visit the Save the Children organization to return a T-shirt that he carried to space. Reporters planning to cover the presentation must contact Eileen Burke at 203-216-0718 or eburke@savethechildren.org. The astronauts will share mission highlights with NASA employees, their families and reporters at NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street SW, at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Monday. The crew's presentation will air live on NASA Television. Interviews are available after 2:30 p.m. To schedule an interview, reporters must contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-1100 or stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov. At 6:30 p.m. Monday, the shuttle crew will discuss its mission at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in the Lohrfink Auditorium of the Rafik B. Hariri Building. Reporters interested in covering the event or interviewing astronauts afterward should contact Teresa Mannix at 202-687-4080 or tmm53@georgetown.edu. The sold-out event will be shown on NASA TV and webcast at http://www.msb.georgetown.edu. The STS-132 astronauts will give an educational presentation and answer questions about their mission at the National Air and Space Museum on Tuesday, July 27, at 10:30 a.m. Sellers will return a replica of the Nobel Prize that is in the museum's collection and was flown aboard Atlantis. The prize was won by NASA astrophysicist John Mather and University of California, Berkeley researcher George Smoot in 2006 for their work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite to understand the big-bang theory of the universe. This event is open to the public. Journalists planning to attend must contact Isabel Lara at larai@si.edu or Brian Mullen at mullenb@si.edu. At 2 p.m. Tuesday, Good, Sellers and Reisman will visit the Children's National Medical Center at 111 Michigan Avenue, NW, in Washington. The astronauts will interact with the children and their families and talk to them about space exploration. Reporters interested in covering this visit must contact Paula Darte at 202-821-6357 or pdarte@cnmc.org. Creamer, an Army colonel, will visit the U.S. Army Center of Military History at the Pentagon Tuesday afternoon. Reporters interested in covering Creamer's tour of the exhibit must contact Gary Tallman at the Pentagon at 703-614-1742 or gary.tallman@us.army.mil. On Tuesday evening, all seven astronauts will attend the Washington Nationals baseball game at Nationals Park in southeast Washington, where they will be recognized on the field before the start of the game against the Atlanta Braves. More than 500 employees from NASA Headquarters and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., also are expected to attend the game. Credentialed news media representatives who would like an interview at the ballpark must contact Joanna Comfort at 202-640-7711 or joanna.comfort@nationals.com. Creamer will visit his alma mater Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Journalists who would like to accompany Creamer through his visit of the school must contact Jim Palmer at palmerj@bmhs.org. NASA has invited 100 of its Twitter followers to a Tweetup with Creamer on Thursday, July 29, at 3 p.m. at NASA Headquarters. While in space, Creamer set up the International Space Station's live Internet connection. He posted updates about the mission to his Twitter account and sent the first live tweet from the orbiting outpost. The NASA Tweetup will be broadcast on NASA TV. The event can be tracked with the hashtag #NASATweetup or by following the list of attendees at: http://twitter.com/nasatweetup/astro-tj-tweetup. Reporters who would like to cover the NASA Tweetup must register in advance with Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-1100 or stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov. The STS-132 mission delivered the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the International Space Station. Also known as Rassvet (the Russian word for dawn ), the module provides additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The mission's three spacewalks focused on replacing and installing components outside the station, including replacing six batteries, installing a communications antenna and adding parts to the Canadian Dextre robotic arm.
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