Aug 18 2015
From The Space Library
Release 15-171 Send Your Name to Mars on NASA's Next Red Planet Mission
Mars enthusiasts around the world can participate in NASA’s journey to Mars by adding their names to a silicon microchip headed to the Red Planet aboard NASA's InSight Mars lander, scheduled to launch next year.
"Our next step in the journey to Mars is another fantastic mission to the surface," said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "By participating in this opportunity to send your name aboard InSight to the Red Planet, you're showing that you're part of that journey and the future of space exploration."
The fly-your-name opportunity comes with “frequent flier” points to reflect an individual's personal participation in NASA’s journey to Mars, which will span multiple missions and multiple decades. The InSight mission offers the second such opportunity for space exploration fans to collect points by flying their names aboard a NASA mission, with more opportunities to follow.
Last December, the names of 1.38 million people flew on a chip aboard the first flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts to deep space destinations including Mars and an asteroid. After InSight, the next opportunity to earn frequent flier points will be NASA's Exploration Mission-1, the first planned test flight bringing together the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule in preparation for human missions to Mars and beyond.
InSight will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California in March 2016 and land on Mars Sept. 28, 2016. The mission is the first dedicated to the investigation of the deep interior of the planet. It will place the first seismometer directly on the surface of Mars to measure Martian quakes and use seismic waves to learn about the planet's interior. It also will deploy a self-hammering heat probe that will burrow deeper into the ground than any previous device on the Red Planet. These and other InSight investigations will improve our understanding about the formation and evolution of all rocky planets, including Earth.
Release 15-172 NASA Awards Grants to Expand STEM Education at Minority Serving Institutions
NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has selected five universities for cooperative agreement awards totaling $6 million to provide educator training and expand course offerings in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Four universities were selected to receive MUREP Community College Curriculum Improvement (MC3I) grants, which provide up to $250,000 per year for a maximum of three years. The schools will work to increase the number of STEM classes available at minority serving community colleges.
The universities selected for MC3I grants are:
- Baltimore City Community College, Baltimore
- Napa Valley College, Napa, California
- Queensborough Community College, Bayside, New York
- Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California
Texas State University in San Marcos was selected to serve as a MUREP Educator Institute and may receive up to $1 million per year for three years. As an educator institute, the university will create learning opportunities at NASA’s ten field centers for future teachers.
Awards were made through the 2014 Education Opportunities in NASA Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (EONS STEM) research announcement. MUREP awards promote STEM literacy and enhance and sustain the capability of institutions to perform NASA-related research and education. The goals of the program are to expand the nation's base for aerospace research and development, increase participation by faculty and students at minority serving institutions, and increase the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees in NASA-related fields awarded to students from minority serving institutions.
