Nov 23 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-112
NEW JERSEY STUDENTS WIN NASA AND USA TODAY COMPETITION
WASHINGTON -- NASA and USA TODAY announced the winners of the 2010 No Boundaries National Competition. The winning student teams are from across the country and excel in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Students worked in small groups or individually to develop a project that markets careers at NASA to teens. They selected one of the four STEM disciplines and chose a career within that discipline. The members of the group then researched that career from different perspectives and developed an innovative project that showcased the career and included each group member's work. Finally, the teams presented their completed career research projects to a group of their peers. The 2010 winning entry was Let's Get Materialistic by the team of Kristine Baltazar, Elka Chowdhury, Jenna DiRito, and Neil Montwani from Saddle Brook Middle School in Saddle Brook, N.J. The team chose to focus on materials engineering and won the competition with an old-fashion styled black and white art portfolio. "We strongly believe in the importance of providing opportunities where students can learn about STEM careers by actual example, said Alotta Taylor, manager for education in NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate. Programs like 'No Boundaries' are instrumental in making these careers come alive for students. Honorable mentions include second place to Zoe Bentley, of the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council in Tuscon, Ariz., for her Exogeology ROCKS! and third place to Ronnel Boettcher and Cory Smith, of Enterprise High School in Redding, Calif., for their Astronomy: No Boundaries. USA TODAY will present the first place winners with a $2,000 cash prize and present second place winners with $1,000. The teacher or sponsor of the winners will receive $500. NASA will provide the first place winners with a VIP guest tour of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Because of the exemplary efforts of second place winner Zoe Bentley, NASA added a special VIP visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to her award package. "We are very impressed by the efforts of all the entrants, said Jerry Hartman, education lead for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. By participating in 'No Boundaries,' these young men and women are learning what it takes to be part of the next generation of explorers. No Boundaries is a joint initiative between NASA's Space Operations and Exploration Systems Mission Directorates. NASA also partners with USA TODAY Education. The program encourages students to explore STEM careers through stimulating, project-based learning and team competition. No Boundaries targets students in grades 7-12 and is designed as a team-centered cooperative learning project.
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RELEASE: 10-067
NASA ICEBRIDGE MISSION PREPARES FOR STUDY OF ARCTIC GLACIERS
WASHINGTON -- NASA's Operation IceBridge mission, the largest airborne survey ever flown of Earth's polar ice, kicks off its second year of study when NASA aircraft arrive in Greenland March 22. The IceBridge mission allows scientists to track changes in the extent and thickness of polar ice, which is important for understanding ice dynamics. IceBridge began in March 2009 as a means to fill the gap in polar observations between the loss of NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, and the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015. Annual missions fly over the Arctic in March and April and over Antarctica in October and November. "NASA's IceBridge mission is characterizing the changes occurring in the world's polar ice sheets, said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission's goal is to collect the most important data for improving predictive models of sea level rise and global climate change. Researchers plan to resurvey previous flight lines and former ground tracks of ICESat while adding new areas of interest. Scientists also will target some areas that have been undergoing mysterious changes. The major glaciers in southeast Greenland once thinned simultaneously, but some of those glaciers have been thinning at an accelerated rate -- as much as 40 feet per year -- while others have thickened. And glaciers in northwest Greenland, once a stable region, have mostly begun to thin. In preparation for approximately 200 science flight hours during the spring 2010 campaign, engineers have been outfitting NASA's DC-8 aircraft with an array of science instruments. On March 21-22, the aircraft will travel to Thule, Greenland, where researchers and crew will spend about five weeks making 10 to 12 science flights. The first priority is to survey Arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent each year in March or early April. High- and low-altitude flights also will survey Greenland's ice sheet and outlet glaciers. In mid-April, the engineers will transfer the science instruments to the smaller, more maneuverable P-3B aircraft. The crew will spend May making another 10 to 12 science flights from Kangerlussuaq and Thule, Greenland. Both aircraft will carry the Airborne Topographic Mapper, or ATM -- a laser altimeter similar to those on ICESat. ATM measures changes in the surface elevation of the ice by reflecting lasers from the ground back to the aircraft and converting the readings into elevation maps. Another laser altimeter, the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor, operates at higher altitudes and can survey larger areas quickly. The spring flights are led by project scientists Lora Koenig of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and Michael Studinger of Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center at the University of Maryland. The mission also includes scientists, crew and technicians from Goddard, Wallops, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; The Earth Institute at Columbia University in Palisades, N.Y.; the University of Kansas; and the University of Washington. The versatility of the planes will allow some new observations not currently possible from satellites. Radar instruments from the University of Kansas and a gravimeter from Columbia University will allow scientists to see snow, ice, and bedrock characteristics at depths below the surface. Such information will enhance our understanding of glacier and ice sheet processes and will help scientists predict a glacier's future behavior. "NASA has a unique capability to look at these things from a bird's-eye perspective, not only from space but also from multiple long-range, high performance aircraft, said John Sonntag, a senior scientist with URS Corporation in Wallops Island, Va., and member of the IceBridge management team. If not for IceBridge, the global science community and the public would miss out on a great deal of knowledge about Greenland and Antarctica.
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RELEASE: 10-317
NASA OFFERS SPACE SHUTTLE TILES TO SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES
WASHINGTON -- As the Space Shuttle Program nears retirement, NASA is looking for ways to preserve the program's history and inspire the next generation of space explorers, scientists and engineers. Beginning Wednesday, NASA is offering 7,000 shuttle heat shield tiles to schools and universities that want to share technology and a piece of space history with their students. The lightweight tiles protect the shuttles from extreme temperatures when the orbiters re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Schools can request a tile at: http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm Click on the tile icon to log on to the request page. A login ID and password may be obtained by registering on the link provided. A Department of Education statistics tracking number (NCES for schools or IPEDS for universities) is needed to register. Hyperlinks are available to these sites to find a specific institution's tracking number. The requests will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Only one tile will be given per institution. Because the tiles are government property, a transfer protocol is observed. Recipients will be responsible for a shipping and handling fee of $23.40, which is payable to the shipping company through a secure website.
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