May 4 2012
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 12-146 NASA ANNOUNCES 2012 SUMMER OF INNOVATION PROJECT
WASHINGTON -- NASA's third annual Summer of Innovation (SOI) project is underway. The project is providing hands-on learning opportunities for middle school students and educators through NASA-unique science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educational activities during the summer school break. SOI is a key component of the agency's broader education program to increase student interest in STEM courses, particularly among those in underserved sectors of the academic community. SOI uses NASA's out-of-this-world missions and technology programs to boost interest in STEM among middle school students by offering interactive learning experiences. This year, a major portion of the SOI content focus will be on Curiosity, a NASA flagship science mission currently en route to Mars and scheduled to land Aug. 6. "NASA always has been fortunate when it comes to offering interesting STEM education content; our missions are compelling and inspiring," said Leland Melvin, associate administrator for NASA Office of Education. "Because Curiosity will reach the Red Planet during SOI 2012, it provides a timely and relevant context for teaching students about planetary science, engineering and technology. Students will get to see much of what they learned unfold as the rover makes its final rendezvous with Mars." SOI 2012 is multi-faceted and features a variety of engagement activities offered by NASA's 10 centers located across the country. SOI 2012 also will continue several STEM summer programs developed by NASA's national SOI partners during 2010 and 2011. SOI includes a competitive "mini-grant" component to assist small education and outreach organizations in providing NASA-themed STEM content to middle school students or teachers through existing summer or afterschool programs. NASA plans to announce the mini-grants proposal process and due dates within the coming weeks. A revamped SOI website will include new products and tools for students and educators to access virtually NASA's educational offerings and resources. It will feature tools to download learning and activity plans and access to current SOI NASA center opportunities, highlights of the 2012 program and SOI contact information. Another exciting new web feature is a collection of SOI virtual activity plans called "mini-camps." These eight self-contained STEM learning modules offer one-day, two-day and weeklong programs in fields such as rocketry, aeronautics and robotics that easily can be tailored to a variety of audiences. SOI debuted in 2010 as a three-year pilot program to respond to President Obama's Educate to Innovate campaign. Since its inception, NASA has reached more than 45,000 students; had a presence in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; and provided professional development opportunities for approximately 5,500 educators.
RELEASE: 12-148 DANCING DROPLETS ROCK OUT ON SPACE STATION
HOUSTON -- Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA has taught more than half a million internet viewers how microgravity affects scientific principles by using everyday objects on the International Space Station. In the latest video, Pettit takes his demonstrations to the next level by using sound to oscillate water placed on a speaker and letting the droplets fly. The investigation is part of "Science off the Sphere," a video series featuring experiments of Pettit's own design intended to show scientific possibilities on the frontier of space. NASA and the American Physical Society, or APS, developed a partnership to share the videos with students, educators and science enthusiasts across the globe. In the short, downloadable videos, Pettit has used knitting needles and water droplets to examine static electricity, demonstrated capillary flow by creating a zero gravity tea cup, used thin water films to experiment with fluid motion, shared infrared imagery of Earth and more. Each video includes a physics challenge question to which the online community is invited to respond. "The physics community is absolutely loving seeing what's going on and loving having a different way of looking at concepts they've spent their lives studying," said Becky Thompson-Flagg, head of public outreach at APS. APS, the professional society for physicists, shares new "Science off the Sphere" videos on its outreach website, Physics Central. In the latest episode, Pettit's water droplets dance to music by Texas rock band ZZ Top. Video of the demonstration will air in the video file on NASA Television at 12 p.m. CDT today. "Science off the Sphere" is a successor to Pettit's science demonstrations performed during his stay on the space station during Expedition 6 in 2002 and 2003 and during the STS-126 space shuttle mission. Pettit launched to the space station to join the Expedition 30 crew on Dec. 23, 2011, with Russian Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers. The crew will be joined by NASA's Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin as part of Expedition 31, who are scheduled to launch on May 14. Pettit, Kuipers and Kononenko will remain on the station until July.
RELEASE: 12-149 NASA ISSUES STATEMENT ON NEW SPACEX LAUNCH DATE
WASHINGTON -- In response to today's SpaceX announcement finalizing a new target date for the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, NASA issued the following statement from William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at the agency's Headquarters in Washington: "After additional reviews and discussions between the SpaceX and NASA teams, we are in a position to proceed toward this important launch. The teamwork provided by these teams is phenomenal. There are a few remaining open items but we are ready to support SpaceX for its new launch date of May 19."
