Jan 24 2012
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 12-029 ZERO ROBOTICS CHALLENGE WINNERS DECIDED IN HIGH-TECH COMPETITION
WASHINGTON -- Two hundred high school students packed an auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Monday, Jan. 23, for a competition to program miniature satellites aboard the International Space Station. Alliance Rocket from the United States and virtual participants Alliance CyberAvo from Europe were named the winners in the third annual NASA-sponsored Zero Robotics SPHERES Challenge. Student teams wrote programming code for two small NASA robotic satellites aboard the station. Astronauts Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers, who currently live aboard the International Space Station, presided over the event and gathered data from the student-controlled SPHERES flight programs after each phase of the competition. Current and former astronauts were on hand at MIT to share their experiences in space with the student audience, including Greg Chamitoff, Leland Melvin, John Grunsfeld and Jeff Hoffman. Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, who traveled to the space station about a Soyuz, also attended. Both winning efforts consisted of three teams. The teams that made up Alliance Rocket were Team Rocket, River Hill High School, Clarksville, Md.; Defending Champions, Storming Robots, Branchburg, N.J.; and SPHEREZ of Influence, Rockledge High School/Brevard County, Fla. Alliance CyberAvo consisted of CyberAvo, I.T.I.S. Amedeo Avogrado, Turin, Italy; Ultima, Kaethe Kollwitz Oberschule, Berlin, Germany; and Lazy, Heinrich Hertz Gymnasium, Berlin, Germany. A total of 36 teams participated in the SPHERES event. "It is just amazing to me what these high school students have accomplished," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "To program a robotic spacecraft with the precision of a NASA flight controller is quite a feat, but to have that ability, talent and discipline at such a young age is remarkable. Our future is in good hands." NASA sponsors the Zero Robotics SPHERES Challenge in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and MIT. The competition aligns with the agency's goal of encouraging students to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The SPHERES National Laboratory is operated by NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif
MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-015 NASA ADMINISTRATOR VISITS MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE, MATH IN CREATING ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR ALL
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will visit Morgan State University in Baltimore on Jan. 25 to meet with students in the engineering and science programs, and highlight the importance of science, engineering and mathematics in creating and sustaining the American economy. Bolden's visit will come the day after President Obama delivers his State of the Union speech. Bolden will visit the Richard N. Dixon Science Research Center School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering. Morgan State University is one of NASA's University Research Centers, studying next generation aviation safety, aerospace systems engineering and Earth science. While visiting the Engineering Visualization Research Laboratory, Bolden and Morgan State University President David Wilson will be available to speak with news media at 12:45 p.m. EDT. Founded in 1867, Morgan State University is one of the nation's historically black colleges and universities.
