NASA Ames would probably be described
by most as the opposite of an amusement park. The buildings' drab
facades look nothing like the bursts of color seen across Lagoon and
Silver Wood. There are no bustling tourists packing around stuffed
bags of souvenirs. The two gift stores on the large campus are small
and the merchandise is limited. Regardless of all that, few would
ever guess the giddy excitement bursting from the students on the
flight to California were on a trip to a research center, not Disney
Land or Six Flags, but as the plane touched down in San Jose this
morning, the scholars were overflowing with questions and excitement
about what was to come.
After dropping off luggage at the
hotel, it was time for the visitors center, lunch at NASA Ames's
cafeteria, and finally the beginning of touring. The first thing on
the schedule was the 20G Centrifuge. As students walked into the same
building that houses the centrifuge, its whirring and spinning could
be heard through the wall. The students crowded around the windows
that displayed the contraption. As it whipped in circles they gazed
in. NASA Ames's centrifuge was designed to go up to 20G's, however no
human has ever gone that fast. The average recorded speed for a human
payload is 12.5G's. NASA is sure to make sure that it's not forgotten
humans aren't the only thing that has stood the centrifuge's spin,
though. Other payloads include plants, animals, cells, hardware and
flight systems. Then the centrifuge slowed. It's spinning came to a
gradual halt. The students were then able to enter the room and climb
onto it. Time soon ended, though and it was time to move to the next
exhibit.
The students were met in the lobby of
The Simulation Lab by an intern. She explained it's the building that
houses all of the vertical motion simulators. These devices are
designed to mimic what it would be like to fly a space shuttle,
helicopter, or similar aircrafts. They consist of the cab, or the
main portion that holds the cockpit. It has a computer monitor that
is designed to look like the windshield. Programmers make this
monitor show highly realistic representations of what it would look
like to actually fly the aircraft. The cab is placed on a series of
hydrolic actuators. These are used to move the cab around so that the
pilot training in the VMS is tricked into thinking she is actually
flying.
The teams were able to see the centrifuge where astronauts get put to the test before launch |
NASA scientist, David Blake, claims
when he first started at Ames he knew almost nothing about space.
Indeed, his degrees include a Bachelors of Science in biology and
several Bachelors, Masters, and PhD's in Geology, however no one
would know the difference after the Director's Colloquium he
presented to NASA employees, interns and ISAS students today. It was
especially convenient for the students who are working on their
mission to Mars that the entirety of his lecture was focused on the
instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory. The Idaho group was able
to arrive early and ask Doctor Blake questions. He was blown away by
the advance level of questions these high school juniors were asking
him.
The next activity was really was like
Disney Land for many of the students. Earlier in the day they saw the
vertical motion simulators, this time they were able to see the
Boeing 747 simulator. It is set up nearly exactly the same as the
VMS, except this one is around eleven feet off the ground, and is
active. Many students were able to drive the airplane. Students
tensed their legs, because the programming on the monitor seemed so
realistic. The motion of the cab was even off, yet it still felt like
flying a real airplane.
This flight simulator made the students allowed the students to exactly what pilots feel everyday |
The activity after that for many was
similar to walking in the same steps as their favorite celebrity. The
scholars were able to go to the Fluids Dynamic Lab. This lab is where
Ames's smaller wind tunnels are. These are the same wind tunnels that
are consistently being used by the popular Discovery channel
television show, Myth Busters. There they test how different items
are impacted by wind currents. It demonstrates the aerodynamics of
the items. There was also the water version. Items are placed in a
tunnel that is similar to a wind tunnel but instead used water
instead of air.
After this long day, it was then time
for dinner. Students chowed down on lasagna and chicken. After they
finished, all the tables were cleared and the chairs were moved in
set up for the NASA scientist questions and answer session. A panel
of four scientists and one educator gathered to let the students ask
whatever questions they would like. Questions ranged from pure
curiosities on space and science to specific applications of their
Mars project.
It was finally time to head back to the
hotel. Students slumped in the lobby couches, exhausted, as they
waited to receive their room key. After short debriefs by all the
groups, all the students headed to their rooms to crash for the
night.
These
blogs will continue to be uploaded daily, once the students have
completed their final activities each night. A more "live"
version of the days' events are being uploaded onto the ISAS Summer
Academy Facebook group and page,
as well as to Twitter at
#ISAS_Academy. The students have established themselves as mission
control and are now ready for the trip to Ames Research Center.
- Heidi Hughes, Jaime Guevara -
- Heidi Hughes, Jaime Guevara -
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