ISAS Academy One: Day 3

The ISAS students got out of bed very early this morning to catch a 7:30 am flight to San Jose, California. From there they traveled to the location of the NASA Ames Research Center. At the Ames Center the students will be able to tour many of the testing facilities and scientific labs that have played a large role in bringing us the technology and scientific exploration known to us today. This is also one of the best opportunities in the academy to gain information in regards to their mission planning with many chances to speak with NASA professionals.  

 
 

ISAS Students in front of one of NASA's wind Tunels.

 Students began their experience at NASA Ames at the visitor's center where they saw a model of inside the Space Station, a moon rock along with other NASA related missions in space. They also took an interactive tour of our solar system and beyond given by Don Richey with the IMAX like screen in the visitor center. 

Students got to tour a space shuttle model at the NASA Ames' visitor's center

Students then were able to tour the bioengineering lab with Mark Kliss. This lab is experimenting with recycling and cleaning the air and water on the ISS, along with finding a better way to contain trash and waste. This week's scholars asked questions about how they could apply those technologies on their mission to Mars. Students were able to get a glimpse behind the reasoning and methodology of NASA experiments.

Mark Kliss talks to the red and blue teams about the biology involved in space.

 The Vertical Motion Simulator has the benefit of testing many different light scenarios, such as Space Shuttles, Fighter Jets, Moon Landers and 747s. Guided by Lisa Grant and special guest Karol "Bo" Bobco, the students learned that this particular simulator not only gave pilots and astronauts all of the buttons and view screens of the actual vehicle, but it can also simulate the motion of anything that moves,  depth perception,and even microgravity. This simulator is the only one in the world of its kind and another little know fact is that former astronaut Barbara Morgan, current professor at Boise State University, trained in these simulators.  

Students take a picture with Astronaut Hall of Famer Karol "Bo" Bobco.

Lynn Rothschild presented to our scholars on how to go about finding life on other planets. She recommended that the students first figure out what exactly they are trying to find: intelligent life, bacteria etc, because that dictates how you go about searching. The next step is discovering the limits of life on Earth. Then they would need to discover places similar to Earth out in space, including the extreme habitats here on earth. Finally they might try to create synthetic organisms that could exist in the more extreme space environments to see if it is possible for life to exist.

Talking about her work, Lynn Rothschild presents to the scholars on life off this planet.

NASA Ames Research Center is home to the 80 by 120 wind tunnel, the largest wind tunnel in the world. Bill Warmbrodt presented the students with a very fascinating presentation on this scientific apparatus. He also gave examples of different studies they have conducted, including the Curiosity, 7 minutes of terror parachute. Students appreciated his approach of engaging them with questions and amusing stories. This wind tunnel uses the amount of electricity that it would take to power a city of 225,000 people and can produce wind at 115 miles per hour. It uses hydro-electricity that comes from dams in Big Creek of Nevada and the Snake River of Idaho.

Inside The World's Largest Wind Tunnel.

Students got to visit the First Robotics Lab at Ames. First Robotics is a global competition where participants build robots that have to compete in random teams of three in a different game every year. There are many robotic teams in Idaho and one of our students had even met the tour guide, Mark Leon, at a competition.

Students visit the First Robotic field at the NASA Ames Center.

The final event of the day was a great time for the teams to take advantage of the fact they were on the site of a NASA center walking among elite scientists, engineers and other professionals. A panel of experts, including Mark Leon, Jake Forsberg, Greg Swanson, and Brian Day and two interns named Julia and Lauren brought over a sixty minute question and answer session to the students. Questions were asked such as, "Would a sky crane be an effective landing system?" “Should our drilling operations on Mars be manned or unmanned?”  And, "Should we use the moon as a stepping stone in developmental plans to get to Mars?" To find out about the answers to these questions and to find out what decisions the teams made on the specific details of their missions, be sure to join us for the banquet on Saturday where the teams will present their final reports.

The student's got to pick the brains of these panelists.

ISAS students asked very thoughtful questions, that our panel had fun answering.

Throughout the day these students attract the attention of different NASA professionals working at the research center. Students are often stopped on the street and asked what state they are from and what program they are participating in. Please take some time to visit the ISAS Facebook and Twitter page for more pictures and updates. #ISASacademy

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and

Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna)

ISAS Social Media Mentors

ISAS Academy Two: Day 2

Academy students started putting together the more specific aspects of the missions early on the second day.  Jason Budinoff of the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center came in with mission guidelines or parameters. He gave the students their main landing site and eight specific research sites they need to collect core samples from. The students were told that they would have to bring all the samples with them back to Earth. The teams split up and brainstormed their needs. Both needs they’d need for their team and needs they would need from other teams, as well as what they would contribute as a team. Teams are to now collaborate and sometimes compromise on the different aspects of the Mars mission. This activity will help the mission planning to become a cooperative effort and the mission will develop as each team realizes how changes in the logistics and itinerary overlap and affect the other teams.

Jason Budinoff of NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center gave the teams there mission goal and parameters.

After three hours of mission planning the students were taken on a tour of Boise State University's College of Engineering. They visited different labs to learn about different instruments and research projects that are on campus. Students visited the Materials Science & Engineering lab and they also visited the Scanning Electron Microscope. The students were able to learn about Micro Propulsion which, while the thrust would not be able to lift anything here on earth, in space these little thrusters would be easily able to orient spacecraft to where they needed to be. Students were also able to visit the New Product Development Lab, to see the products of their 3D printing and learn about how those Boise State University students are doing business for real clients and gaining valuable experience. Students also had the chance to visit a lab where they were shown materials that were made out of magnetic shape memory alloys. One of the demonstrations in this lab allowed students to see a spring stretched out and then returned to its original shape under the presence of heat. Students also had the opportunity to ride a Segway in the courtyard.

Students toured research labs at Boise State Univerity's College of Engineering

Students had the opportunity to ride the Boise State College of Engineering's segway.

After lunch the students  were greeted by Dr. C.J. Northrup, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and by Dr. Jennifer Snow, Associate Dean of the College of Education. These two Associate Deans talked about different programs and opportunities at Boise State University and really went in depth with student questions. Questions the students asked were about college and student life in general as well as specific career paths some students are thinking about leading.

Associate Deans talk candidly with students about their future options in education. 

Next we learned about rockets. Rob and Olly, two recent graduates in mechanical (Rob) and electrical (Olly) engineering, brought in their senior project, a model rocket that was just shy of 13 feet long and 8 inches in diameter. Students also had the opportunity to watch a video of a model rocket launching up into the stratosphere. Students seemed to really enjoy this presentation and will get an up close look of another rocket at the rocket launch on Thursday

Showing off their senior project, recent graduates, Rob and Olly talk to the students about rockets.

We then learned about the proper way to design a scientific poster from Dr. Jennifer Forbey. She also discussed tips for presenting and keeping your audience captivated. For Saturday’s presentation, each team will have to put together their own poster to present their discoveries and plan for their portion of the Mars mission.

After dinner and more team time, the final event of the day was a three hour session on robotics with Woody Sobey of the Discovery Center of Idaho. The students had programmed these robots through basic maneuvers for there semester class, but today they needed to build and program their robots for more complicated tasks. Their objectives were to get it to move, go approximately a meter and make a square. Then students added LED lights and programmed these lights to blink. Next the robots were programmed to make a sound and then the sounds were arranged into song, a couple of students even had their robot perform the mockingjay theme from the Hunger Games. The songs that were played varied in how complicated they were. The next challenge was to add a light sensor and to program in a theremin which would allow a tone to vary based on how much light was on the sensor. And finally the different teams challenged each other's robots in a sumo match. The robots were programmed to drive around a black circular field, turn around when they saw the white line border and hopefully in the process push their opponent's robot out of the ring.

After building, programming and testing, students hope their robots stay inside the ring.

These ISAS students are working very hard and have accomplished much this the second day of the academy. They are incredible students who enjoy working together and learning new things. Tomorrow will  be another jammed packed day as we will be taking an early flight to visit the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Be sure to check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for more photos and updates. #ISASAcademy

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and 

Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna)

ISAS Social Media Mentors

ISAS Academy Two: Day 1

Hello and welcome to family members, friends and others who are following the activities of the Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars.

We here at ISAS hope to give you more than just a glimpse of how much fun these students are having every day at the Academy. You can check out many more photos on the ISAS Facebook Page and receive frequent updates as they are happening on the ISAS Twitter page.

The Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars Summer Academy was formed in 2010 based off similar programs in both Texas and Virginia. It is a competitive academy for high school juniors where students apply for the program prior to their second semester of their junior year. After completing a semester of coursework, the top students are chosen to join the week long program. This week they will help create a mission to Mars, tour NASA Ames Research Center in San Jose, California, and explore the potentials of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Around one o’clock today students began arriving and checking in to Kieser Hall. After check-in the students had time to meet each other and group into their teams. Then the time finally came for the students to make the short walk to the Discovery Center of Idaho where the fun began. They had the chance to look around the Discovery Center and experience the new Leonardo Da Vinci exhibits.

Students participate in the hands on activities at the Discovery Center of Idaho

The students were then brought to a classroom in the center where they would construct a planetary lander. This lander needed to deliver a payload safely to the ground. In this case the payload was an egg. The students were given a limited amount of materials to work with and had to come up with a design themselves. This then led to the launching of the planetary landers from fifty feet in the air. Special thanks to Carl Baker of Quality Electric and Corey Morasch of Micron for making this launch possible.

Students proudly present their finished landers to the rest of the group.

A little bit later it was time to introduce each other to the group. Students were given a random name tag and then had to find that person to learn a few things about them to say before the group. The introduction concluded with the student's hometown being pinned on the board.

Students introduced each other to the rest of the group.

A map of Idaho showing where the students come from.

Then they continued with the introduction of team names, patches and white pages. There are four teams, each focusing on a specific aspect of the mission including Mission Integration, Getting There and Back, Living There and Working There. Each white page for the teams needed to detail the parameters in which the teams will be working on in their specific groups. Soon after this the students participated in the Table Tennis Triathlon facilitated by Woody Sobey of the Discovery Center of Idaho. Each team was given materials to construct a cantilever, a free standing structure the extended up and away from a base that held a ping pong ball at the end; a catapult that sent the ping pong ball into the air; and a ping pong ball rocket that would be propelled by a stomp launcher.

Students work on the Ping Pong Triathlon Challenge.

As you can see ISAS students are launched into rigorous activities right away. And today was a great example of fantastic students easily interacting with each other and engaging enthusiastically with the activities of the academy. Tomorrow they will build on the team relationships they have begun to form today and build a better awareness of the mission they will be developing.

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and

Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna) ISAS Social Media Mentors

Healthy Schools Program Funds $400,000 for School Nurses Across the Gem State

Fourteen districts will share $400,000 to fund school-based nurses thanks to the Healthy Schools Program, administered by the State Department of Education.

The goals of the Healthy School Program is to increase the availability of health screenings and coordination with health providers, minimize barriers to health services, and boost community awareness around student health issues, and promote overall student health. The funding comes from the Department of Health and Welfare.

More than 30 districts and schools applied for the funding and 14 were awarded. Awards were based on school and community needs, as well as the overall merit of the program proposed. The competitive grant awards for the 2014-2015 school year ranged from $20,000 to $40,000.

The following schools and districts will receive funding from the Healthy Schools Program:

• American Falls School District

• Boundary County School District

• Caldwell School District

• Cassia School District

• Coeur d'Alene Venture High School

• Emmett School District

• Glenns Ferry School District

• Jerome School District

• Lake Pend Oreille Alternative High School

• Melba School District

• Nampa - Sherman Elementary and Snake River Elementary

• Orofino Joint School District

• Weiser School District

• West Bonner School District

For more information about the Healthy Schools Program, please contact Lisa Kramer at lkramer@sde.idaho.gov or (208) 332-6947. Or read more online at www.sde.idaho.gov/site/healthySchoolswww.sde.idaho.gov/site/healthyschools

Fast Forward Program Gives Idaho High School Students Access to up to $600 for Exams, Courses

Beginning next school year, high school students attending public schools across the Gem State will have access to new funding to help cover the costs of taking college-level courses or professional-technical certification exams while still in high school with a program called Fast Forward. 

“The Fast Forward program is a win-win for students and their parents. Students get a jump start on college and parents pay less for college-level classes. The Fast Forward program opens the doors of opportunity to all of Idaho's public school students, no matter where they live,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna.

During the 2014 Legislative Session, the Idaho Legislature passed Senate Bill 1233, which approved funds to cover up to 75 percent of the cost of taking dual credit courses, college-bearing exams, or professional-technical exams. The Fast Forward Program provides every high school junior access up to $200 and high school seniors access to up to $400 per year. To find out more information about the Fast Forward program, please attend one of the following community events in your area.

• Coeur d’Alene – July 30, North Idaho College, Student Union Building, ESU1 Lake Cd'a at 6 p.m.

• Moscow – July 31, University of Idaho, Renfrew Hall, Classroom 126 at 6 p.m. 

• Boise – August 6, Boise State University, Yanke Family Research Park at 6 p.m.

• Pocatello – August 11, Idaho State University, Student Union Building, 2nd floor ballroom at 6 p.m.

• Twin Falls – August 12, Canyon Ridge High School, auditorium at 7 p.m.

For more information visit www.fastforwardidaho.com or www.sde.idaho.gov/site/advancedOpp

ISAS Academy One: Day 7

After a late night practicing their presentations the students were up bright and early to go through another round of practice. The students worked till they were ready and the presentations sounded great.

The students arrived at the event center around ten in the morning and set up their poster presentations. They then received guests and family to talk about the mission to Mars they had planned. Students also reunited with family members after their week long absence from home.

Students present their design mission to their family members. 

The presentation began with a welcome from program director Peter Kavouras and was followed by a buffet. The audience received a preview of the students' time at the Academy through a video and slideshow during their meal.

Students present their mission design to the banquet hall.

Next the teams introduced themselves along with their job titles and presented their mission which was done in four parts with each team presenting their portion of the mission. Each presenter was eloquent and thorough with their short speech and communicated to the audience well.

An audience of family, friends and others from the community join to hear the ISAS presentation.

After the presentations a few special guests including  Fabiola Juarez-Coco, Art Johnson, and Corey Morasch stood and talked about the students' experiences and vision of the program. They communicated to the audience the positive impact the Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars Program has on the students and their desire to see it continue.

Jo Dodds was then introduced and she in turn introduced each team's teacher-mentor. After making a few remarks on the performance of their team each mentor presented their team members with certificates of achievement. After their team received their certificates one team member on behalf of their team was asked to talk about their experience at the Academy. This may have been the most heartwarming and convincing part of the banquet, for you saw their sincere appreciation for the program.

Teams receive the certificate of achievement. 

The time to say farewell came too quickly. Students and mentors alike felt that the time they had spent together made it hard to part but we will see these students again in the near future.

The Blue team takes one last photo together. 

Thank you so much for following these students during their time at the first Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars Academy. You can find photos, videos and other media of their time spent at the academy on the Facebook and Twitter pages. And it was our pleasure to bring their story to you all week. Please come back in two weeks to follow the updates for the second academy beginning the 27th.

 

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and 
Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna)
ISAS Social Media Mentors

ISAS Academy 1: Day 6

The students' day began with a presentation from the Boise State University SPHERE (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage Reorient, Experimental Satellites) coordinators. The presenters were a graduate student, Nilab and an undergraduate student, Marina. They and their team are the link between the MIT Zero Robotics Program and high schools and middle schools around the state of Idaho. The challenges for both teams change annually, but always involve programing a spherical robot to accomplish a selected task in space. Winning teams get to send their codes to a SPHERE on the ISS for testing. This year’s challenge is keeping a meteor from hitting earth. Students learned how they could form their own Zero Robotics Team.

College students shared a program with our ISAS scholars about the high school SPHERE opportunities.

Soon afterwards students had the opportunity to participate in a teleconference with Dan Isla who is a Boise State University graduate and Systems Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab. Dan Isla worked on the Assembly Test and Launch Operations Team (ATLO) for the Mars Rover Curiosity and talked about the seven minutes of terror landing, the rover's activities on the planet and its instrumentation. Students had their last chance to talk to an expert about their mission before tomorrow's presentations, and they also asked questions about the road to a NASA career including opportunities at BSU and other colleges and high schools in general.

Students asking questions during Dan Isla's teleconference in.

The students had the opportunity to participate in workshops that provided a hands on approach to different career fields including biology, DNA detection, antibiotic development, cryptology, robotics, and motion analysis. The students worked with college students, graduate students and professors to complete different experiments in these areas of study. Experiments varied from making gold pennies, to capturing their own strands of DNA, to programing a rover to find water on Mars.

Students attempt to read an encrypted message using a computer program.

Boiling chemicals, one student prepares to alter a penny to appear as gold.

These students worked hard to prepare for the banquet on Saturday, where they will present and display their final presentations. They had time to work with their team and to practice addressing the audience as they gave their presentation. They have accomplished much this past week at the academy and they are excited to share what they have learned with you. We hope to see you tomorrow!


Don't forget to check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for more videos and ISAS content.

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and
Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna)
ISAS Social Media Mentors