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

ISAS Academy One: Day 5

The students' day began with a tour of the Micron facilities where they not only learned about the process used to create memory products using silicon wafers but they were also able to view different aspects of the research and development with these wafers. Students learned that the Boise site is primarily focused on research and development, in comparison to a focus on manufacturing. Micron is strictly a no pictures facility so no inside views will be included in this post.

Micron Technologies, Boise

Students were able to view the clean room where the wafers are created with the use of an Automated Materials Handling System (AMHS). This automated system bypasses the need for workers to be in direct contact with wafers. Pods take the wafers to and from different tools that are used in the manufacturing process. Students were also allowed to tour the Surface Analysis Lab, where tests are done on the wafers to assist research, as well as the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) Lab where the students got to see what an atom looked like.

After Micron the students were able to participate in a rocket launch put on by Corey Morasch and J.C. Worthen. It was a great rocket launch that landed within meters of the launch site allowing for an easy retrieval. The students returned to the Boise State University campus to work on mission planning. With a lot of new information acquired from NASA Ames, the students had a lot to think about and discuss.

Students helped Corey prepare the rocket for launch.

The final presentation of the day was from former astronaut Wendy Lawrence who spoke to the students on the physiological concerns that exist when we go out into space. Concerns such as radiation but also fluid shifts that can affect eye vision and the psychological factors of spending time in space away from home for an extended period. She also touched on psychological concerns such as isolation and food.

After finishing her presentation, Wendy Lawrence talks to a couple students.

"It's all about geometry!" Wendy Lawrence often said as she played billiards with some of the ISAS participants. Tonight was a special night in the Student Union Building where students had some recreation time including bowling, ping pong and pool. Former astronauts, Wendy Lawrence and Barbara Morgan played with the scholars. Students enjoyed the relaxation and interaction with these two esteemed women, as they played pool and talked and the students got to mingle with them as people. The break was much appreciated as tomorrow will be another busy day at the Academy.




Former ISS astronauts, Wendy Lawrence and Barbara Morgan, pose with their cue sticks.

Thank you for reading and as always be sure to check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for more photos and frequent updates during the day. And we hope to see you at the banquet on Saturday where the students are sure to be presenting an engaging and impressive final presentation. #ISASacademy

--Camille Eddy (ISAS 2012 alumna) and

Holly Palmer (ISAS 2013 alumna)

ISAS Social Media Mentors

 

ISAS Academy One: Day 4

This morning the students again rose early and readied themselves to start their second day at the NASA Ames Research Center. After so many exciting activities yesterday they knew to expect an engaging and informing time during the presentations and tours that would be given and the day did not disappoint.

The students had the opportunity to hear from prominent scientist Chris McKay, a member of the panel of scientists from the day before, who gave a presentation about finding life on Mars. He gave more details about the three (of eight) landing sites that the students were challenged to take core samples at, the three he recommended. He also told students how millions of years ago each could have been a textbook location for microorganisms and other life. Dr. McKay shared a lot of information with the students that helped them better understand their mission to Mars.   

Students then went to visit two human centrifuges. Among other things, these machines study how humans react in conditions of up to 12 g’s. Daniel Morgan explained that one end of the large centrifuge is used for human experiments and the other for non-human ones. Students got the opportunity to sit in the centrifuge chair, take pictures and explore the spinning contraption. The smaller centrifuge used to be human powered, but has since been modified to use an engine. The pedals are still used for experiments studying exercise.

Students had the opportunity to sit in NASA’s largest centrifuge where many experiments take place.

The students also visited the Space Shop, where ideas come to life as laser cutters and 3D printers with various other machines that cut or shape parts of machines for engineers to compile together. The Space Shop works as an open 3D printing lab where engineers, scientists and other professionals can prototype ideas for products. Matthew Reyes, from last night’s panel of experts, explained how each machine worked and what its purpose was.

Soon after, students were fortunate to see another renowned scientist from yesterday’s panel, Pascal Lee, as he delivered a presentation on the specifics of a mission to Mars. He explained what would have to happen for a mission to mars to take place. Although Dr. Lee had various reasons he saw us going to Mars, he said the most important one that would be necessary to get the funding would be national interest; explaining how England didn’t travel the world until France started, and the United States didn’t put a man on the moon until the Soviet Union started pulling ahead in the space race. The people who travel to Mars would be experienced people who are experts in many survival and research fields. In explaining how we’d get to and live on Mars, Dr. Lee related Mars to Devon Island and explained how experiments they are doing on this island up in the artic and other locations worldwide are preparing them for the Martian environment.

Enthralling the ISAS students, Pascal Lee shares his vision for a Mars Mission.

They later paid a visit to the Fluid Dynamics Lab and were able to see the "Life Saver" wind tunnel. They participated in an experiment that involved the turbulence created by the flowing air rushing against the walls of the wind tunnel. Around the walls the air slows down to a point where the velocity is zero but as you move away from the wall toward the air stream the velocity gradually increases. This allowed the students to listen to a change of pitch in the airflow as they moved a tube near and away from the wall.

Neon dye flows through a liquid around the plane, to show the path the air follows.

Listening to the wind tunnel, ISAS students hear the difference between smooth and turbulent air.

Students visited the Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility for a tour led again by Lisa Grant. They were able to look at a full 747 simulator and a few students had the opportunity to fly in the simulation as well. They were also able to see an early simulator of a world war two plane made from organ-like air pumps. There was also a visit to a radar room for air traffic controllers where research is being done to see how computers can help with the increasing demands that air traffic controllers face as the number of airplane flights rise.



ISAS students climb into a flight simulator of a Boeing 747.

The students left excited about what they had witnessed these past two days and thinking and talking about the opportunities they would have to join these and other scientists and engineers in just a few years. After this trip to NASA Ames, students will have their sights set high for the future. We want to thank Tony Leavitt, Adrianne Wilkinson and all of the other professionals at NASA Ames Research Center who helped make this trip one of the most exciting and engaging experiences the students have had at the Academy. Don't forget to check out the Facebook and Twitter pages for more frequent updates as well as all of the day’s pictures. We hope to see you at the Saturday banquet for the final presentation of the students’ mission plans.  #ISASacademy

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

ISAS Social Media Mentors

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. This is where 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 opportunity in the academy to gain information in regards to their mission planning with many chances to speak with NASA professionals.



The ISAS Academy students at the NASA Ames Research Center.

Students were able to tour the bioengineering lab with Brad Bebout. This lab is experimenting with growing algae in space. Students learned that photosynthetic microbes contribute more to the 21% oxygen in our air than plants. And that in the sun this process produces oxygen but at night it produces hydrogen. Students were able to get a glimpse behind the reasoning and methodology of NASA experiments.

  

Students looking at algae being cultivated for studies under circumstances similar to those on Mars.

The Vertical Motion Simulator has the benefit of testing many different flight scenarios, such as Space Shuttles, Fighter Jets, Moon Landers and 747s. Guided by Lisa Grant 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 got to visit and sit in simulators replicating cockpits similar to this one.

 

The students received the honor of sitting in on a special NASA Ames talk called Skimming the Lunar Surface for Science: The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)  Mission presented by Brian Lewis. Students sat among an audience of other NASA professionals and the talk was taped for NASA TV. LADEE’s mission was to characterize the properties of the atmosphere of the moon and Brian Lewis, who grew up in Blackfoot, Idaho and attended the University of Idaho, is a system engineer and was the spacecraft manager of the LADEE project.

A model of the early version of LADEE accompanied Brian Lewis during his symposium.

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. 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, Bill Warmbrodt points out to ISAS students some of it's features.

Here is a vertical Panoramic of the wind tunnel.

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 Pascal Lee, Matthew Reyes, Jake Forsberg, Greg Swanson, and Chris McKay, brought over a sixty minute question and answer session to the students. Questions were asked such as, "What is the best way to get a 12 person crew from the orbit of Mars to the surface of Mars with their equipment?" “What would be the benefit of bringing core samples of Mars back to Earth and how far would we need to drill for these samples?”  And, "What type of ground support would we need, in terms of personnel for our missions 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.

This panel of NASA scientists answered any and all questions the students threw at them

Students asked questions about aspects of their Mission to Mars.

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 One: 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 have to come up with themselves and needs from the other team, as well as what they would contribute as a team. Teams then collaborated and compromised on the aspects of their mission. This activity will help the mission planning to become a cooperative effort in which 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 giving 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, 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. The system integration lab was where they learned about embedded systems and electrical engineering. Students also had the opportunity to ride a Segway in the courtyard.

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

 

 

After lunch the students  were greeted by Dr. Amy Molly, Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Tony Roark, Dean of the College of Arts and Science and Dr. Richard Osguthrope, Dean of the College of Education. These three deans talked about different programs and opportunities at Boise State University. They also gave students advice about college and student life in general. Students asked these three professionals questions about college and careers after.

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. We 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 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 Jordan Nobler. He 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 programed these robots through basic maneuvers for there semester class, but today they needed to build and program their robots. 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. The songs that were played varied from a simple scale to Mary Had A Little Lamb to the Mario Brothers theme song. 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, programing 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 One: 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 Ping Pong 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

Superintendent Luna Applauds FCC for E-Rate Overhaul

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna applauded the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to overhaul this morning the nearly two-decade old federal e-rate program. Luna served as the Co-Chair of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Digital Learning Task Force which advocated for changes to the program.

“Today’s decision is a great opportunity for Idaho schools and students. We know that the digital divide is real and adequate Wi-Fi access is a key component in expanding learning,” Luna said. “Whether you are in an urban school district or a geographically diverse state like Idaho, we know we will never truly meet the needs of all students until we close the digital divide and provide classroom teachers the 21^st century tools they need to individualize instruction for every child.”

The overhaul commits at least $1 billion dollars in federal funding to connect more than 10 million students across the country during the upcoming school year. The plan positively positions Idaho students and schools to participate in the program that would result in affordable connectivity for Idaho schools.

Since Superintendent Luna took office, his vision has been to provide equal access to the best educational opportunities for every Idaho student. The Idaho Education Network and the Idaho High School Wireless Managed Service Project has been a key component in expanding opportunities to Idaho students. For instance, during the 2012 – 2013 school year, more than 3,000 high school students earned more than 7,000 credits in IEN interactive videoconference classrooms throughout the state. The overhaul of e-rate supports the ever increasing availability to advanced opportunities for students in Idaho, through programs such as 8 in 6 and Fast Forward which allow students to get a jump start on college in middle school and high school. Now with the FCC overhaul of e-rate, all schools in Idaho could see Wi-Fi connectivity, including middle schools and elementary schools, to support digital learning.

Created nearly two decades ago, e-rate has seen little in the way of change. The overhaul of e-rate will do several things to increase education across the country. First, it commits at least $2 billion dollars over the next two years to connect students. Next, e-rate modernization will adopt clear goals for broadband to measure program success. The plan also aims to streamline the application process, allowing more schools access to the technology teachers need.

For more information on technology in Idaho schools visit: http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/tech_services. To learn more about e-rate visit: http://www.fcc.gov/e-rate-update