JACKSON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT SPACE

Students and teachers from R.O. Hawkins Junior High School and Central Junior High School in Cape Girardeau participated in NASA's Earth to Orbit Engineering Design Challenge, and were to visit NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

They were part of teachers and students from five states who participated in NASA's Earth to Orbit Engineering Design Spacecraft Structures Challenge. They tackled some of the same issues NASA engineers face when designing spacecraft.

To enhance their experience, they were to visit the Space Flight Center to see some of the space agency's work firsthand.

The NASA-sponsored program is aimed at letting students in their classrooms experience some of the challenges faced by NASA engineers designing the next generation of aerospace vehicles. It also helps students achieve national goals for developing spacecraft.

The students and teachers from schools in Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and California also will meet with Marshall Center director Art Stephenson. They will tour Marshall facilities and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which houses the world's largest museum of space artifacts.science, math and thinking skills.

Using educational materials provided by NASA, teachers decide the appropriate time during the school year for students to tackle the program's hands-on activities. The challenge is targeted at students in grades six through nine and open to all schools.

For this year's program, students were assigned to build a model spacecraft and thrust structure using the lightest and most durable materials possible. A thrust structure, which attaches the rocket engine to the spacecraft, must withstand a "launch to orbit" three times.

After determining the amount of force needed to launch their spacecraft model, students planned, built and tested structure designs. They revised their concepts several times, trying to maintain or increase the strength of their structure while reducing its weight. The approach is similar to the challenge faced by real rocket scientists because reducing a spacecraft's weight means it costs less to launch astronauts, science experiments and hardware into space.

Under teacher supervision, students documented their designs with sketches and written descriptions. The challenge culminated in the classroom with student teams preparing a storyboard to describe the process and results of their work.

"The program challenges the students to think like NASA engineers," said Alicia Beam, pre-college officer with Marshall's Education Programs Office. "They do the experiment in their classrooms and come here to compare notes with our engineers."

Teachers wishing to participate or obtain more information about the Earth to Orbit Engineering Design Challenges can go to the ETO Web site at: eto.nasa.gov

If you would like more information on the subject or are interested in covering the visit, please contact Jerry Berg at (256) 544-6540 or jerry.berg@msfc.nasa.gov.

WANT TO PARTICIPATE?

WHAT: NASA's Earth to Orbit Engineering Design Challenges

FOR INFORMATION: Go to ETO Web site at: eto.nasa.gov

Contact Jerry Berg at (256) 544-6540 or jerry.berg@msfc.nasa.gov.