Day Three @ NASA

Day 3 – Wednesday

Today’s topic was Moon, Mars, to infinity and Beyond
Wow! What a day! We started out in the classroom … but what a great science lab. Mrs. Wehner sure would be jealous!

We first started looking at the solar system and the parts in it. Remember when we learned about the solar and lunar eclipses? Hey, even some of the teachers I was with didn’t fully understand it. The professor leading our workshop had some great ideas and explanations for us. He used an earth beach ball and a small moon to show how the eclipses work as well as hula hoops. We also talked about the waxing and waning moon. Here’s a picture of how we discovered other solar system relationships like what is the ratio of the sun to the planets in size and distance.

Remember the video we watched about the Powers of 10? He even pulled that one up and showed it to us … we could say we’ve been there and done that! Boy, we were just ahead of our time.
And then we played with volcanoes. We looked at actual pictures of volcanoes on Mars and the Moon. Then we had to make a volcano and take core samples. Here’s my team, they are from Panama, Ecuador, Kuwait, and Florida.

The room had other goodies as well … like the spacesuit I tried on, the landing wheels of a shuttle that were actually used, all kinds of hands on experiments, and space food.

During lunch I spotted some wildlife including an alligator, ibis and a turtle. I also visited the garden ... the rocket garden. It features all the past rockets used to put men in space.

After lunch we rode in a simulator of a shuttle launch. Whoa! This was a powerful experience. The ride for the astronauts is not like a ride in limousine. It’s more like riding in a car without shock absorbers.

So what’s in the future for NASA? The Moon, Mars and Beyond (or as Buzz Lightyear would say, "To infinity and Beyond!") The space shuttle missions end in 2010. The next project is under way, it will use the Orion rocket vehicle. In 2020 the first flights will be going back to the Moon. From the Moon a base will be set up to explore the Moon and then on to Mars and then … Beyond. I asked the question, "Why the moon? We’ve already been there?" I found out that if the volume of the space shuttle cargo bay (15’ x 15’ x 60’) were filled Helium 3, there would be enough stored energy in it to supply the United States for 200 years. Good idea! But NASA faces a huge problem … they need college students who major in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Hey – that could be you!

Check out a websites about the sun and earth or weather. Hey, what else are you going to do with your spare time? Just start surfing and let me know what cool things you find.

Tomorrow we hope to watch the shuttle land.

I think I’m having more fun than I ought to have!