NASA Education Express Message — June 30, 2016
New This Week!
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Free NASA Educator Professional Development Webinars
Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators
Next Event Date: June 30, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
Astronomy and Night Sky Summer Series
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Dates: July 14, July 21 and August 12, 2016
NASA’s Centennial Challenges: Vascular Tissue Challenge
Audience: All Interested U.S. Citizens, Including Higher Education Educators and Students
Deadline: No Later Than Sept. 30, 2019
Searchable Portals for Federally Sponsored Opportunities for STEM Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Audience: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students and Higher Education Institutions
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PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
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NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowships
Audience: Graduate Students and Ph.D. Scientists
Next Application Deadline: July 1, 2016
Mars Survival Kit: Lessons and Activities to Guide Your Exploration of Mars!
Audience: K-12 Educators
Teacher Professional Development Programs at the NASTAR Center
Audience: K-12 Educators
Workshop Dates: Multiple dates July 5-28, 2016
2016 Summer Professional Development Workshops at Wallops Educator Resource Center
Audience: K-12 Educators
Workshop Dates: Multiple dates July 7-Aug. 9, 2016
Third Annual NASA Exploration Science Forum
Audience: Higher Education Educators and Students
Registration Deadline: July 8, 2016
Event Date: July 20-22, 2016
Free Tours of Facilities at NASA’s Glenn Research Center
Audience: All Educators and Students
Next Event Date: July 9, 2016
Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp Announces Summer 2016 Mission
Audience: K-12 and Informal Educators
Mission Date: July 12-15, 2016
U.S. Department of Education Accepting Applications for Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-up and Validation Competitions
Application Deadline: July 15, 2016
Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use
Audience: Educational Institutions, Museums and Other Education Organizations
Call for Proposals — Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program
Audience: Higher Education and Informal Education Institutions
Proposal Deadline: July 21, 2016
National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Undergraduate Program
Audience: Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Research Initiation Awards — Notice of Intent Deadline: July 26, 2016
Various Projects — Notice of Intent Deadline: Sept. 6, 2016
Broadening Participation Research Centers — Preliminary Proposal Deadline: March 21, 2017
Call for Papers: NASA in the ‘Long’ Civil Rights Movement Symposium
Audience: Academics, Graduate Students and Independent Scholars
Abstract Submission Deadline: July 31, 2016
Symposium Dates: March 16-17, 2017
‘CineSpace’ Short Film Competition
Audience: All Educators and Students
Entry Deadline: July 31, 2016
Future Engineers ‘Think Outside the Box’ Challenge
Audience: K-12 Educators and Students
Entry Deadline: Aug. 1, 2016
Access NASA Data to Analyze Astronaut Radiation Exposure in Space
Audience: Educators and Students, Ages 14 to 18
Entry Deadline: Dec. 3, 2016
Call for Submissions — NASA Announcement for High Impact / Broad Implementation STEM Education Partnerships (EDUCATION01SP16)
Audience: Education Institutions and Organizations
Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis Through Dec. 31, 2017
Free Downloads: Mars Explorers Wanted Posters
Audience: All Educators and Students
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Don’t miss out on upcoming NASA education opportunities.
For a full list of events, opportunities and more, visit the Educator and Student Current Opportunity pages on NASA’s website:
— Educators http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/current-opps-index.html
— Students http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/current-opps-index.html
Are you looking for NASA educational materials to support your STEM curriculum?
Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type and keyword at http://www.nasa.gov/education/resources/.
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NEW THIS WEEK!
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Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional Development
The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University is presenting a series of free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources that bring NASA into your classroom. Registration is required to participate. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.
Planetary Missions — NASA, We’re Out There: Exploring Ice in the Solar System
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-5
Event Date: June 30, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
Explore the wonders of snow and ice. Temperature, ice cores, snow depth, snow density, and the duration of winter — a deep snow pack and late season snow extend the winter season — determine the severity of winter and play a role in fresh water availability and climate change. Participants will both explore and experiment with the wonders of water phase change. This education resource involves winter hikes and other outdoor activities, as well as indoor experiments, for elementary students. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/186212
Engineering Your Summer — Technology Drives Exploration: Challenges on the Moon
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-12
Event Date: July 6, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. EDT
Participants in this webinar will get an overview of the “On The Moon” educator guide. This guide features classroom engineering design projects, and the webinar will discuss modifications for adapting the projects to a variety of classrooms. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/182885
Engineering Your Summer — Technology Drives Exploration: NASA BEST Satellite
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: July 7, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. EDT
Participants will learn about how technology drives exploration. Using the Beginning Engineering Science and Technology, or BEST, curriculum, participants will learn how to use the engineering design process to build and launch a satellite. Participants will also learn about current research at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/187271
For a full schedule of upcoming webinars, visit http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/.
Please direct questions about this series of webinars to Steve Culivan at stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov.
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Astronomy and Night Sky Summer Series
Join NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for the Astronomy and Night Sky Summer Series, and discover the night sky from Assateague Island!
Events are scheduled on Thursday, July 14, 2016; Thursday, July 21, 2016; and Friday, August 12, 2016 (Perseid Meteor Shower).
Each event will begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT with an hourlong auditorium presentation, followed by stargazing with telescopes and binoculars (weather permitting).
This series is free and open to the public; however, refuge entrance fees still apply. Attendees are encouraged to bring binoculars and insect repellant.
For more information and directions to the event, visit http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/2016_astronomy_summer_series_flyer.pdf.
Please direct questions about this series of events to Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.
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NASA’s Centennial Challenges: Vascular Tissue Challenge
NASA, in partnership with the nonprofit Methuselah Foundation’s New Organ Alliance, is seeking ways to advance the field of bioengineering through a new prize competition. The Vascular Tissue Challenge offers a $500,000 prize to be divided among the first three teams that successfully create thick, metabolically functional, human vascularized organ tissue in a controlled laboratory environment.
Competitors must produce vascularized tissue that is more than .39 inches (1 centimeter) in thickness and maintains more than 85 percent survival of the required cells throughout a 30-day trial period. To win an award, teams must demonstrate three successful trials with at least a 75 percent success rate. In addition to the laboratory trials, teams must submit a proposal that details how they would further advance some aspect of their research through a microgravity experiment that could be conducted in the U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station.
The first registered team(s) to meet the required guidelines and complete their trials by Sept. 30, 2019, will win the awards.
The Vascular Tissue Challenge prize purse is provided by NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Centennial Challenges, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is NASA’s citizen-inventor prize program. It invites the nation to help advance the technologies that will enable us to go to Mars and beyond, as well as improve life on Earth. The New Organ Alliance is administering the competition on behalf of NASA. The alliance is a nonprofit organization focused on regenerative medicine research and development to benefit human disease research and tissue engineering.
For information about the Methuselah Foundation’s New Organ Alliance, official challenge documents, rules and schedule of events, visit https://neworgan.org/vtc-prize.php.
For more information about the Vascular Tissue Challenge, visit http://www.nasa.gov/vtchallenge.
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Searchable Portals for Federally Sponsored Opportunities for STEM Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student seeking opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)? The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science — in collaboration with the participating agencies in the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) and the Science.gov Alliance — has launched a search portal for both students and universities to discover federally sponsored STEM education training and funding opportunities.
Student users can search the site for opportunities they can apply to directly, such as research internships and fellowships. Likewise, universities can search the site for federal funding opportunities to establish innovative training programs for undergraduates or graduate students.
Users can search the site through faceted searching capabilities for characteristics such as program type, STEM discipline, institution location, federal sponsor, and eligibility. Or they can search through the open text option.
For programs and opportunities for undergraduates, visit http://stemundergrads.science.gov/.
For graduate programs and opportunities, visit http://stemgradstudents.science.gov/.
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PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
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NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowships
The NASA Postdoctoral Program provides early-career and more senior scientists the opportunity to share in NASA’s mission. NPP Fellows work on one- to three-year assignments with NASA scientists and engineers at NASA centers and institutes to advance NASA’s missions in Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics, space bioscience, aeronautics, engineering, human exploration and space operations, astrobiology, and science management.
U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and foreign nationals eligible for J-1 status as a research scholar may apply. Applicants must have completed a doctorate or equivalent degree before beginning the fellowship, but they may apply while completing degree requirements. Applicants who earned the Ph.D. more than five years before the deadline date are categorized as senior fellows; all applicants, no matter their category, must apply and become eligible for an NPP award via the same process.
Interested applicants may apply by one of three annual application deadlines: March 1, July 1 and November 1.
For more information and application procedures, go to https://npp.usra.edu/.
Please direct questions about this fellowship opportunity to npphelp@usra.edu.
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Mars Survival Kit: Lessons and Activities to Guide Your Exploration of Mars!
NASA is embarking on a journey to Mars! Are your students ready to join in the adventure? Spark excitement in your classroom with the Mars Survival Kit.
The Mars Survival Kit is a collection of educational activities for students in grades K-12. Each educational activity includes a brief description, as well as information about how the activities and lessons align to the Next Generation Science Standards.
Start your classroom’s journey to Mars at http://go.nasa.gov/1NnZ0Rg.
To learn more about NASA’s Journey to Mars, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars/index.html.
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Teacher Professional Development Programs at the NASTAR Center
The National AeroSpace Training and Research, or NASTAR, Center is hosting a series of teacher professional development programs throughout the month of July. Here’s your chance to experience acceleration in a centrifuge, pilot an airplane simulator, or explore the gas laws in an altitude chamber. Each one-day workshop is worth eight hours of continuing education.
One-day workshops are planned for multiple dates in July 5-28, 2016. To see a full list of workshop dates and to download a registration packet, visit http://www.nastarcenter.com/education/teachers/.
The NASTAR Center is located in Southampton, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. The center is an Affiliate Member of the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium. Funding from the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium supports these programs, so they are offered at no cost to teachers.
Questions about this series of workshops should be directed to Greg Kennedy at gkennedy@nastarcenter.com.
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2016 Summer Professional Development Workshops at Wallops Educator Resource Center
The Educator Resource Center at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is hosting a series of free summer professional development workshops for educators. Learn about these upcoming workshops:
Elementary GLOBE (K-4 Educators)
Workshop Date: July 7, 2016
GLOBE introduces students to the study of Earth system science while enhancing literacy skills through natural world exploration. Participants in this one-day workshop will receive free Elementary GLOBE materials.
Earth Science Week (5-12 Educators)
Workshop Dates: July 11-14, 2016
Celebrate Earth Science Week with a series of one-day workshops focusing on Earth science and the missions at Wallops Flight Facility that are helping NASA learn more about our home planet.
NASA’s BEST (3-8 Educators)
Workshop Date: Aug. 8-9, 2016
Learn about the NASA’s Beginning Engineering, Science and Technology program during this two-day workshop. NASA BEST brings the principles of engineering alive to younger audiences, and the content is great for supplementing curricula.
Each workshop is limited to 20 participants. Early registration is encouraged.
Contact Samuel Henry at samuel.s.henry@nasa.gov for complete workshop details and registration information.
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Third Annual NASA Exploration Science Forum
NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, or SSERVI, is pleased to announce the third annual NASA Exploration Science Forum. It will be held July 20-22, 2016, at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
This year’s forum will feature scientific discussions of human exploration targets of interest, including the moon, near-Earth asteroids and the moons of Mars. Science sessions will focus on recent mission results and in-depth analyses of science and exploration studies. The forum will feature dedicated side events for graduate students and young professionals.
Registration is free, and attendance by the entire exploration science community is encouraged. The conference registration deadline is July 8, 2016.
For more information and to register to attend, visit http://nesf2016.arc.nasa.gov/.
Please direct questions about this workshop to Brian Day at Brian.H.Day@nasa.gov.
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Free Tours of Facilities at NASA’s Glenn Research Center
NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is offering tours that take visitors behind the scenes and inside certain research facilities. Glenn scientists and engineers serve as guides. Tours and open house events will be held each month through October 2016. Tours are free for groups and individuals, but reservations are required to guarantee admission. Visitor parking is also free.
On the days of the tours, a bus departs from Glenn’s main gate every hour, beginning at 10 a.m. The last tour departs at 1 p.m. Each tour lasts about 45 minutes, and a stop at Glenn’s Gift Shop follows the tour.
Glenn’s 2016 Tour Schedule
July 9, 2016: Radioisotope Power System, Systems Integration Laboratory: See how NASA emulates the electrical characteristics of a spacecraft system in the Radioisotope Power System, Systems Integration Laboratory. RPS is a source of electricity for NASA space missions from the surface of Mars to the realm of the outer planets.
Aug. 6, 2016 — See Things a Different Way: Check out Glenn’s Graphics and Visualization, or GVIS, and the Reconfigurable User-interface and Virtual Reality Exploration, or GRUVE, Laboratories. The GVIS lab uses advanced computer input and output devices paired with a variety of natural user interface devices and 3-D displays. The GRUVE lab analyzes data obtained either by computer simulation or from research test facilities.
Sept. 10, 2016 — Vibration Testing: Join us on a tour of Glenn’s Structural Dynamics Laboratory, where things get shaken to verify their survivability. Several experiments that currently are operating on the International Space Station were tested in this lab.
Oct. 1, 2016 — Prepare for Impact: Come explore Glenn’s Ballistic Impact Facility. See the laboratory that helped to identify the cause of the space shuttle Columbia accident and to return NASA’s shuttle fleet to flight.
Tours are open to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. To guarantee admission, reservations are required. For more information on tours and how to make reservations, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/events/tours.html.
Please direct questions about the tours to Sheila Reese at sheila.d.reese@nasa.gov.
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Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp Announces Summer 2016 Mission
Registration is open for the Summer 2016 mission for the Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp program taking place July 12-15, 2016. During the mission, students worldwide may submit requests to have a camera aboard the International Space Station capture an image of a specific location on Earth. Related resources, including images and activities, are available for use in the classroom. The optional online activities are targeted at middle school students but are adaptable for other grade levels. All students and educators are welcome, including participants in afterschool programs.
For more information and to register for the upcoming mission, visit https://www.earthkam.org/.
Please submit questions about the Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp program via https://www.earthkam.org/contact.
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U.S. Department of Education Accepting Applications for Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-up and Validation Competitions
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking applications for the Investing in Innovation, or i3, Scale-up and Validation competitions. These grant competitions seek to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of and investment in innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.
These grants will (1) allow eligible entities to expand and develop innovative practices that can serve as models of best practices; (2) allow eligible entities to work in partnership with the private sector and the philanthropic community; and (3) identify and document best practices that can be shared and taken to scale based on demonstrated success.
The deadline for submittal of applications for both the Scale-up and Validation competitions is July 15, 2016.
For more information about these grant opportunities, please visit http://innovation.ed.gov/what-we-do/innovation/investing-in-innovation-i3/fy-2016-competition/.
Please direct questions about these opportunities to Kelly Terpak at i3@ed.gov.
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Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use
NASA invites U.S. educational institutions to request space shuttle thermal protective tiles, space shuttle thermal protective blankets, and other special items offered on a first-come, first-serve basis while quantities last. Organizations previously allocated thermal protective tiles may request an additional three tiles.
Nonprofit museums, libraries and planetariums (sponsored through their respective State Agency Surplus Property, or SASP, organization) are also eligible to make requests. Visit the link below for special instructions to request items. To find the contact information for the SASP representative for your area, visit http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/100851.
A nominal shipping fee must be paid online with a credit card. To make a request for special items online, visit http://gsaxcess.gov/htm/nasa/userguide/Special_Item_Request_Procedure.pdf.
Please direct questions about this opportunity to GSAXcessHelp@gsa.gov.
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Call for Proposals — Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program
NASA is seeking proposals for a new program as part of the NASA Research Announcement “Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2016.” The Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program’s primary goal is to develop and implement capabilities to use contributions from the public to advance understanding of Earth as a system. The program will complement NASA’s observation of Earth from space, air, land and water by engaging the public in NASA’s mission. The program will advance the use of citizen science in scientific research about Earth by directly supporting citizen science activities, as well as by developing technology to further citizen science research.
Through this solicitation, two types of proposals are sought — citizen science research and low-cost sensor deployment for the collection of well-calibrated citizen science data.
Proposals are due July 21, 2016.
For more information, visit http://go.nasa.gov/1SUOO63.
Questions concerning this program element may be directed to Kevin Murphy at kevin.j.murphy@nasa.gov.
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National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Undergraduate Program
The National Science Foundation is seeking proposals for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Undergraduate Program. HBCU-UP is committed to enhancing the quality of undergraduate STEM education and research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities as a means to broaden participation in the nation’s STEM workforce. HBCU-UP realizes this purpose by providing awards to develop, implement, and study innovative models and approaches for making dramatic improvements in the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may participate successfully in graduate programs and/or careers in STEM disciplines.
HBCU-UP provides support for a variety of opportunities. These include:
Research Initiation Awards: These awards provide support for STEM faculty at HBCUs to pursue new research at the home institution, an NSF-funded research center, a research-intensive institution or a national laboratory. The deadline to submit a required notice of intent for a Research Initiation Award is July 26, 2016. Full proposals are due Oct. 4, 2016.
Targeted Infusion Projects, Broadening Participation Research Projects, Implementation Projects, and Achieving Competitive Excellence Implementation Projects: These projects aim to support efforts that increase STEM participation at HBCUs. See the website for individual project descriptions. The deadline to submit a required notice of intent for these projects is Sept. 6, 2016. Full proposals are due Nov. 22, 2016.
Broadening Participation Research Centers: These centers represent the collective intelligence of HBCU STEM higher education and serve as the national hubs for the rigorous study and broad dissemination of the critical pedagogies and culturally sensitive interventions that contribute to the success of HBCUs in educating African-American STEM undergraduates. Centers are expected to conduct research on STEM education and broadening participation in STEM; perform outreach to HBCUs to build capacity for conducting this type of research; and work to transfer and disseminate promising participation-broadening research to enhance STEM education and research outcomes for African-American undergraduates across the country. The preliminary proposal deadline for this opportunity is March 21, 2017. Full proposals are due Nov. 22, 2017.
For more information on the overall Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Undergraduate Program, visit http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5481.
Please direct questions about these opportunities to Claudia Rankins at crankins@nsf.gov and Andrea Johnson at andjohns@nsf.gov.
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Call for Papers: NASA in the ‘Long’ Civil Rights Movement Symposium
The History Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Department of History at the University of Alabama Huntsville invite academics, graduate students and independent scholars to submit proposals for papers to be presented at a two-day symposium, March 16-17, 2017. The symposium will take place at the University of Alabama Huntsville and will address the role/relationship of NASA to the “Long” Civil Rights Movement, particularly in, but not limited to, the Deep South (Huntsville, Florida, Houston, Mississippi and New Orleans).
The conceptual framework for the symposium is provided by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall’s 2005 essay in theJournal of American History, “The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past,” which called upon historians to produce new “modes of writing and speaking that emphasize individual agency … while also dramatizing the hidden history of politics and institutions.” Along these lines, the conference welcomes papers addressing the Civil Rights experience across NASA that not only explore the experience of African Americans, but also of women, immigrants and other politically/legally marginalized groups. The intention is to publish a subset of the papers as an anthology.
Those interested in presenting a paper at the symposium should send an abstract of no more than 400 words and a short biography or curriculum vita, including affiliation, to Brian Odom at brian.c.odom@nasa.gov or Dr. Stephen Waring at warings@uah.edu by July 31, 2016.
For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/call-for-papers-nasa-in-the-long-civil-rights-movement-symposium-university-of-alabama.html.
Please direct questions about this opportunity to Brian Odom at brian.c.odom@nasa.gov.
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‘CineSpace’ Short Film Competition
NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society once again will offer filmmakers around the world a chance to share their works inspired by — and using — actual NASA imagery through “CineSpace,” a short-film competition.
Films featuring NASA-captured imagery and video collected throughout the agency’s 50-year history will be judged on creativity, innovation and attention to detail. Works submitted to “CineSpace” will compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to be shown to audiences both on and off Earth. In addition to being screened at the “CineSpace” awards ceremony during the Houston Cinema Arts Festival, winners and finalists may be screened at other film festivals across the country, as well as on NASA TV and even on the International Space Station.
“CineSpace” is open to all filmmakers, both professional and aspiring. The competition will accept submissions of all genres, including narrative, documentary, comedy, drama, animation, experimental and others, of up to 10 minutes running time. Entries must use at least 10 percent publically available NASA imagery.
The submission period opens June 1, 2016, and closes July 31, 2016. Finalists and winners will be announced at a “CineSpace” event during the Houston Cinema Arts Festival in November. Entries will be competing for $26,000 in prizes with cash awards going to the top three submissions as well as the two films that best demonstrate the themes “Benefits of Space to Humanity” and “Future Space Exploration.”
For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/cinespace-short-film-competition-returns-for-2016.
Please direct questions about this competition to cinespace@cinemartsociety.org.
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Future Engineers ‘Think Outside the Box’ Challenge
To celebrate the launch of the first-ever expandable habitat to the International Space Station (Bigelow Aerospace’s BEAM) and the launch of the first-ever commercial 3-D printer in space (Made In Space’s Advanced Manufacturing Facility), NASA and the American Society for Mechanical Engineers Foundation are challenging students to think outside the box with 3-D printing — literally. If you are a K-12 student in the United States, your challenge is to design a useful object that assembles, telescopes, hinges, accordions, grows, or expands to become larger than the printing bounds of the Advanced Manufacturing Facility 3-D printer in space (14cm length by 10cm width by 10cm height). The function of your assembled or expanded item can be anything you think would be useful for an astronaut living on the International Space Station.
The ‘Out of the Box’ Challenge is the fourth in a series of challenges where students in grades K-12 will create and submit a digital 3-D model of an object that they think astronauts might need in space. Future Engineers is a multiyear education initiative that consists of 3-D space challenges and curriculum videos on the site that parents and educators can use to get kids designing today.
Think big. Think outside of the box! And good luck!
Entries must be submitted by Aug. 1, 2016.
For more information about the challenge and to watch the launch video, go to www.futureengineers.org/thinkoutsidethebox.
Please email questions about this competition to info@futureengineers.org.
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Access NASA Data to Analyze Astronaut Radiation Exposure in Space
Imagine what it would be like to live in space. What kind of shelter would you live in? What kind of protection would you have from the elements? How long could you stay there?
On Earth, humans are protected from radiation by the atmosphere and Earth’s magnetic field. Astronauts on the space station are above the atmosphere and receive a higher dose of radiation than when they are on the ground. The harmful effects of radiation that come from the sun and other sources outside the solar system pose danger to humans living and working in space.
Radiation is one of the top concerns for humans living in deep space for long durations. A NASA group called RadWorks is using radiation detectors the size of USB thumb drives to collect data inside the International Space Station. Together with the University of Houston and the Institute for Research in Schools, RadWorks is sharing the data with high school students who are helping to analyze the radiation that astronaut Tim Peake is exposed to during his time aboard the International Space Station.
NASA is making this same data available to teachers and students through the TimPix project administered by the Institute for Research in Schools, with funding from the European Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency. During European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake’s time aboard the station, data is taken many times a minute while in orbit. A variety of data sets are currently available, and others are being added as the mission progresses. Aimed at high school physics classes, the TimPix project allows students ages 14-18 to access and analyze radiation data during Peake’s mission. They are able to take part in authentic research occurring aboard the station. What type of radiation is present? What impact do different altitudes or locations around the world have on the number and types of particles detected? What happens during a solar flare? Join us in helping NASA answer these questions!
For more information about NASA’s Radworks project, visit http://techport.nasa.gov/view/10581.
For more information or to register for the TimPix project, email timpix@researchinschools.org.
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Call for Submissions — NASA Announcement for High Impact / Broad Implementation STEM Education Partnerships (EDUCATION01SP16)
The NASA Headquarters Office of Education, in cooperation with the agency’s four mission directorates, nine center education offices, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory education office, announces this competition to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Responses must be submitted electronically via the NASA data system NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com).
NASA Education seeks to partner with eligible domestic or international organizations on a no-exchange-of-funds basis to reach wider and more diverse audiences and to achieve mutually beneficial objectives. The announcement places a priority on collaboration involving the following: digital learning; engaging underrepresented groups in STEM; NASA-themed STEM challenges; and youth-serving organizations. NASA also is receptive to other creative ideas including, for example, investigations or application of science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics and design, or STEAMD; or activities culturally relevant to or focused on populations underrepresented in STEM careers, such as women, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities. The announcement explains the criteria used to review responses and NASA’s partnership mechanism known as a no-exchange-of-funds or nonreimbursable Space Act Agreement.
NASA will accept responses on a rolling basis through Dec. 31. 2017.
For more information about this opportunity, visit NSPIRES at http://go.nasa.gov/1RZwWCi.
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please direct your questions to the Points of Contact listed within the NASA announcement.
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Free Downloads: Mars Explorers Wanted Posters
Mars needs you! In the future, Mars will need all kinds of explorers, farmers, surveyors, teachers … but most of all, YOU! Join NASA on the Journey to Mars as we explore with robots and, one day, send humans there.
Download a Mars poster that speaks to you. Each of the eight posters represents a different type of explorer NASA is seeking.
You can view them online, print them and share them with your friends.
Check out the posters at http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/resources/mars-posters-explorers-wanted/.
And for more information about Mars, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/.
