NASA Education Express Message — June 16, 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 16, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. EDT
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PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
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2016 von Kármán Lecture Series — Attend in Person or View Online
Audience: All Educators; Students in Grades 9-12 and Higher Education
Next Lecture Date: June 16, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
Student Spaceflight Experiments Program — Mission 11 to the International Space Station
Audience: School Districts Serving Grades 5-12, Informal Education Institutions, Colleges and Universities
Inquiry Deadline: June 17, 2016
Attention Kid Scientists! — The President Wants Your Ideas on Science and Technology
Audience: K-12 Students
Submission Deadline: June 17, 2016
Call for Proposals — 2016 NASA Education Aeronautics Scholarship and Advanced STEM Training and Research (AS&ASTAR) Fellowship
Audience: First-year Master’s or Doctoral Students
Proposal Deadline: June 17, 2016
Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use
Audience: Educational Institutions, Museums and Other Education Organizations
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center “NASA in the Park” Event
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: June 18, 2015, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. CDT
Smithsonian TechQuest: Astronaut Academy
Audience: Designed for Families With Children Ages 10 to 14, but Open to All
Next Event Date: June 25, 2016, 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT
Live Broadcast of Space Launch System Booster Test Firing
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: June 28, 2016, at 10:05 a.m. EDT
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowships
Audience: Graduate Students and Ph.D. Scientists
Next Application Deadline: July 1, 2016
U.S. Department of Education Accepting Applications for Investing in Innovation (i3) Scale-up and Validation Competitions
Application Deadline: July 15, 2016
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
Help NASA Study Mars — Planet Four: Terrains
Audience: All Educators and Students
Project Timeframe: Ongoing Through Mid-2016
‘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
New YouTube Kids Playlist — The Solar System and Beyond: Kids Edition
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.
Space Launch System QM-2 Test Question-and-Answer Session
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades K-12
Event Date: June 16, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. EDT
Participants in this webinar will get an overview of the solid rocket boosters for the Space Launch System and the QM-2 (Qualification Motor-2) test firing scheduled for June 28, 2016. A question-and-answer session with an expert about the SLS and its boosters will be an integral part of this experience. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/181163
Planetary Missions — NASA, We’re Out There: Modeling Our Solar System
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-8
Event Date: June 16, 2016, at 6 p.m. EDT
Explore our solar system with NASA STEM activities and missions. This webinar will investigate classifying, graphing and scale models to help participants better understand and visualize our sun, planets, asteroids and other objects as a true system. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/181689
Virtual Missions and Exoplanets (vMAX): Part 1 — Curriculum Overview
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: June 21, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
With the Virtual Missions and Exoplanets curriculum, learn how to engage students in the study of exoplanetary systems through hands-on experiences, scenario-based problem solving, and 3-D multi-user virtual world simulations. This webinar provides an overview of exoplanetary system resources that build upon the use of NASA data. These resources are organized for a one-week experience for middle school students but are flexible enough to be used for any formal or informal audience and time period. It is suggested that participants also attend the vMAX Technical (Part 2) webinar for a complete understanding of how to implement these resources. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/182606
Virtual Missions and Exoplanets (vMAX): Part 2 — Technical Overview
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: June 22, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
With the Virtual Missions and Exoplanets curriculum, learn how to engage students in the study of exoplanetary systems through hands-on experiences, scenario-based problem solving, and multi-user virtual world simulations in 3-D. This webinar addresses technical requirements to download, install and navigate the virtual world as an avatar in preparation for using the vMAX virtual world with students. It is suggested that participants also attend the vMAX Curriculum (Part 1) webinar for a complete understanding of how to implement these resources. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/182608
Planetary Missions — NASA, We’re Out There: Exploring Strange New Worlds
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-8
Event Date: June 23, 2016, at 6 p.m. EDT
Explore NASA curriculum that assigns participants roles as scientists living on a planet, orbiting a distant star, who are on the threshold of exploring a planetary system for the first time. Teams explore planets they’ve created by using the same methods NASA scientists use to explore our solar system. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/181702
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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PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
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2016 von Kármán Lecture Series — Attend in Person or View Online
The Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, named after the founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and presented by JPL’s Office of Communication and Education, shares the excitement of the space program’s missions, instruments and other technologies.
Lectures take place twice per month, on consecutive Thursdays and Fridays. The Thursday lectures take place in JPL’s Theodore von Kármán Auditorium, and Friday lectures take place at Pasadena City College’s Vosloh Forum. Both start at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT). Admission and parking are free for all lectures. No reservations are required, but seating is limited. The Thursday evening lectures are streamed live for viewing online. Archives of past lectures are also available online.
Next Lecture in the Series:
2015-2016 El Niño Winter and California Water
Event Date: June 16 and June 17, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2016&month=6
El Niño and La Niña refer to changes in the patterns of sea surface temperatures across the Equatorial Pacific Ocean west of Peru. These changes can significantly influence ocean conditions and weather patterns by creating extreme events from floods along the U.S. Pacific Coast to droughts in Southeast Asia and Australia. A panel of experts will be on hand to discuss NASA observations of groundwater and mountain snowpack in California over the past season and what these measurements might tell us of the future.
For more information about the Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, including a complete list of upcoming lectures, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.php.
Questions about this series should be directed to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/contact_JPL.php.
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Student Spaceflight Experiments Program — Mission 11 to the International Space Station
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education, in partnership with NanoRacks LLC, announce a science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, opportunity for school districts across the U.S. and space station partner nations. The newest flight opportunity, Mission 11 to the International Space Station, gives students across a community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low-Earth orbit on the space station. This opportunity is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, or SSEP.
Each participating community will receive a real microgravity research mini-laboratory capable of supporting a single microgravity experiment and all launch services to fly the minilab to the space station in spring 2017 and return it to Earth. An experiment design competition in each community — engaging typically 300+ students — allows student teams to design and propose real experiments vying for their community′s reserved minilab.
Content resources for teachers and students support foundational instruction on science in microgravity and experimental design. Additional SSEP programming uses the experiment design competition to engage the community in embracing a learning-community model for STEM education.
This competition is open to students in grades 5-12 and college. Informal education groups and organizations also are encouraged to participate. Interested communities must inquire about the program no later than June 17, 2016. The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education is available to help interested communities in the U.S. secure the needed funding.
To learn more about this opportunity, visit the SSEP Mission 11 to International Space Station National Announcement of Opportunity at http://ssep.ncesse.org/2016/03/new-flight-opportunity-for-school-districts-announcing-student-spaceflight-experiments-program-ssep-mission-11-to-the-international-space-station-starting-september-2016/.
SSEP is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the use of the International Space Station as a national laboratory. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (http://www.iss-casis.org/) is a national partner on SSEP. To view a list of all SSEP national partners, visit http://ssep.ncesse.org/national-partners/.
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email SSEP National Program Director Jeff Goldstein at jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org.
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Attention Kid Scientists! — The President Wants Your Ideas on Science and Technology
At the White House Science Fair in April, President Obama met nine-year-old inventor Jacob Leggette, who made a recommendation that the President should have a kid science advisor. The President loved the idea and wants to hear from kid scientists and innovators across the country about what can be done to help shape the future of science, discovery and exploration. Whether you care about tackling climate change, finding a cure to cancer, using technology to help make people’s lives better, or sending a human to Mars, President Obama can’t wait to get your input!
To share your ideas on important science, innovation and technology issues, visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/05/19/attention-kid-scientists-president-wants-your-ideas-science-and-technology. Submissions are due June 17, 2016!
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Call for Proposals — 2016 NASA Education Aeronautics Scholarship and Advanced STEM Training and Research (AS&ASTAR) Fellowship
NASA Education is seeking proposals for a NASA Education Aeronautics Scholarship and Advanced STEM Training and Research, or AS&ASTAR, Fellowship opportunity. The NASA Education AS&ASTAR Fellowship provides funding for fellowship candidates to perform graduate research at their respective campuses during the academic year under the guidance of their faculty adviser and a NASA researcher.
To be eligible to submit a proposal, candidates must be U.S. citizens or naturalized citizens who hold a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field earned prior to Aug. 31, 2016. Candidates must be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program no later than September 2016 and intend to pursue a research-based master’s or Ph.D. program in a NASA-relevant field.
Proposals are due June 17, 2016.
For full program details, visit http://go.nasa.gov/1R6VYwD.
Questions concerning this program element may be directed to Elizabeth Cartier at elizabeth.a.cartier@nasa.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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NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center “NASA in the Park” Event
Join NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the “NASA in the Park” event! This open-house-style event will take place at Big Spring Park East in downtown Huntsville, Alabama, on Saturday, June 18, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT.
Throughout the day, Marshall researchers, scientists and other team members will present short talks about their work. Bands featuring Marshall musicians will perform, and visitors can have their picture taken in a spacesuit. The Marshall Exchange shop will have science-related kids’ games for sale, as well as caps, T-shirts, tote bags, space shuttle mission coins and other NASA-logo merchandise. There will be many educational activities for children and adults alike.
For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2016/16-065.html.
If you have questions about the NASA in the Park event, please email your inquiries to Dan Moulton at daniel.f.moulton@nasa.gov.
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Smithsonian TechQuest: Astronaut Academy
Smithsonian TechQuest: Astronaut Academy, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, is a free alternate-reality game that will challenge you to become an astronaut-in-training for a future trip to Mars. Choose what role you will play on the mission; engage in fun interactive activities; and explore the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills you will need as a next-generation space traveler. Along the way, you’ll learn about some of the museum’s fascinating artifacts.
Instructions and guidance are given via a special webpage accessed on your mobile device. Players should bring their own phones or devices equipped with an internet browser and a camera. Having a digital picture-taking device (smartphone, tablet, camera) is highly recommended but not required.
The game is aimed at upper elementary and middle school visitors and their families. Do you want to bring a group? Reservations are required for groups larger than 15.
The next offering of the Astronaut Academy is on June 25, 2016. Begin your training with Astronaut Orientation in the Claude Moore Education Center Classroom 1 located on the first level across from the restrooms. Astronaut Orientation is offered at regular intervals between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The last opportunity to start the game is at 2:30 p.m. A self-guided activity, the game should take between 60 and 90 minutes, and staff will help you along the way.
For more information, including a full list of upcoming Astronaut Academy dates, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/events/techquest/.
Please direct questions about the Smithsonian TechQuest: Astronaut Academy to the visitor service line at 202-633-2214.
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Live Broadcast of Space Launch System Booster Test Firing
Did you know that NASA is building the largest solid propellant rocket booster in the world? NASA will test a full-scale, test version of the booster, designated Qualification Motor-2, or QM-2, on June 28, 2016, at the Orbital ATK test facility in Promontory, Utah. The test is scheduled for 10:05 a.m. EDT.
QM-2 is a five-segment solid propellant booster that will help power the Space Launch System, or SLS. The two-minute, full-duration static test is a huge milestone for the SLS Program and will measure the booster’s performance at a cold motor conditioning target of 40 degrees Fahrenheit — the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range.
The solid rocket boosters — measuring 177 feet long and producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust — operate in parallel with the main engines for the first two minutes of flight. The boosters provide more than 75 percent of the thrust needed for the launch vehicle to escape the gravitational pull of Earth.
SLS is an advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new capability for science and human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. When completed, two five-segment boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power the world’s most powerful rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop, to achieve human exploration to deep-space destinations, including our journey to Mars.
The test will be streamed at http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv and broadcast on NASA TV. Please make plans to watch with your students and colleagues.
To learn more about the Space Launch System, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/.
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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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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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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 the Journal 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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Help NASA Study Mars — Planet Four: Terrains
Help NASA study exotic landscape features near the south pole of Mars! In this citizen science project, you will view images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Context Camera. Your input will help scientists identify possible areas for even more detailed examination with the orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. HiRISE can reveal more detail than any other camera ever put into orbit around Mars.
Some of Mars resembles deserts on Earth, but seasonal freezing and thawing of carbon-dioxide ice (known on Earth as “dry ice”) at the Martian poles create some unusual landscape features. There’s a lot of territory to cover, so scientists need your help identifying what and where these features are.
For more information and to learn how to participate, visit the “Planet Four: Terrains” website at https://www.zooniverse.org/#/projects/mschwamb/planet-four-terrains.
To learn more about NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its mission at the Red Planet, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/mro/.
Please direct questions about this opportunity to Michelle Viotti at michelle.a.viotti@jpl.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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New YouTube Kids Playlist — The Solar System and Beyond: Kids Edition
Ready for liftoff? NASA has launched a new kids playlist of our videos that journey into the solar system and beyond on the YouTube Kids App. Learn something new about your celestial neighborhood!
Explore this new playlist here: https://kids.youtube.com/.
