NASA Education Express Message — Sept. 15, 2016
New This Week!
Free NASA Educator Professional Development Webinars
Audience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators
Next Event Date: Sept. 15, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Seeks Educators and Students for Climate Change Research Initiative
Audience: 9-12 Educators and Graduate Students
Application Deadline: Sept. 19, 2016
Educator Workshop — Comets Close Up
Audience: Formal and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: Sept. 24, 2016, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. PDT
Join STEM@NASA Goddard in Celebrating International Observe the Moon Night!
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: Sept. 28, 2016, 1-1:30 p.m. EDT
REGISTRATION OPEN: Zero Robotics High School Tournament 2016
Audience: 9-12 Educators and Students
Registration Deadline: Sept. 28, 2016
Celebrate Solar Week — Fall 2016
Audience: Informal Educators and Students in Grades 5-9
Event Dates: Oct. 17-21, 2016
Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Presents ‘STEM in 30’ Webcast Series
Audience: Grades 6-8 Educators and Students
Next Webcast Date: Oct. 26, 2016, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT
PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
Sign Up for NASA Education ‘Science WOW!’ Weekly Email Newsletter
Audience: All Educators and Students
Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use
Audience: Educational Institutions, Museums and Other Education Organizations
NASA’s Digital Learning Network Seeking High School Classes for Interactive Event About Game-Changing Technology
Audience: 9-12 Educators
Application Deadline: Sept. 16, 2016
Event Date: Oct. 19, 2016, at Noon EDT
Free Tours of Facilities at NASA’s Glenn Research Center
Audience: All Educators and Students
Next Event Date: Sept. 17, 2016
Free Education Webinar Series From the GOES-R Education Proving Ground
Audience: 6-12 Educators
Next Event Date: Sept. 17, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. EDT
2016 NASA Kennedy Space Center Community Day
Audience: All Educators and Students
Event Date: Sept. 17, 2016, 2-6 p.m. EDT
GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign and Webinar Series
Audience: K-12 Educators
Next Webinar Date: Sept. 19, 2016, at 8 p.m. EDT
Host a Real-Time Conversation With Astronauts Aboard the International Space Station
Audience: All Educators
Next Optional Informational Session: Sept. 20, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
Proposal Deadline: Nov. 1, 2016
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: Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
Center for Astronomy Education Regional Teaching Exchanges and Workshops — Fall/Winter 2016-2017
Audience: Current and Future College Instructors of Astronomy
Next Event Date: Sept. 24, 2016
NASA Swarmathon: Seeking College Teams for Virtual Robotics Competition!
Audience: Higher Education Faculty and Students at Minority Serving Universities and Minority Serving Community Colleges
Application Deadline: Sept. 30, 2016
Solar System Ambassadors Program Accepting Applications
Audience: All Educators
Application Period: Sept. 1-30, 2016
2017 BIG Idea Challenge
Audience: Higher Education Students and Faculty
Notice of Intent Deadline: Sept. 30, 2016
Entry Deadline: Nov. 30, 2016
Celebrate World Space Week 2016
Audience: All Educators
Event Date: Oct. 4-10, 2016
NASA’s Centennial Challenges: Space Robotics Challenge
Audience: All Interested U.S. Citizens, Including Higher Education Educators and Students
Registration Deadline: 5 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7, 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
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
Be a Citizen Earth Scientist With New ‘GLOBE Observer’ App
Audience: All Educators and Students
Searchable Portals for Federally Sponsored Opportunities for STEM Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Audience: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students and Higher Education Institutions
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/.
Find NASA science resources for your classroom. NASA Wavelength is a digital collection of Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels — from elementary to college, to out-of-school programs. http://nasawavelength.org/
Visit NASA Education on the Web:
NASA Office of Education: http://www.nasa.gov/education
For Educators: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
For Students: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html
NASA Kids’ Club: http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub
NEW THIS WEEK!
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.
Seeing Your Students at NASA: Engineering for Mars — Part 1
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 3-10
Event Date: Sept. 15, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
In Part 1 of this series, educators will review two classroom activities in which students work in engineering design teams to test various components of a Mars exploration vehicle. This ready-to-go facilitation guide, Gaining Traction, is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and includes a pre-assessment, handouts, rubrics and a post-assessment. In the first two activities of the project, students build batteries and test wheel friction while focusing on the subject areas of engineering, motion and interaction. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/198527
Seeing Your Students at NASA: STEM Careers Exploration Webquest
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 6-12
Event Date: Sept. 19, 2016, at 6 p.m. EDT
Consider using a webquest in your classroom to engage students in guided inquiry. Students will begin to identify STEM career opportunities that they are interested in while clicking on video links about scientists and engineers who work with environmental issues and problems. The webquest and resources may be used by students working independently or for the whole class to stimulate discussion and collaboration.
Link to the webquest:
https://pmm.pps.eosdis.nasa.gov/education/interactive/stem-careers-exploration
Register online to participate:
https://www.etouches.com/199703
Seeing Your Students at NASA: Rocks From Space and Other Worlds
Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 3-8
Event Date: Sept. 20, 2016, at 5 p.m. EDT
Astromaterials scientists at NASA study rocks and “soil” samples from other planetary bodies. Learn how students can use GLOBE materials to study Earth rocks and soils; find out about the Lunar and Meteorite Certification program for educators; and take a tour of the various missions and research NASA has conducted and continues to conduct in our solar system and beyond. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/198916
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: Sept. 21, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
Learn how to help students study exoplanetary systems through hands-on activities, scenario-based problem solving, and 3-D multiuser virtual world simulations. The vMAX Curriculum (Part 1) webinar gives 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 for any formal or informal audience and time period. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/196414
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: Sept. 22, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT
Learn how to help students study exoplanetary systems through hands-on activities, scenario-based problem solving, and 3-D multiuser virtual world simulations. To prepare teachers to use the vMAX virtual world with students, the vMAX Technical (Part 2) webinar addresses technical requirements to download, install and navigate the virtual world as an avatar. It is suggested that educators participate in BOTH webinars for a complete understanding of how to implement these resources. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/196416
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.
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Seeks Educators and Students for Climate Change Research Initiative
The NASA GISS Climate Change Research Initiative is an opportunity for high school educators and graduate students to work directly with NASA scientists in a NASA research project associated with the science related to climate change.
High school STEM educators participating in this yearlong opportunity will become associate researchers at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and STEM education experts. They will integrate NASA education resources and content into their classrooms while improving STEM education within their communities.
For graduate students, this yearlong opportunity will not conflict with the student’s course work and class schedule during the fall and spring. The internship is considered to be a part-time position that supports the graduate student’s major area of study.
All applicants must be U.S. citizens who reside within a 50-mile radius of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, located in New York City.
Applications are due Sept. 16, 2016.
For more information, visit http://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/ccri/.
Please direct inquiries about the NASA GISS Climate Change Research Initiative to Matthew Pearce at matthew.d.pearce@nasa.gov.
Educator Workshop — Comets Close Up
The Rosetta spacecraft is on a 10-year mission to study the comet “67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko” (C-G) and answer questions about comets. Join lead scientists for the Rosetta mission in an educational workshop that explores hands-on activities and resources for engaging students in the science of comets and small bodies.
In this workshop, Rosetta project scientist Bonnie Buratti and project manager Art Chmielewski will share some of the basic physics of comets and discuss how the Rosetta mission was able to land on one for the first time. Hear about the mission’s latest discoveries, see incredible up-close images of the comet, and get the inside scoop on a second landing on the comet scheduled for Sept. 30, 2016.
The target audience for the workshop is formal and informal educators of grades 6-12, but it is open to all educators.
The event will take place Sept. 24, 2016, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT at the von Kármán Auditorium at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
For more information, directions to the workshop location, and instructions for reserving a spot, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/events/2016/9/24/educator-workshop-comets-close-up.
To learn more about the Rosetta mission, visit http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Please direct questions about this workshop to Andrea Angrum at 818-354-6775.
Join STEM@NASA Goddard in Celebrating International Observe the Moon Night!
Are you ready to look at the moon in an entirely new way? Join NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Sept. 28, 2016, at 1 p.m. EDT for STEM@NASA Goddard: International Observe the Moon Night. During this 30-minute event, Andrea Jones, education specialist for Planetary Science Institute at NASA Goddard, will share how International Observe the Moon Night encourages appreciation and understanding of our moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration.
The program will stream live on NASA Goddard’s Ustream channel, and participants will be able to submit questions by email and Twitter.
For more information, please contact Erin McKinley at erin.e.mckinley@nasa.gov.
REGISTRATION OPEN: Zero Robotics High School Tournament 2016
The Zero Robotics High School Tournament 2016 will take place this fall.
The tournament will offer U.S. high school students the opportunity to design experiments that will be tested in space. Zero Robotics challenges high school student teams to write their own algorithms to fly the Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. The competition starts online where, guided by mentors, teams compete to solve an annual challenge. Students can create, edit, share, save, simulate and submit code from a web browser. After several phases of virtual competition, finalists will be selected to compete virtually in a live championship aboard the International Space Station.
Registration closes on Sept. 28, 2016.
For more information about the tournament and to register your team to participate, visit http://zerorobotics.mit.edu/.
The competition began with a live webcast kickoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Sept. 10, 2016. Visit the Zero Robotics website to watch an archived video of the kickoff event.
Please email any questions about this opportunity to zerorobotics@mit.edu.
Celebrate Solar Week — Fall 2016
Solar Week, October 17-21, provides a weeklong series of web-based activities with a focus on the sun-Earth connection. Young people ages 10-14 can learn about solar careers, sunspots, solar eclipses, solar energy and solar storms through a series of cool facts, activities and games.
Solar Week is ideal for young teens or groups wanting to know more about the solar system, the stars or astronomy in general. Many activities are suitable for fun in the computer lab as well. After doing the activities, participants can interact on the bulletin board with leading scientists at the forefront of sun-Earth research. Solar Week is great for learning about our nearest star, the sun.
To learn more and to register to participate, visit http://www.solarweek.org.
Questions about Solar Week may be emailed to solarweek@solarweek.org.
Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Presents ‘STEM in 30’ Webcast Series
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is presenting a series of free education webcast events called “STEM in 30.” This program consists of live, fast-paced 30-minute webcasts designed to increase interest and engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for students. To enhance the learning experience, students can get involved with the content through the interactive “Cover It Live” feature, which includes poll questions and classroom activities. The webcasts are available live on the National Air and Space Museum website and NASA TV, and they will be archived for on-demand viewing.
Seven Minutes of Terror: The Engineering Behind Landing on Other Planets
Oct. 26, 2016, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT
Rocket thrusters, giant airbags and a sky crane: These are just a few ways we have landed on other planets. Join the webcast to explore the engineering behind these different techniques and what is in store for future missions.
Scientist or Guinea Pig: Science on the Station
Nov. 16, 2016, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST
Do you like being poked, prodded and analyzed? If you said yes, then you may have a future as an astronaut. Astronauts on the International Space Station don’t just conduct scientific experiments — they are part of an experiment themselves. Learning about the human factors of spaceflight is an important element to a future trip to Mars. Join the webcast to explore the effects of space on the humans who travel there.
The Wright Stuff: Flying the Wright Flyer
Dec. 14, 2016, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST
The birth of aeronautical engineering began in the Wright brothers’ bike shop in Dayton, Ohio. The family tree of airplanes can be traced back to the Wright brothers’ 1903 Flyer. The principles of flight that got the Wrights into the air are the same today. Join the webcast to investigate the principles of flight and how the Wright Flyer made it into the air and then into the history books.
“STEM in 30” webcasts are online learning experiences but are filmed in front of a live audience. If you are interested in bringing your school group to a live filming of “STEM in 30,” please email STEMin30@si.edu for details.
For more information about the Smithsonian’s “STEM in 30” Webcast Series, including a full list of upcoming webcasts, visit https://airandspace.si.edu/connect/stem-30.
Questions about this series should be directed to STEMin30@si.edu.
PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES…
Sign Up for NASA Education ‘Science WOW!’ Weekly Email Newsletter
Are you a science educator or interested in science education? Sign up for the NASA Education “Science WOW!” mailing list. Receive an email with NASA’s latest science education offerings delivered “Weekly on Wednesdays.”
Science starts with a question, and so does “Science WOW!” Each week’s message kicks off with a science question and a link to where you can find the answer. “Science WOW!” also highlights an awesome science education tool each week. These featured resources will include NASA apps, interactive games, 3-D printing templates and more!
Plus, “Science WOW!” delivers — right to your inbox — the latest science education opportunities offered by NASA. It’s a simple way to keep up with the latest professional development webinars, student contests, workshops, lectures and other activities.
To register your email address and be added to the list, visit https://www.nasa.gov/education/sciencewow/.
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.
NASA’s Digital Learning Network Seeking High School Classes for Interactive Event About Game-Changing Technology
In 2013, life changed drastically for the families of 19 firefighters trapped in an Arizona wildfire. The fire shelters the firefighters were carrying were unable to protect them. That tragedy inspired scientists and engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia to look at how technology developed for inflatable heat shields for spacecraft could be used to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to others.
Join NASA’s Digital Learning Network for a special web conference on Oct. 19, 2016 at Noon EDT. During this event, students can learn personally from the scientists, engineers and representatives of the National Forestry Service about how they will use this technology to save lives. The DLN is currently accepting requests for high school classes to participate live during the webcast.
To be considered for this opportunity, please send an email to dlinfochannel@gmail.com. Use “CHIEFS Webcast” in the message’s Subject line and include the following information in the email message:
Point of Contact (POC) Name
School Name
POC Email
POC Phone Number
Grade Level of Students Who Will Participate
Approximate Number of Students Who Will Participate
To be considered, requests to participate must be received by Sept. 16, 2016.
Please direct questions about this event to DLiNfochannel@gmail.com.
For more information about other DLN events, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln.
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
Sept. 17, 2016 — Historic District Tour: Join us on a free tour of Glenn’s newly established historic district. The tour will feature the Zero Gravity Research Facility, a National Historic Landmark that was built in the 1960s and is still used for research today.
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.
Free Education Webinar Series From the GOES-R Education Proving Ground
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series is the next generation of geostationary Earth-observing systems. The GOES-R series satellites will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere. The satellites will collect lightning data and monitor space weather to provide critical atmospheric, hydrologic, oceanic, climatic, solar and space data. The first satellite in the GOES-R series is scheduled to launch in October 2016.
To help educators prepare for the new satellite imagery and data that will be available during the GOES-R era, the GOES-R Education Proving Ground will host a series of education webcasts leading up to launch.
The webinars will take place on the following Saturday mornings at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
Sept. 17, 2016: Countdown to Launch!
For more information, including log-in instructions for the webinars, visit http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/education/goesr/.
Please direct questions about this series of webinars to Margaret Mooney at Margaret.Mooney@ssec.wisc.edu.
2016 NASA Kennedy Space Center Community Day
NASA is hosting its annual NASA Kennedy Space Center Community Day at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Sept. 17, 2016, with free admission from 2-6 p.m. EDT.
The event, targeted for K-12 students and their families, will focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, with the theme “Express to Mars.” Educational activities and demonstrations will highlight the future of America’s space program. Community Day will give visitors the opportunity to talk with real-life astronauts and engage in awesome experiments, cool demonstrations, and fun hands-on activities.
For more information, visit https://twitter.com/NASA_KETI and https://www.facebook.com/nasaketi.
Please direct questions about the event to KSC-KETI-program@mail.nasa.gov.
GLOBE El Niño Field Campaign and Webinar Series
El Niño and La Niña are important phenomena that can impact the climate by causing global flooding and droughts as well as changes in seasonal weather. These interactions around the world are called teleconnections. Because of the importance of this issue, a GLOBE ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) Campaign has been formulated to engage students in determining where and how much El Niño affects local places and to put students in contact with their local environment.
To learn more about the campaign and how to participate, visit http://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign.
To help educators prepare for the El Niño Campaign, GLOBE is hosting a series of free education webinars to discuss the mechanics of the campaign, give updates on data collection, and give participants the opportunity to learn science content from experts.
The final hourlong webinar in the series will take place on the following date at 8 p.m. EDT.
Sept. 19, 2016: El Niño Student Campaign Refresher and Update
For more information, including log-in instructions for the webinars and recordings of previous webinars in the series, visit http://www.globe.gov/web/el-nino/el-nino-campaign/webinars.
Please direct questions about this opportunity and series of webinars to http://www.globe.gov/support/contact.
Host a Real-Time Conversation With Astronauts Aboard the International Space Station
ARISS-US is now accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations (working individually or together) to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, radio contact with an orbiting space station crew member between July 1 – Dec. 31, 2017. Proposals are due Nov. 1, 2016.
ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. Students can learn about satellite communications, wireless technology, science research conducted on the space station, what it is like to work in space, radio science, and any related STEM subject. Students learn to use amateur radio to talk directly to an astronaut and ask their STEM-related questions. ARISS will help educational organizations locate amateur radio groups who can assist with equipment for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students. Exact dates for the 10-minute radio contact are determined by crew scheduling and space station orbits.
Informational Sessions
To help organizations learn about ARISS radio contacts and the proposal process, ARISS offers one-hour online information sessions; all questions are welcomed. Attending an online session is not required but strongly encouraged.
Informational sessions will be offered Sept. 20, 2016, at 4 p.m. EDT and Sept. 28, 2016, at 7 p.m. EDT.
Advance registration is necessary. Email ARISS (ariss@arrl.org) to sign up for an information session.
For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, visit http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact.
ARISS-US is offered through a partnership between NASA; the American Radio Relay League, or ARRL; and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, or AMSAT. ARISS was created and is managed by an international working group.
Please email questions about this opportunity to ariss@arrl.org.
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:
Revealing Saturn: Cassini Science Highlights and the Grand Finale
Event Date: Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, 2016, at 7 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. EDT)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures_archive.php?year=2016&month=9
The Cassini mission’s findings have revolutionized our understanding of Saturn. With its mission winding down, what new puzzles will Cassini solve before it plunges into Saturn’s atmosphere? Cassini Project Scientist Dr. Linda Spilker will present highlights of Cassini’s ambitious inquiry at Saturn and an overview of science observations in the final orbits. Dr. Earl Maize, Cassini program manager, will discuss Cassini’s exciting challenges and the final year of the mission, ultimately flying through a region where no spacecraft has ever flown before.
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.
Center for Astronomy Education Regional Teaching Exchanges and Workshops — Fall/Winter 2016-2017
NASA’s Center for Astronomy Education, or CAE, announces a series of regional teaching exchanges and workshops for astronomy and space science educators.
Teaching exchanges foster a sense of community among geographically linked current and future college instructors of astronomy. Regional experts from the broader CAE community are ready to provide the opportunity for you to meet your neighbors, expand your instructional repertoire and share your own expertise.
Workshops provide participants with experiences needed to create effective and productive active-learning classroom environments. Workshop leaders model best practices in implementing many different classroom-tested instructional strategies. But more importantly, workshop participants will gain first-hand experience implementing these proven strategies.
Sept. 24, 2016 — Seattle University in Seattle, Washington
CAE Northwest Regional Teaching Exchange
Sept. 24, 2016 — Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina
CAE Southeast Regional Teaching Exchange
Jan. 4, 2017 — Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas
CAE Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop — New Methods for Teaching About Exoplanets
Jan. 5, 2017 — Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas
CAE Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop — New Methods for Teaching in the Flipped Classroom
For more information and to register for the teaching exchanges, visit http://astronomy101.jpl.nasa.gov/workshops/index.cfm.
Inquiries about this series of events should be directed to Gina Brissenden at gbrissenden@as.arizona.edu.
CAE is funded through NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Exoplanet Exploration Program.
NASA Swarmathon: Seeking College Teams for Virtual Robotics Competition!
The NASA Swarmathon is now accepting applications for the 2017 NASA Swarmathon Virtual Competition. Selected teams will receive a $500 stipend for their faculty member; training via live webinars, videos and guides; and access to technical forums to post questions and receive answers. The top scoring team will receive a $3,000 prize.
The Swarmathon Virtual Competition will challenge students to develop search algorithms for robotic swarms, and these algorithms will be tested by competition organizers in a virtual environment. Winners will be announced at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in April 2017.
Swarmathon participation will (1) improve students’ skills in robotics and computer science and (2) further advance technologies related to future NASA space exploration missions. Faculty members at Minority Serving Universities and Minority Serving Community Colleges are eligible to apply. The deadline for applications is Sept. 30, 2016.
For more information, visit http://nasaswarmathon.com/.
Please direct questions about the NASA Swarmathon Virtual Competition to Info@NASASwarmathon.com.
Solar System Ambassadors Program Accepting Applications
The NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassadors Program, a nationwide network of space enthusiast volunteers, will be accepting applications from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, 2016.
Highly motivated individuals will be given the opportunity to represent NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as volunteer SSAs to the public for a one-year, renewable term beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
While applications are being sought nationwide, interested parties from the following areas are especially encouraged to apply: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. SSA hopes to add 100 new volunteers to the program in 2017.
To learn more about the SSA Program and to apply online, visit https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/ssa/home.cfm. The Announcement of Opportunity and application form will be available on Sept. 1.
If you have questions about this opportunity, contact Kay Ferrari, SSA coordinator, by email at ambassad@jpl.nasa.gov.
2017 BIG Idea Challenge
NASA’s Game Changing Development Program and the National Institute of Aerospace announce the 2017 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing Idea Challenge. The BIG Idea Challenge invites teams and their faculty advisors to work together to design and analyze potential modular concepts and systems that provide the ability to construct large solar electric propulsion, or SEP, tugs in space that can transfer payloads for low Earth orbit to a lunar distant retrograde orbit. Concepts can employ new approaches for packaging modules in one or more launch vehicles that minimize launch loads; modular (distributed) solar arrays and ion engines; and robust robotic assembly (joining) of the modules that form the SEP tug.
Interested teams of three to five undergraduate and/or graduate students will submit proposals (eight to10 pages) describing their BIG Idea. Based on a review of the proposals, four teams will be selected to submit full technical papers and present their concepts to a panel of NASA judges at the 2017 BIG Idea Forum at NASA’s Langley Research Center on Feb. 15 and 16, 2017, in Hampton, Virginia.
The final four qualifying teams will receive a $6,000 stipend to facilitate participation in the BIG Idea Forum. The winning team will receive offers to participate in paid internships with the Game Changing Development team at Langley Research Center where they can work toward further developing their concept under the mentorship of NASA experts.
Interested teams are encouraged to submit a notice of intent by Sept 30, 2016, and teams must submit proposals by Nov. 30, 2016.
For full competition details, including design constraints and submission guidelines, please visit http://BigIdea.nianet.org.
If you have any questions about the competition, please contact BigIdea@nianet.org.
Celebrate World Space Week 2016
Join educators and space enthusiasts around the world to celebrate the United Nations-declared World Space Week, Oct. 4-10, 2016. This international event commemorates the beginning of the Space Age with the launch of Sputnik 1 on Oct. 4, 1957.
World Space Week is the largest public space event in the world, with celebrations in more than 70 nations. During World Space Week, teachers are encouraged to use space-themed activities to excite students about science and technology.
Participating is easy. Visit the World Space Week website to find educational resources to use in the classroom. Share your own lessons and events to get maximum recognition for your school. After your events, visit the website to share details and lessons learned.
To learn more about World Space Week, visit http://www.worldspaceweek.org.
NASA’s Centennial Challenges: Space Robotics Challenge
NASA, in partnership with Space Center Houston and NineSigma, has opened registration for a new competition — the Space Robotics Challenge. This event seeks to develop the capabilities of humanoid robots to help astronauts on the journey to Mars.
The Space Robotics Challenge is a $1 million prize competition designed to push the boundaries of robotic dexterity. Teams must program a virtual robot, modeled after NASA’s Robonaut 5, or R5 robot, to complete a series of tasks in a simulation that includes periods of latency to represent communications delay from Earth to Mars.
The competition will be held in a virtual environment. Each team’s R5 will be challenged with resolving the aftermath of a dust storm that has damaged a Martian habitat. This involves three objectives: aligning a communications dish, repairing a solar array and fixing a habitat leak.
Registration for the Space Robotics Challenge closes at 5 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7, 2016. A qualifying round will run from mid-September to mid-November. Finalists of that round will be announced in December and will engage in open practice from January to early June 2017. The final virtual competition will be held in June 2017, and winners will be announced at the end of June at Space Center Houston.
For more information about the Space Robotics Challenge, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spacebot.
Please direct questions about this competition to info@spaceroboticschallenge.com.
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.
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.
Be a Citizen Earth Scientist With New ‘GLOBE Observer’ App
Want to be a citizen Earth scientist? To contribute to NASA’s studies of our home planet, all you need is a smartphone, access to the outdoors, and the new “GLOBE Observer” app.
Now available for Apple and Android phones, the app is an initiative of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program. For over two decades, GLOBE has enabled schools and students in over 110 countries to investigate their local environment and put their observations in a global context.
To learn more, visit https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-launches-new-citizen-science-opportunity and http://observer.globe.gov.
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/.
