posted 01-28-2009 04:09 AM               

Place them at diagonally opposite corners of the classroom to give the students an appreciation of the distance between the two.

Even better (if possible) take the class outside to the playground and at the same distance have one student hold the Moon and start walking around the Earth expalining that during Apollo we had to launch the spacecraft to a point 60 miles above the surface of a Moon where it would be three days later.

posted 01-28-2009 05:37 PM               

As for other activities, a few thoughts (some of these depend on more time than you might have):

After you've demonstrated the scale and distances involved, as Tim suggested, you could split kids into groups of 4-5 to "act out" a mission. This works really well if you can get them to understand and remember the time delay in transmissions. Two students are together as the commander and LMP, one orbiting separately as the CMP, and one or two as the capcom/flight director.

If you have enough time to prepare (I know, you said it was short notice) you could make up little one-page scripts for different parts of the mission (landing, lunar exploration, lunar liftoff, etc.) for each group to practice for a couple of minutes and then "perform" for the class. This probably takes more time than you have on this occasion, but it works pretty well when you have the prep time and the class time available to do it.

posted 01-29-2009 10:30 AM               

Although I took notes I didn't need them as the talk just flowed, it was a lot of fun with great questions.

posted 09-21-2009 10:49 AM               

I am trying to make it as interesting as possible and wonder if some of you would be kind enough to share any interesting facts or stories you know.

posted 10-01-2009 05:18 PM               

They had a recent flight from Newburgh, N.Y. Tuesday; they'll be having one from Dulles tomorrow (Friday.) I was on standby for the Newburgh flight, but unfortunately the plane was full and I couldn't go up. (In anticipation that I would, Tim Gagnon refined a concept for a emblem, which I'll post later, as soon as I scan the Weightless Flights of Discovery patch that I got. While I didn't go up, I did have someone fly a couple of stickers as well as a Velcroed sticker that I would have worn.)

Anyway, here's my take on it, which is scheduled/supposed to run tomorrow (Friday.) I had to cut down what I wrote from 35 column inches to 25; I kept the longer version for the Weekly paper, and I could have written much, much longer with just talking to the three teachers I did.

By Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo, Education Writer

Keansburg - If Brian Katz seems to be walking on air, that's because he was.

Literally.

Katz, a 26-year-old Keansburg High School biology and anatomy teacher, was one of 30 instructors taking part Tuesday in a zero-gravity flight sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. During the flight, Katz, the only New Jersey teacher participating, conducted experiments that could only be performed in microgravity.

Following the flight, the teachers will bring their experience back to their students.

"It's all about inspiring students," Katz said, "and possibly getting them interested in pursuing science as a career."

Northrop Grumman Foundation and Zero Gravity Corporation partnered in 2006 on the Weightless Flights of Discovery program for math and science teachers. Since then, more than 1,000 teachers from all 50 states and 25 countries have participated, the foundation states.

"If you motivate the teacher, you motivate students," said Cheryl Horn, program manager.

In an editorial, Charles F. Bolden Jr., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration administrator and a former astronaut, said that education is critical to America's future.

"We need new scientists and engineers if we are to remain competitive and retain our role as the technological leaders in the world," Bolden wrote in September in the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.

Bolden concludes, "It is crucial that America remains the world leader in science and technology. We must find innovative ways to inspire and educate the next generation of scientists and engineers or watch other nations assume our leadership role. The choice is ours."

Katz missed the cutoff date when he first heard about the weightless flights program two years ago. This time, there was no keeping him grounded.

"Sure, I wanted to be an astronaut. Who hasn't?" Katz said. "This is the closest I'll get."

The zero gravity flight, using a modified 727 airplane follows a path similar to that of a roller coaster. There's an uphill climb, followed by a descent. And as the coaster's car, or the airplane, goes over the zenith of its arc, the gravitational force pulling the riders downward is canceled by centrifugal force. The result is a few seconds of reduced or zero gravity.

The upward trajectory can have participants experience almost twice their body weight. But on the downward arcs, participants first experience Martian gravity (one-third Earth gravity), and then two stints of lunar gravity (one-sixth gravity), all to acclimate attendees to zero-gravity. All of the reduced or zero gravity phases last about 20 seconds each, with a total of approximately eight minutes of weightlessness. A total of fifteen parabolic arcs are flown over a two-hour total flight.

By contrast, America's first astronaut, Alan Shepard Jr., experienced only five minutes of weightlessness during his 15-minute liftoff-to-splashdown flight. Shepard was also held firmly in his seat during that time, unlike the teachers on Zero-G's flights.

A month earlier an on-the-ground workshop was held where teachers learned about the physics of weightlessness and what to expect on the zero-gravity flight. The instructors also used the time to design microgravity experiments which applied science, technology, engineering and mathematics principles to human activities in a weightless environment.

Katz said among other activities he will use footage of a liquid coming out of a syringe to demonstrate that water has different properties on Earth than it does in zero gravity. That is, gravity holds water together, and in its absence, clumps.

As well, "I'll show them the fun stuff, such as when we released M&Ms," Katz said.

But first, there's coming back down to Earth.

"It was the single most exciting experience of my life," Katz said.

posted 10-04-2009 02:46 AM               

I used to get the kids to try one of the tests given to the Mercury astronauts. It's quite simple. Get them to write 20 sentences beginning with the words "I am ..."

If you can get your hands on an office type chair that spins you can sit a pupil on it, slowly spin it and get them to move their heads, both up and down and from side to side. This will test their susceptibility to space sickness as a similar test did for the astronauts.

Another simple demo can be made with a plastic bottle of lemonade (or similar). Open it and it's squashy, seal it and shake and it becomes rigid. The plastic of the bottle is about the same thickness of a rocket casing and it demonstrates how pressure gives it strength. You can mention that Convair, while they were developing the Atlas which used this principle, put a section of casing with a sledgehammer in the entrance hall of their offices and invited visitors to try to dent it as a demonstration of its integrity.