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This Week at NASA...
The NASA Science Day on Capitol Hill provided an opportunity to showcase for members of
Congress and the public, the work and accomplishments of the agency's Science programs. Associate
Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld was among NASA officials at the event, which included
exhibits and presentations, on the agency's work with asteroids and other Near Earth Objects
"We want to know their size, we want to know their shape, we want to know how they spin.
We want to know what they're made of."
Space observatories like the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes ...
"Our ambition is to see as far back as you could see. To see the very first objects that
formed after the early universe."
And also discussed were planetary missions, space weather and a host of other Science
programs conducted by NASA for the benefit of all humankind.
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center recently conducted a Technology Day, giving center
employees an opportunity to learn about the diverse range of technologies being developed
by their colleagues, including air traffic control innovations, fiber optic sensors and
a virtual desktop. These projects not only have real-world applications to aviation,
but also potential in the consumer market.
NASA research indicates that hunks of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice may be responsible
for gullies seen on Martian sand dunes in images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter. Researchers believe the gullies are created when the chunks of dry ice glide down
the sand dunes on cushions of gas, like mini-hovercraft. Scientists came to this conclusion by examining
the images taken by MRO and performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California.
Eleven robotics teams from the US, Canada and Estonia competed for a possible $1.5 million
in prize money during the second NASA Centennial Challenges Sample Return Robot Challenge at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. "Team Survey" of Los Angeles, the winning
squad was awarded $5,000 for successfully completing Level 1 of the competition The
two-day challenge, designed to encourage innovations in autonomous navigation and robotics technologies
is part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden handed out certificates and congratulations to graduates
of the agency's Systems Engineering Leadership Development Program during a recent ceremony
at NASA Headquarters.
"One of the things that is so good about this and many of the other leadership training
programs we do is that it brings people together from diverse backgrounds."
The year-long program includes mentoring, coaching, technical training and developmental
assignments to help develop knowledge, skills, and experience needed to meet the challenges
of systems engineering leadership at NASA.
Also at NASA headquarters, Associate Administrator for Education, Leland Melvin welcomed a group
of students from Washington's Amidon-Bowen Elementary School for the culmination of the
six week I'm an Engineer! program, which engages students in Engineering Science and Technology
with activities such as build and testing their own space vehicles.
"So all these people together, like your teachers, your parents, the people here working, are
all a team to help you get to Mars one day, right?"
Part of NASA's Beginning Engineering Science and Technology, or BEST activity guides, the
I'm and Engineer! program is jointly sponsored by the agency's Office of Education and the
Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity.
Goddard Space Flight Center recently welcomed nearly 300 college students to an orientation
for the Center's 12-week summer internship program. The interns will get work experience
in areas ranging from the robotics lab to the Office of Communications and have an opportunity
at the conclusion of the program to showcase their accomplishments. Programs like this
help NASA engage students in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines,
as well as communications and other areas vital to business.
Thirty years ago on June 18, 1983 the late Sally Ride began her first spaceflight ...
"And liftoff, liftoff of STS-7 and America's first woman astronaut."
Becoming the first American woman to travel to space, as she and her four crewmates launched
from Kennedy Space Center aboard space shuttle Challenger, on STS-7.
"The fact that I was going to be the first American woman to go into space carried huge
expectations along with it. I tried to block out pretty much everything that was going
on around me because it would have been way too easy to just be lost in the moment."
A long time advocate of education, Ride later founded Sally Ride Science to educate, engage,
and inspire students in STEM education. NASA recently honored Ride by creating a new agency
internship program in her name and renaming the EarthKAM science instrument aboard the
International Space Station, the Sally Ride EarthKAM. Ride passed away in July 2012.
And that's This Week @NASA.
For more on these and other stories, or to follow us on UStream, Flickr and other social
media, log on to www.nasa.gov.