When Orlando Figueroa was a child in Puerto Rico, the early years of the space race captured his imagination, and he wondered what it would be like to travel into space. After achieving multiple degrees in mechanical engineering in Puerto Rico and the U.S., he accomplished, in a big way, his childhood goal. He has served as the Director for Mars Exploration and the Director for the Solar System Division in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, and also as the Deputy Center Director for Science and Technology at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. And he was one of the many people behind the successful Curiosity Mars rover. You can see why he has been given the unofficial title of “The Mars Czar!” Mr. Figueroa came to speak at the Museum recently as part of an event held by PROFESA, the Puerto Rican Professional Association. PROFESA works to help strengthen Puerto Rican community organizations, and is anchored on three pillars: culture, network, and empowerment. Young people from the community who were here to listen to Mr. Figueroa could see not only see that hard work pays off, but also see that with inspiration and lots of determination, you can even become a Mars Czar.

Orlando Figueroa, “The Mars Czar”

The Mars Czar with future professionals

]]> http://www.miamisci.org/blog/the-mars-czar/feed/ 0 http://www.miamisci.org/blog/museum-staff-member-goes-to-space-camp/ http://www.miamisci.org/blog/museum-staff-member-goes-to-space-camp/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2012 21:54:13 +0000 admin http://www.miamisci.org/blog/?p=2254 Continue reading →]]>

The thought of Space Camp conjures up images of simulated missions on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, bulky NASA flight suits, and trying to concentrate while strapped in the multi-axis astronaut training chair, which spins you in all directions at once. It had always been a childhood dream of mine to go to Space Camp, and I finally got to go as an adult. I had been giving a presentation at the Smithsonian Affiliations conference in Washington DC, and afterwards, I met the CEO of the US Space & Rocket Center, who invited me to lead a workshop for their staff about using virtual world technology to engage young people in science. So I decided I just HAD to stay on and go to Space Camp too. That first morning, I saw a group of about 50 adults who were as excited to be there as any kid could ever be. After meeting a real astronaut, Robert “Hoot” Gibson, and dividing into four crews named after the Shuttles, my Challenger crew was assigned to various jobs for our alpha mission. The first thing you learn is how much NASA loves acronyms: At Mission Control, there is CapCom, CATO (Communication and Tracking Officer), EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity), and so on.

Our camp habitat

A huge Space Shuttle

Me, doing an EVA

Having been assigned to an EVA, I was helped into a space suit (it’s a 2 person job), huge boots, a headset to communicate with Mission Control, and a full helmet with face guard. And the best part (and another example of NASA’s genius) – a vest outfitted with pockets all over it filled with ice packs. So despite the bulkiness, you stay cool under all the layers (not to mention the pressure of the mission). I was strapped into a contraption on the end of a robotic arm extending out from the open cargo bay doors of a Space Shuttle (in a place that looks strikingly similar to a real astronaut training facility at Johnson Space Center). Listening to my Mission Control crew through my headset, I followed instructions necessary to make repairs to a satellite. Something unexpected happens to you when you’re put in a space suit on the end of a robotic arm, or sitting at Mission Control in front of a monitor with tons of parameters on it giving instructions to Shuttle commanders… you automatically employ NASA-speak. Sentences like “Be advised that all systems are nominal” and “CATO, this is EVA, I have reached Instrument Panel B and disabled switch R1” start to feel totally natural.

At Mission Control

On a flight simulator

Launching our own rockets

Later on during camp, our crew successfully (for the most part) launched our homemade rockets, and of course had the chance to see if we could handle the multi-axis chair. But learning to pilot the flight simulators was another challenge. One slight move of the joystick, and you were in a tailspin. (A little hint: make sure the landing gear is down before you land). Something else happens at Space Camp –  you develop a new appreciation for the sometimes super-human skill, dedication, concentration, knowledge, and practice it take to be an astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, or at Mission Control in charge of keeping everything on track. We did it all for fun, but these people do it when it counts the most and when the stakes could not possibly be any higher. It’s one of the great joys (and ironies) of Space Camp, that you are learning about pushing the boundaries of space travel, while at the same time going back in time, sleeping in bunk beds and eating cafeteria style – not to mention making great new friends. But this is where our next generation of heroes will be inspired to do the prep and take that leap. As a kid, I was always fascinated by the sky and what was out there, outside the blanket of the Earth’s atmosphere. Looking up into the sky, I wondered what was out there, and wanted to become an astronaut to find out – and that never changed as I became an adult. But it’s never too late to fulfill a childhood dream. I still do plan to get to space someday though…    - Lindsay B.

On the multi-axis rotating chair

Strapped to a spring, walking in “Moon” gravity

Our crew’s mission patch (we designed it)

At the end of every Digital WAVE session, we celebrate the students’ accomplishment with students, Museum staff, invited families and friends … and of course, chocolate cake! At our recent Family Event at the end of this year’s spring session, students presented the virtual world projects they’d created, which were designed to illustrate water pathways and the impacts of climate change on south Florida. Throughout the program, students gathered information for their projects through all kinds of fun activities. They went on a field trip to Anne Kolb Nature Center, met in-person with University of Miami scientist Dr. Arthur Mariano, met Dr. Annmarie Eldering of NASA via virtual worlds, conducted their own research, and built model aquifers. They even met virtually with students from Maloka Interactive Science Center in Colombia, who were also working on water and  climate related projects, through the Museum’s SCEnaRioS project. The final result was truly impressive, because not only did each group create south Florida environments like the Everglades or downtown Miami, but all of the groups worked together to make these environments fit in one interactive map of south Florida. All of the students received well-deserved certificates of completion, not to mention some yummy cake.

You never know what you may find at the Museum. Outside in the Wildlife Center, you will see what looks to be a garden. But if you take a closer look, you will see cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, chives, lettuce, and lots of other things growing in planters arranged not just horizontally, but vertically too. It is a real science experiment/exhibit about hydroponics, which refers to the method of growing plants without soil. All you really need to grow plants is a mineral nutrient solution in water. In nature, plants absorb nutrients that have dissolved in water in the soil, but the soil itself is not necessarily needed. This is an important distinction to make, especially for urban environments or other places too cold or remote to sustain plant growth. Using hydroponics, people in cities would be able to have fresh fruit and vegetables. And in crowded places, sometimes the only direction you can build is up, which is why you see things like an EZ Gro Tower or a VIG (vertically integrated greenhouse) in the exhibit. Hydroponics is also used in research bases in Antarctica, and even NASA has been researching hydroponics as a solution to the need for food on long-term space missions. Not to mention the fact that the turtles and other wildlife at the Museum seem to be enjoying their fresh salads.

Dr. Annmarie Eldering works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She recently met with students in the Digital WAVE program, to tell them about her job and what inspired her to follow her career path. That career path has been pretty amazing, and students had soooo many questions. Dr. Eldering work involves extracting information about clouds, aerosols, and trace gases in the Earth’s atmosphere with satellites and remote sensing instruments. And she is the Deputy Project Scientist on the soon-to-be-launched Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) satellite, which will map CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere, basically “watching the Earth breathe.” And how did this awesome career path begin? It’s simple. An interest in chemistry and math, and wanting to know what stuff is made of.

Just a couple hour drive north of the Miami Science Museum is one of the most iconic places in the U.S. Space Program – NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where shuttles and rockets have been launched into space since the 1960s. Just down the road from the KSC Visitor Center is the Astronaut Hall of Fame, which celebrates the men and women who have ventured into the frontiers of space. Recently, staff from the Museum’s Center for Interactive Learning visited Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Hall of Fame to meet with their informal science education team and contract partners from Delaware North, in order to explore possibilities for collaborating on the development of educational programs and interactive exhibits. The Museum has already been the recipient of two recent NASA grants, including Youth EXPO: Youth Exploring the Potential of Virtual Worlds, funded by the Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums; and EarthLab Miami, a NASA Summer of Innovation Capacity Building grant. What an awesome potential opportunity to combine forces!

Museum staff Ted, Lindsay, and Isabel at the Astronaut Hall of Fame

When a NASA scientist meets high school students, you may automatically think that it is always the NASA scientist that would be teaching the students. But at the Museum’s Digital WAVE: Warming Winds and Water program, the scientist taught the students, AND the students taught the scientist. At Digital WAVE’s virtual speaker event of Fall 2011, Dr. Mike Gunson from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California met with Digital WAVE students in Miami to talk about climate change. The event took place in the virtual world of Second Life, and everyone communicated through his or her avatars. Dr. Gunson is an atmospheric scientist and works on the OCO (Orbiting Carbon Observatory) satellite that will map carbon dioxide from space and will “watch the Earth breathe.”

Dr. Gunson speaks to students around the Digital WAVE campfire.

Dr. Gunson talked about how carbon dioxide was “the missing link between soft drinks, forests, ocean acidity, wild fires, cement production, and volcanoes” and how records and observations from ice cores and satellites show how carbon dioxide levels have increased, and how humans have contributed to the problem.

Dr. Gunson explains The Keeling Curve, which shows direct observations of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1958.

Then… students had the opportunity to show Dr. Gunson what they had been working on in virtual worlds. Their avatars led Dr. Gunson’s avatar to where the students are building 3D objects as part of their projects to create virtual climate change exhibits. Getting feedback from a NASA scientist is pretty special. And getting his attention so much so that he asked for an invitation to come back to see their final projects – that’s saying something.

The beginnings of the students' virtual exhibit projects on climate change. See the glaciers?

History was made on July 8th as NASA launched its last space shuttle ever. Over 400 visitors and MiaSci summer camp attendees gathered in the Museum’s Planetarium and Theater to watch Atlantis blast off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday. “The Planetarium came alive as the shuttle launched. It was a great place to watch and share this historic moment with so many of our visitors,” said Mark Bennett, Miami Science Museum Planetarium & Visitor Services Manager. “I hope this experience inspires children to reach for the stars and become astronauts one day.”

Four veteran astronauts, Commander Christopher Ferguson, co-pilot Douglas Hurley, and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, are aboard Atlantis for this grand finale. This launch marks the 135^th shuttle flight since NASA launched its first shuttle 30 years ago. The STS-135 is a 12-day mission to the International Space Station to transfer a year’s worth of food and other provisions to keep the station well stocked and provide robotic-arm support for a spacewalk by two space station astronauts.

Atlantis is expected to land on July 20, 2011 after completing its mission. Fun fact: The astronauts took an iPhone into orbit marking the first time an iPhone has left earth. Talk about roaming!

There will be five different opportunities to spot the shuttle from the ground in Miami with your naked eye between July 19^th and July 23^rd! For a detailed list of sighting opportunities, click here: Satellite Sighting Information

Get up-to-date information about NASA’s Atlantis mission here: Latest Shuttle News

Leland D. Melvin, NASA Associate Administrator for Education, will meet and talk with museum-mentored high school students in a computer-generated, 3-D environment created by students on the Miami Science Museum’s virtual world island in Second Life. Using avatars that they have created, youth will interact with Mr. Melvin’s avatar, who will talk about his passion for science, lend insight into his career path, and answer students’ questions.

Young people interacting with such a powerful role model through this computer- simulated world is a revolutionary new way of making the presentation more engaging, deepening their science knowledge and making the students more comfortable asking questions of the speaker.  The presentation will be broadcast to students in the virtual world and projected in the Science Museum’s Theater so that the public can observe the virtual event and also participate through an avatar.

Leland D. Melvin joined NASA in 1989 as an aerospace engineer at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. He joined the astronaut corps in 1998 and has served as a mission specialist on two space shuttle missions. In 2003, Melvin co-managed the former Educator Astronaut Program, which recruited teachers to become fully trained astronauts in an effort to connect space exploration with students across the country.

Mr. Melvin was named the associate administrator for education at NASA Headquarters in October 2010.  He is responsible for the development and implementation of NASA’s education programs. As a passionate advocate of science education, he has been developing strategies to improve NASA’s education offerings and to assist in establishing goals, processes and evaluation techniques to implement a sustainable and innovative Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program.  He is a two-time space shuttle astronaut and flew on missions STS-122 and STS-129 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.  Prior to joining NASA, Mr. Melvin played in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.