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NASA Education: Yesterday's Dream...Today's Vision...Tomorrow's Hope

For 50 years, NASA's journeys into air and space have developed humankind's understanding of the universe, advanced technology breakthroughs, enhanced air travel safety and security, and expanded the frontiers of scientific research. These accomplishments share a common genesis: education. Education is a fundamental element of NASA's activities, reflecting a balanced and diverse portfolio of: Elementary and Secondary Education, Higher Education, e-Education, Informal Education, and Minority University Research and Education Programs (MUREP). Previous experience has shown that implementing exciting and compelling NASA missions are critical to inspiring the next generation of explorers, innovators, and leaders. Through partnerships with the Agency's Mission Directorates, other federal agencies, private industries, scientific research, and education/academic organizations, NASA's unique mission and education initiatives (content, people, and facilities) are helping to spark student interest and to guide them toward careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). NASA continues to inspire the next generation of explorers, innovators, and future leaders through its educational investments, which are designed to: (1) Strengthen NASA and the Nation's future workforce -- NASA will identify and develop the critical skills and capabilities needed to ensure achievement of exploration, science, and aeronautics. (2) Attract and retain students in STEM disciplines through a progression of educational opportunities for students, teachers, and faculty -- To compete effectively for the minds, imaginations, and career ambitions of America's young people, NASA will focus on engaging and retaining students in STEM education programs to encourage their pursuit of educational disciplines critical to NASA's future engineering, scientific, and technical missions. 3. Engage Americans in NASA's mission -- NASA will build strategic partnerships and links between formal and informal STEM education providers. Through hands-on, interactive, educational activities, NASA will engage students, educators, families, the general public, and all agency stakeholders in increasing America's science and technology literacy. NASA Education uses multiple methods to assess and evaluate the success of its programs and projects. Methods include strategic planning, management and control, expert evaluations and assessments, competitive acquisition, and analysis of performance measurement data and metrics. Additional control measures are in development. These measures will further improve data collection, assist in assessing return on investments, and provide information for accountability in project and program management. In 2009, NASA directly reached over one million students and over 115,000 educators.

Winterton, Joyce L.↗

Space education in the context of U.S. government multiagency efforts in science and mathematics education

The educational activities of NASA which is one of 16 agencies on the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology is discussed. NASA's education mission is to utilize its unique facilities and its specialized workforce to conduct and to leverage externally conducted science, mathematics, and technology education programs and activities. These efforts aimed at meeting the national education goals should help to preserve U.S. leadership in aeronautics, space science, and technology.

Finarelli, Margaret G.↗

Atmospheric numerical modeling resource enhancement and model convective parameterization/scale interaction studies

Research will be undertaken in this contract in the area of Modeling Resource and Facilities Enhancement to include computer, technical and educational support to NASA investigators to facilitate model implementation, execution and analysis of output; to provide facilities linking USRA and the NASA/EADS Computer System as well as resident work stations in ESAD; and to provide a centralized location for documentation, archival and dissemination of modeling information pertaining to NASA's program. Additional research will be undertaken in the area of Numerical Model Scale Interaction/Convective Parameterization Studies to include implementation of the comparison of cloud and rain systems and convective-scale processes between the model simulations and what was observed; and to incorporate the findings of these and related research findings in at least two refereed journal articles.

Cushman, Paula P.↗

Life Sciences Accomplishments 1994

The NASA Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications Division (LBSAD) serves the Nation's life sciences community by managing all aspects of U.S. space-related life sciences research and technology development. The activities of the Division are integral components of the Nation's overall biological sciences and biomedical research efforts. However, NASA's life sciences activities are unique, in that space flight affords the opportunity to study and characterize basic biological mechanisms in ways not possible on Earth. By utilizing access to space as a research tool, NASA advances fundamental knowledge of the way in which weightlessness, radiation, and other aspects of the space-flight environment interact with biological processes. This knowledge is applied to procedures and technologies that enable humans to live and work in and explore space and contributes to the health and well-being of people on Earth. The activities of the Division are guided by the following three goals: Goal 1) Use microgravity and other unique aspects of the space environment to enhance our understanding of fundamental biological processes. Goal 2) Develop the scientific and technological foundations for supporting exploration by enabling productive human presence in space for extended periods. Goal 3) Apply our unique mission personnel, facilities, and technology to improve education, the quality of life on Earth, and U.S. competitiveness. The Division pursues these goals with integrated ground and flight programs involving the participation of NASA field centers, industry, and universities, as well as interactions with other national agencies and NASA's international partners. The published work of Division-sponsored researchers is a record of completed research in pursuit of these goals. During 1993, the LBSAD instituted significant changes in its experiment solicitation and peer review processes. For the first time, a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) was released requesting proposals for ground-based and flight research for all programs. Areas of particular interest to NASA were defined Proposals due April 29, 1994, will be peer reviewed - externally for scientific merit. This annual NRA process is now the mechanism for recruiting both extramural and intramural investigations. As an overview of LBSAD activities in 1993, this accomplishments document covers each of the major organizational components of the Division and the accomplishments of each. The second section is a review of the Space Life Sciences Research programs Space Biology, Space Physiology and Countermeasures, Radiation Health, Environmental Health, Space Human Factors, Advanced Life Support, and Global Monitoring and Disease Prediction, The third section, Research in Space Flight, describes the substantial contributions of the Spacelab Life Sciences 2 (SLS-2) mission to life sciences research and the significant contributions of the other missions flown in 1993, along with plans for future missions. The Division has greatly expanded and given high priority to its Education and Outreach Programs, which are presented in the fourth section. The fifth and final section, Partners for Space, shows the Divisions Cooperative efforts with other national and international agencies to achieve common goals, along with the accomplishments of joint research and analysis programs.

Burnell, Mary Lou↗

CosmoQuest: Better Citizen Science Through Education

In the modern era, NASA SMD missions and facilities are producing data at a rate too great for the science community to maximally utilize. While software can help, what is really needed is additional eyes, hands, and minds - help we can find in the form of citizen scientist volunteers. The CosmoQuest virtual research facility has demonstrated through published research results that classroom students and the public can, with proper training and support from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), fill roles more traditionally filled by university students. The research question behind CosmoQuest's creation was simple: if students and the public are provided a properly scaffolded experience that mirrors that of researchers, will they come and perform as well as our students? and can they rise up to be research collaborators? In creating CosmoQuest, we started with a core of citizen science portals, educational materials for both students and life-long learners, and collaboration areas. These three primary focuses mirror the research, courses, and collaboration spaces that form the foundation of a university department. We then went on to add the features that make a center stand out - we added seminars in the form of Google Hangouts on Air, planetarium content through our Science on the Half Sphere program, and even the chance to vicariously attend conferences through live blogging by our team members. With this design for a virtual research facility, the answer to our foundational question has been a resounding yes; the public can aid us in doing science provided they are properly trained. To meet the needs of our population we have developed four areas of engagement: research, education, media, and community.

Gay, P. L.↗

A Dedicated Environmental Remote Sensing Facility for the Columbia Earth Institute

This paper presents a final technical report on a dedicated environmental remote sensing facility for the Columbia Earth Institute. The above-referenced award enabled the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory to establish a state-of-the-art remote sensing image analysis and data visualization facility to serve the research and educational needs of students and staff at Lamont and the Columbia Earth Institute.

Weissel, Jeffrey K.↗

Airborne Remote Sensing (ARS) for Agricultural Research and Commercialization Applications

Tremendous advances in remote sensing technology and computing power over the last few decades are now providing scientists with the opportunity to investigate, measure, and model environmental patterns and processes with increasing confidence. Such advances are being pursued by the Nebraska Remote Sensing Facility, which consists of approximately 30 faculty members and is very competitive with other institutions in the depth of the work that is accomplished. The development of this facility targeted at applications, commercialization, and education programs in the area of precision agriculture provides a unique opportunity. This critical area is within the scope of NASA goals and objectives of NASA s Applications, Technology Transfer, Commercialization, and Education Division and the Earth Science Enterprise. This innovative integration of Aerospace (Aeronautics) Technology Enterprise applications with other NASA enterprises serves as a model of cross-enterprise transfer of science with specific commercial applications.

Narayanan, Ram↗

The Proliferation of PDC-Type Environments in Industry and Universities

JPL's Project Design Cenger (PDC), opened in 1994, has become a model for other facilities of the same type in the aerospace industry. More recently, PDC-type environments have been adopted by some university aerospace departments as an educational tool. This paper discusses some of these facilities and their possible future direction.

concurrent engineering collaborating environments ↗

Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP)

The summer of 1997 will not only be noted by NASA for the mission to Mars by the Pathfinder but also for the 179 brilliant apprentices that participated in the SHARP Program. Apprentice participation increased 17% over last year's total of 153 participants. As indicated by the End-of-the-Program Evaluations, 96% of the programs' participants rated the summer experience from very good to excellent. The SHARP Management Team began the year by meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida for the annual SHARP Planning Conference. Participants strengthened their Education Division Computer Aided Tracking System (EDCATS) skills, toured the world-renowned Kennedy Space Center, and took a journey into space during the Alien Encounter Exercise. The participants returned to their Centers with the same goals and objectives in mind. The 1997 SHARP Program goals were: (1) Utilize NASA's mission, unique facilities and specialized workforce to provide exposure, education, and enrichment experiences to expand participants' career horizons and inspire excellence in formal education and lifelong learning. (2) Develop and implement innovative education reform initiatives which support NASA's Education Strategic Plan and national education goals. (3) Utilize established statistical indicators to measure the effectiveness of SHARP's program goals. (4) Explore new recruiting methods which target the student population for which SHARP was specifically designed. (5) Increase the number of participants in the program. All of the SHARP Coordinators reported that the goals and objectives for the overall program as well as their individual program goals were achieved. Some of the goals and objectives for the Centers were: (1) To increase the students' awareness of science, mathematics, engineering, and computer technology; (2) To provide students with the opportunity to broaden their career objectives; and (3) To expose students to a variety of enrichment activities. Most of the Center goals and objectives were consistent with the overall program goals. Modem Technology Systems, Inc., was able to meet the SHARP Apprentices, Coordinators and Mentors during their site visits to Stennis Space Center, Ames Research Center and Dryden Flight Research Center. All three Centers had very efficient programs and adhered to SHARP's general guidelines and procedures. MTSI was able to meet the apprentices from the other Centers via satellite in July during the SHARP Video-Teleconference(ViTS). The ViTS offered the apprentices and the NASA and SHARP Coordinators the opportunity to introduce themselves. The apprentices from each Center presented topical "Cutting Edge Projects". Some of the accomplishments for the 1997 SHARP Program year included: MTSI hiring apprentices from four of the nine NASA Centers, the full utilization of the EDCATS by apprentices and NASA/SHARP Coordinators, the distribution of the SHARP Apprentice College and Scholarship Directory, a reunion with former apprentices from Langley Research Center and the development of a SHARP Recruitment Poster. MTSI developed another exciting newsletter containing graphics and articles submitted by the apprentices and the SHARP Management Team.

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Electromagnetic Compatibility Considerations for International Space Station Payload Developers

The International Space Station (ISS) is a laboratory for scientific research, innovative technology development, and global education. The ISS provides a number of facilities and platforms for payload developers and investigators to conduct biological, microgravity, and Earth and space observation science, as well as for performing technology development. Due to the unique nature of the ISS vehicle and its electrical power and data systems, achieving electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) with the vehicle requires special considerations by the payload developer. The ISS electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements and test methods are based on MIL-STD-461, “Electromagnetic Emissions and Susceptibility Requirements for the Control of Electromagnetic Interference”, Revision C, and MIL-STD-462, “Electromagnetic Interference Characteristics, Measurement of,” respectively. The low source impedance of the test setup requires special considerations when designing or selecting EMI power filters and switched mode power supplies. Many filters, suited for later revisions of MIL-STD-461, will result in non-compliant designs. ISS electrical power system power quality requirements, imposed to protect the stability of the system, can also affect EMI filter design. The selection and use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment for ISS applications requires special considerations to meet both EMC and crew safety requirements. Furthermore, the ISS environment can provide unique immunity challenges; if the payload developer ignores these challenges, the result is a possible loss of science or impact to technology demonstration. The ISS provides a unique opportunity for the science and technology development community. However, in order to be successful, the payload developer must incorporate special EMC considerations, many of which will be presented.

McCollum, Matthew↗

A Comparison of Impedance Eduction Test Rigs with Different Flow Profiles

The experimental characterization of acoustic liners applied for turbofan engines has been in the spotlight of the community for the last few decades. In general, such characterization is done by measurements of the liner acoustic impedance using different techniques in conditions as close as possible to those encountered in turbofan engines. Although a great amount of work has been published related to these techniques, few comparisons between different experimental setups using identical samples are available. The goal of the present study is to provide a comparison between educed acoustic impedances for two nominally identical liner samples in theUFSC Impedance Test Rig and the NASA Langley Research Center Grazing Flow ImpedanceTube (GFIT). Due to the geometrical differences between the test rigs, it is possible to consider the effect of different grazing flow profiles on the educed impedance. Impedance measurements between the two facilities show similar results in absence of grazing flow, while different ones when the grazing flow is present. Results are presented with both test rigs targeted to two different conditions: (i) same centerline Mach number and; (ii) same average Mach number.Both comparisons suggest a higher acoustic resistance obtained with the UFSC Impedance TestRig. A comparison using semi-empirical predictive models was also conducted. The results suggest that the main source for the observed difference is the grazing flow profile, represented by its boundary layer displacement thickness.

impedance↗

A Comparison of Impedance Eduction Test Rigs with Different Flow Profiles

The experimental characterization of acoustic liners applied for turbofan engines has been in the spotlight of the community for the last few decades. In general, such characterization is done by measurements of the liner acoustic impedance using different techniques in conditions as close as possible to those encountered in turbofan engines. Although a great amount of work has been published related to these techniques, few comparisons between different experimental setups using identical samples are available. The goal of the present study is to provide a comparison between educed acoustic impedances for two nominally identical liner samples in theUFSC Impedance Test Rig and the NASA Langley Research Center Grazing Flow ImpedanceTube (GFIT). Due to the geometrical differences between the test rigs, it is possible to consider the effect of different grazing flow profiles on the educed impedance. Impedance measurements between the two facilities show similar results in absence of grazing flow, while different ones when the grazing flow is present. Results are presented with both test rigs targeted to two different conditions: (i) same centerline Mach number and; (ii) same average Mach number.Both comparisons suggest a higher acoustic resistance obtained with the UFSC Impedance TestRig. A comparison using semi-empirical predictive models was also conducted. The results suggest that the main source for the observed difference is the grazing flow profile, represented by its boundary layer displacement thickness.

impedance↗

Solar C: Scatter-Free Observatory for Limb Active Regions and Coronae

The SOLARC observatory is a 0.5m off-axis reflecting coronagraph. NASA SRT funding has allowed the completion of this telescope facility, which we believe is now the world's largest operational coronagraph. We have achieved our proposal goals both in the development of the new technology for this facility and in the demonstration of its scientific and educational potential: 1) The SOLARC engineering development was successful and has spawned other similar instruments. The off-axis design of ATST (a new 4m telescope) has benefited from the SOLARC development. The off-axis 1.6m NST facility at BBSO is also now under construction and will be the world's largest solar disk observing telescope until ATST is completed. Both of these telescope designs are derivatives of the SOLARC 0.5m off-axis. Some of this technical development is described in the publications. 2) The most important scientific goal of SOLARC has been to demonstrate that coronal magnetic fields can be measured using infrared spectropolarimetry techniques. With the completion of the optical fiber-bundle imaging spectropolarimeter we have measured the coronal field strength with a sensitivity to the line-of-sight field component of 2G at 150,OOOkm above the limb. We believe this capability opens new opportunities for space weather, and coronal physics research. In particular we have demonstrated a new tool for understanding the effect of the Sun on the terrestrial space environment. A paper reporting these results has recently been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Physics through the 1990s: An overview

The volume details the interaction of physics and society, and presents a short summary of the progress in the major fields of physics and a summary of the other seven volumes of the Physics through the 1990s series, issues and recommended policy changes are described regarding funding, education, industry participation, small-group university research and large facility programs, government agency programs, and computer database needs. Three supplements report in detail on international issues in physics (the US position in the field, international cooperation and competition-especially on large projects, freedom for scientists, free flow of information, and education of foreign students), the education and supply of physicists (the changes in US physics education, employment and manpower, and demographics of the field), and the organization and support of physics (government, university, and industry research; facilities; national laboratories; and decision making). An executive summary contains recommendations for maintaining excellence in physics. A glossary of scientific terms is appended.

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Ohio Space Grant Funds for Scholarship/Fellowship Students

The Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAT), a consortium of university, industry, and government, was formed to promote collaborative aerospace-related research, graduate education, and technology transfer among the nine Ohio universities with doctoral level engineering programs, NASA Lewis Research Center, Air Force Wright Laboratory, and industry. OAT provides enhanced opportunities for affiliates to utilize federal government research laboratories and facilities at Lewis Research Center (LeRC) and Wright Laboratory. As a component of the graduate education and research programs, students and faculty from the member universities, LeRC engineers and scientists, and visiting investigators from industry, government and non-member universities conduct collaborative research projects using the unique facilities at LeRC, and will participate in collaborative education programs. Faculty from the member universities who hold collateral appointments at OAT, and government and industry experts serving as adjunct faculty, can participate in the supervision of student research.

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Advanced Integration Matrix Education Outreach

The Advanced Integration Matrix (AIM) will design a ground-based test facility for developing revolutionary integrated systems for joint human-robotic missions in order to study and solve systems-level integration issues for exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This paper describes development plans for educational outreach activities related to technological and operational integration scenarios similar to the challenges that will be encountered through this project. The education outreach activities will provide hands-on, interactive exercises to allow students of all levels to experience design and operational challenges similar to what NASA deals with everyday in performing the integration of complex missions. These experiences will relate to and impact students everyday lives by demonstrating how their interests in science and engineering can develop into future careers, and reinforcing the concepts of teamwork and conflict resolution. Allowing students to experience and contribute to real-world development, research, and scientific studies of ground-based simulations for complex exploration missions will stimulate interest in the space program, and bring NASA's challenges to the student level. By enhancing existing educational programs and developing innovative activities and presentations, AIM will support NASA s endeavor to "inspire the next generation of explorers.. .as only NASA can."

Paul Heather L.↗

Future Mission Proposal Opportunities: Discovery, New Frontiers, and Project Prometheus

The NASA Office of Space Science is expanding opportunities to propose missions to comets, asteroids, and other solar system targets. The Discovery Program continues to be popular, with two sample return missions, Stardust and Genesis, currently in operation. The New Frontiers Program, a new proposal opportunity modeled on the successful Discovery Program, begins this year with the release of its first Announcement of Opportunity. Project Prometheus, a program to develop nuclear electric power and propulsion technology intended to enable a new class of high-power, high-capability investigations, is a third opportunity to propose solar system exploration. All three classes of mission include a commitment to provide data to the Planetary Data System, any samples to the NASA Curatorial Facility at Johnson Space Center, and programs for education and public outreach.

Niebur, S. M.↗