Category Archives: Education

About those geostationary/geosynchronous orbits

Commercial communications satellites, weather satellites and other spacecraft are often put into a high equatorial orbit  (36000 km high) called the geostationary orbit where the satellite will revolve at the same angular velocity as the earth turns, thus keeping it always above a given spot on the equator. Here is an explanation of  geostationary and also of geosynchronous orbits and of how an orbit can be made circular : How to get a satellite to geostationary orbit – The Planetary Society

Putting a spacecraft into geostationary orbit typically starts by a rocket putting it into a highly elliptical orbit with the apogee at 36,000 km. This is called the geostationary transfer orbit. The animation below illustrates how the perigee of a highly elliptical orbit is raised by firing the spacecraft’s own engine at the apogee of the orbit:

Zero Robotics SPHERES Challenge on Jan.17 – Webcast on NASA TV

Students will once again compete in programming the SPHERES robots on the ISS:

NASA, MIT, DARPA Host Fifth Annual Student Robotics Challenge Jan. 17 

NASA will participate in the fifth annual Zero Robotics SPHERES Challenge Friday, Jan. 17, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Mass.

The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television beginning at 7:30 a.m. EST.

The agency will join in the event with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, MIT, the European Space Agency, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, IT consulting firm Appirio, and high school student teams from the United States and abroad.

For the competition, NASA will upload software developed by high school students onto bowling ball-sized spherical satellites called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES, which are currently aboard the International Space Station. From there, space station Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Richard Mastracchio will command the satellites to execute the teams’ flight program.

During a simulated mission, the teams will complete a special challenge called CosmoSPHERES, a competition in which students must program their satellites to alter a fictional comet’s earthbound trajectory.

A video of two SPHERES docking

Student finalists will be able to see their flight program live on the televised finals, where NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science, John Grunsfeld, and retired NASA astronauts Gregory Chamitoff, Gregory Johnson and Barbara Morgan will make a special appearance. The team with the best software performance over several rounds of the competition will win the challenge. The winning team will receive certificates and a SPHERES flight patch flown aboard the space station.

In addition to their use in this competition, SPHERES satellites are used on the space station to conduct formation flight maneuvers for spacecraft guidance navigation, control and docking. The three satellites that make up SPHERES fly in formation inside the space station’s cabin. The satellites provide opportunities to affordably test a wide range of hardware and software.

NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., operates and maintains the SPHERES National Laboratory Facility aboard the space station.

For more information about SPHERES, visit: www.nasa.gov/spheres

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit: www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more about the Zero Robotics Program, visit: www.zerorobotics.org

For more information about the International Space Station, visit: www.nasa.gov/station

“I Want to be an Astronaut” – a film documentary

Filmmaker David Ruck has created a documentary titled, I Want To Be An Astronaut – “The dream of one boy. The fate of one nation. A documentary about our future in space

“I Want To Be An Astronaut” is a documentary about a young man who has aspired to be an astronaut since he was 3 and the path he now faces to become one. Aside from being a film, we hope to carry a message of inspiration to young people across America by igniting imaginations and fostering the next generation of explorers. While we are not affiliated with NASA or any other organization, we believe in the power of the space program to inspire and engage students. It is by focusing on the raw power of space exploration that we aim to educate young people and give em a little kick in the butt to move ahead with their dreams and work hard to be our next generation of heroes – whatever avenue they pursue. “I Want To Be An Astronaut asks–and attempts to answer– imperative issues through interviews with leading space experts as well as exclusive footage of the country’s space centers. Above all, though, the compelling film generates a dialogue not simply about science, but the future of our nation.

According to this update on their Indiegogo site, they are finishing up the documentary and it is being submitted to film festivals for this year.

Here is a trailer:

Space Pioneer – A game created by real world astronauts, scientists & architects.

A Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign opened today for the game Space Pioneer, which was created by a team that includes three cosmonauts:  Space Pioneer by Space Enigma Studios — Kickstarter

Our team consists of world famous astronauts, engineers, designers, programmers, artists and architects who allow us to construct a game that will be the most accurate virtual representation of our universe to date. Space Pioneer aims to be a game that is uncompromisingly entertaining and educational. Our game chiefly focuses on interstellar exploration; it is based on images and resources from the Hubble telescope, ESA/NASA, and numerous well known observatories. The player will be able to pilot a fully customizable spaceship into the vast regions of our universe and can colonize other planets beyond our solar system. In addition, he or she can research different scientifically accurate theories to upgrade their spaceship, build vast space stations and terra-form inhospitable planets.

The project is described in this video:

ISS paper model from NASA

NASA offers a paper card model plan for the International Space Station: Build the Station Simulation – NASA Educator’s Guide

Audience: Educators
Grades: 5-8

With just a few materials, building a paper model of the International Space Station (ISS) can become an excellent group, troop, or class project. This publication contains a brief overview of the ISS, its parts, the science that occurs on board, instructions, and extensions for an interdisciplinary technology experience Discover more about the Station Explore fun facts, simulate building the Station, and learn about the international partners.

Build the Station Simulation Educator’s Guide [3.61MB PDF file]

Build the Station Simulation

Find more paper spacecraft models in the HobbySpace Modeling section.