Category Archives: Education

Education, Space Arts

2013 Space Foundation student art contest winners selected

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The Space Foundation announces the winners of this year’s student art contest:

2013 Space Foundation International Student Art Contest Winners
are a Truly Global Group

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 11, 2013) – The 36 winners of the 2013 Space Foundation International Student Art Contest are the most globally diverse group in the contest’s history. Young artists from 12 countries were selected for the top slots from among more than 4,700 entries representing 45 countries, including 38 U.S. states and territories – the largest response since the contest began three years ago.

Winning artwork submitted by Kathleen Xue, of Elite Art Academy, Palo Alto, Calif.
She won the Grand Prize, 9th-12th grade category, and the Space Foundation
Achievement Award.

The winners will receive ribbons and prizes co-sponsored by Fisher Space Pen, and their artwork will be displayed at the Space Foundation’s 29th National Space Symposium next month at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. Winners will be invited to tour the Space Symposium’s Lockheed Martin Exhibit Center and meet former NASA astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao, Space Foundation special advisor – human spaceflight.

The Space Foundation invited students from around the world in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to submit original artwork depicting the theme, If I Were Going…, challenging them to imagine how they would personally experience space travel, exploration or settlement and then interpret that idea into an original work of visual art.

A panel of international judges selected first, second and third place winning entries in four grade categories – PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 – and three style categories – drawing, painting/mixed media and digital. From that group, the 36 winners were chosen and the panel selected a single grand prize winner in each age category, for a total of four grand prize winners. One Space Foundation Achievement Award was also awarded, selected from among the winners by the Space Foundation’s internal graphic arts team.

Grand prize winning entry from Poem Shiuey, Pre-K-2nd grade category,
Meyerholz Elementary School, San Jose, Calif.

Grand prize winning entry from Vincent Zheng, 3rd-5th grade category,
SKA Academy of Art and Design, Duluth, Ga.


Grand prize winning entry from Junsu Lee, 6th-8th grade
category, D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif.

The complete list of winners and finalists:

GRAND PRIZE/SPACE FOUNDATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNERS
Poem Shiuey, Grand Prize, Pre-K-2nd grade
Meyerholz Elementary School, San Jose, Calif., USA
Vincent Zheng, Grand Prize, 3rd-5th grade
SKA Academy of Art and Design, Duluth, Ga., USA
Junsu Lee, Grand Prize, 6th-8th grade
D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif., USA
Kathleen Xue, Grand Prize, 9th-12th grade, and the Space Foundation Achievement Award
Elite Art Academy, Palo Alto, Calif., USA

PRE-K-2ND GRADE WINNERS, DRAWING
Natalie Huang, 1st Place
DiFinci School, Bayside, N.Y., USA
Katie Christopher, 2nd Place
Westlake Christian School, Palm Harbor, Fla., USA
Jessica Deng, 3rd Place
SKA Academy of Art and Design, Duluth, Ga., USA

PRE-K-2ND GRADE WINNERS, PAINTING & MIXED MEDIA
Poem Shiuey, 1st Place
Meyerholz Elementary, San Jose, Calif., USA
Daniel Tsivkovski, 2nd Place
EDU After School, San Diego, Calif., USA
Nehir Çakmakci, 3rd Place
Kocaeli Bahcesehir Koleji School, Kocaeli, Turkey

PRE-K-2ND GRADE WINNERS, DIGITAL
Louisenxius Pangestu, 1st Place
SD Immanuel School, Batu, Indonesia
Aisyah Nasywa Ula, 2nd Place
KhaChiFA (Khatuistiwa Children Fun Art), Pontianak, Indonesia
Emily Xu, 3rd Place
Beware Wet Paint Progressive Art School, Markham, Ontario, Canada

3RD-5TH GRADE WINNERS, DRAWING
Vincent Zheng, 1st Place
SKA Academy of Art and Design, Duluth, Ga., USA
Bhavya Mithra, 2nd Place
Artesia Art School, Malappuram, Kerala, India
Yamazaki Dan, 3rd Place
Miyoshigaoka Elementary, Miyoshi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

3RD-5TH GRADE WINNERS, PAINTING & MIXED MEDIA
Skylar Duncan, 1st Place
The Colorado Springs School, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Lewis Gregory, 2nd Place
Tibberton CofE Primary School, Newport, Shropshire, U.K.
Mankeert Narang, 3rd Place
Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, Punjab, India

3RD-5TH GRADE WINNERS, DIGITAL
Deanna Diocson, G., 1st place
Education and Training Center School III, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Bryan Montenegro, 2nd Place
The Mirman School, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Wimansi Disanayaka, 3rd Place
Sivali Central College, Hidellana, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

6TH-8TH GRADE WINNERS, DRAWING
Katie Gao, 1st place
Howard County Chinese School, Ellicott City, Md., USA
Ameera Watley, 2nd Place
William J. Clark Middle School, Orangeburg, S.C., USA
Shing Yong Hu, 3rd Place
Chong Hok Tong Education Center, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

6TH-8TH GRADE WINNERS, PAINTING & MIXED MEDIA
Junsu Lee, 1st Place
D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif., USA
Edwin SJ Nah, 2nd Place
St. James Episcopal School, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Julie Moon, 3rd Place
D-DIM Academy, Buena Park, Calif., USA

6TH-8TH GRADE WINNERS, DIGITAL
Alyssa Gazic, 1st Place
Barkalow Middle School, Freehold, N.J., USA
Emily Eng, 2nd Place
Barkalow Middle School, Freehold, N.J., USA
Victoria Guida, 3rd Place
Barkalow Middle School, Freehold, N.J., USA

9TH-12TH GRADE WINNERS, DRAWING
Kathleen Xue, 1st Place
Elite Art Studio, Palo Alto, Calif., USA
Anastasia Melnikova, 2nd Place
Musical Aesthetic Lyceum Them A G Schnittke, Saratov Region, Russia
Nuruleeman Mansor, 3rd place
Sek. Men. Keb. Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

9TH-12TH GRADE WINNERS, PAINTING & MIXED MEDIA
Jasmine Narang, 1st place
Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, Punjab, India
Payel Saha, 2nd Place
Chaturanga Art Centre, West Bengal, India
Koty Thomas, 3rd Place
Penn Trafford High School, Harrison City, Pa., USA

9TH-12TH GRADE WINNERS, DIGITAL
Raquel Arens, 1st Place
Air Academy High School, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Sydney-Paige Kay, 2nd Place
Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, N.Y., USA
Ananya Jain, 3rd place
Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, N.Y., USA

Where to See the Artwork
Winning artwork submitted for this year’s contest can be seen on the Space Foundation website photo gallery at www.spacefoundation.org/media/photo-galleries, and at www.artsonia.com/museum in the If I Were Going… Space Foundation art gallery.

About the Judging Panel
The panel of judges comprised:

  • Daniela De Paulis, artist and lecturer, artist in residence at Dwingeloo Radio Telescope, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • Lourn Eidal, assistant art director, Crystal Peak Design, Colorado Springs
  • Sam Gappmayer, president/CEO, Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs
  • Joe Vinton, freelance digital artist and illustrator, Renderosity Online Artist of the Year, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
  • Hans Wolfe, middle and upper school visual arts, visiting artist coordinator, art department chair, The Colorado Springs School

Learn more about the annual Space Foundation International Student Art Contest by visiting www.spacefoundation.org/education.

Education, Space Policy

NASA challenges students to design radiation protection systems

NASA has opened an education project in which students “research and design ways to protect astronauts from space radiation”:

The program is framed around the Orion crew spacecraft that Lockheed-Martin is building for NASA.

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As a long time opponent of the $10B+ Orion project, as well as the $20B+ SLS rocket that will launch it, I can’t help but point out that their huge costs preclude funding of improved radiation protection technologies (e.g. magnetic shielding) as well as of in-space transportation systems of a scope to allow for substantial material shielding.

The Inspiration Mars project, which will use a crew capsule (most likely a SpaceX Dragon) attached to a habitat module, expects to provide fairly good shielding by surrounding the crew area with water, food-stuffs, waste and other materials. This privately funded first attempt at a truly deep space mission shows what can be done to protect crews from radiation with current technology and at relatively low cost.

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education

NASA selects another group of Cubesat projects for rides to space

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NASA will provide piggyback rides to space for two dozen Cubesats, including many student built spacecraft, in the next three years:

NASA Announces Fourth Round of CubeSat Space Mission Candidates

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected 24 small satellites to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The proposed CubeSats come from universities across the country, a Florida high school, several non-profit organizations and NASA field centers.

CubeSats belong to a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites measure about 4 inches on each side, have a volume of about 1 quart, and weigh less than 3 pounds.

The selections are from the fourth round of the CubeSat Launch Initiative. After launch, the satellites will conduct technology demonstrations, educational research or science missions. The selected CubeSats will be eligible for flight after final negotiations and an opportunity for flight becomes available.

The following organizations submitted winning satellite proposals:

— The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.
— The Discovery Museum and Planetarium, Bridgeport, Conn.
— Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Ariz.
— Morehead State University, Morehead, Ky., in partnership with the University of California at Berkeley
— Montana State University, Bozeman (2 CubeSats) in partnership with The University of New Hampshire, Durham
— Merritt Island High School, Florida, in partnership with California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
— NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
— NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (3 CubeSats)
— NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., in partnership with the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (3 CubeSats)
— NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida
— Pennsylvania State University, in partnership with the Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, Calif., and the Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.
— Saint Louis University, St. Louis
— Tyvak Nano-Satellites Systems, Irvine, Calif., in partnership with the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
— University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
— University of Colorado, Boulder
— University of Florida, Gainesville, in partnership with Stanford University
— University of Maryland, Baltimore County
— University of Texas, Austin
— Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in partnership with the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, Silver Spring, Md.

In the three previous rounds of the CubeSat initiative, NASA has selected 63 missions for flight. The agency’s Launch Services Program Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) Program has launched 12 CubeSat missions. This year, 22 CubeSat missions are scheduled for flight.

For additional information on NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative program, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/nXOuPI

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.go

Education

Video: Arizona students talk with ISS crew members

Astronauts on the ISS talk with students in Phoenix:

Engineers Tom Marshburn of NASA and Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency discussed life and research on the orbital laboratory February 26 during an in-flight educational event with 9th to 12th grade students gathered at the Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. The event was a highlight activity as part of the ISS “Destination Station” exhibit trip touring the Grand Canyon State

Education, Near Space

Students of Space Hub Southeast fly PongSats

JP Aerospace for many years has flown for free lots of PongSats with miniature payloads from students from all over the world. Now some high school students in Atlanta are expanding on JPA’s work:

Space Hub Southeast is run by four high school students, Beau, Meryl, John and Nathaniel.  We work to make the program possible, along with developing a newly applied “PongSat” outreach program. The club, built on a service-learning platform, is designed to both excite and educate kids about the upper atmosphere. Each year, we help kids build high altitude weather balloons, so they begin to learn about conducting experiments and the properties of space. For each of us, this is what we truly love doing, and we take great pride in our work.