Results of a citizen scientist survey

A survey of  people participating in the Galaxy Zoo project provides a profile of the average citizen scientist  : What Makes Citizen Scientists Tick? – MIT Technology Review

The results are curious. Unsurprisingly, Galaxy Zoo volunteers are overwhelmingly male with 82.1per cent being men. There is also a particular over-abundance in the 50-60 age group. Overall, the volunteers have an average age of 43 and over 60 per cent come from the US and UK.

What is mildly surprising is their motivation for taking part. The survey asked volunteers to give their primary reason and this turned out not to be things like enjoying looking at pretty pictures of galaxies or the fun of it all. Instead, more than 40 per cent of volunteers say that the desire to contribute to science is their primary motivation.

NAS’s eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Challenge invites student team applications

NASA’s  eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge invites student teams to submit proposals for systems for deep-space habitats for the 2013-2014 round of the program. (See also this recent report on the 2013 projects: 2013 X-Hab Innovation Challenge Progress Update – NASA – Feb.11.13)

College and university students now have a chance to help design a deep-space habitat. The Exploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge, first offered in 2010, is now accepting applications for the 2014 challenge.

But they need to act fast. May 1, 2013 is the deadline for student teams to submit their plans for designing, manufacturing, assembling and developing test systems for use on NASA’s deep-space habitat prototype.

X-Hab

The eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge
is a university-level competition designed to engage and retain students
in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines.

Past projects have included an inflatable loft for crew sleeping quarters, plant growth systems, sample handling tools, stowage systems and habitat layout designs. This year, students from multiple disciplines may choose projects from a variety of possibilities such as photovoltaic solar arrays, in-space manufacturing workstations, virtual window telepresence systems and habitation systems. Students will work together on potential solutions to the challenges future astronauts may face as they live and work farther and farther away from Earth.

“X-Hab is a win-win for NASA and students — human space exploration greatly benefits from students’ energy and creative designs, and students get a terrific boost from their direct interaction with NASA experts,” said Lora Bailey, Deep Space Habitat project manager at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We all share in the excitement that student designs could become the basis for future human habitat technologies and concepts!”

The X-Hab Challenge is part of a continuing effort to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, and provide a real-world challenge exposing them to engineering and design processes. NASA will benefit directly from the innovative habitation-related concepts and technologies.

The challenge is run by the National Space Grant Foundation for the Deep Space Habitat project team at Johnson, a part of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Program. The goal of for the X-Hab Challenge is to help NASA inspire the workforce and explorers of the future. Winners will receive between $10,000 and $20,000 to produce functional products based on their designs. Proposals are due May 1, and awardees should expect to deliver their product to NASA in May or June 2014.

To learn more about the X-Hab Challenge, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/x-hab
http://www.spacegrant.org/xhab/

NASA offers space program artifacts to schools and museums

An announcement from NASA about historical space items available for schools and museums:

NASA Announces 17th Screening of Space Program Artifacts

WASHINGTON — NASA is inviting eligible educational institutions, museums and other organizations to screen and request historical space artifacts.

The artifacts represent significant human spaceflight technologies, processes and the accomplishments of NASA’s many programs. NASA and the General Services Administration worked together to ensure broad access to space artifacts and to provide a web-based electronic artifacts viewing capability. This is the 17th time since 2009 NASA has made this opportunity available.

The web-based artifacts module is located at: http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm

Eligible participants may view the artifacts and request specific items at the website through May 6. Only schools and museums are eligible to receive artifacts. They must register online using an assigned Department of Education number or through the state agency responsible for surplus property.

The artifacts are free of charge. Eligible organizations must cover shipping costs and any special handling fees. Shipping fees on smaller items will be relatively inexpensive, while larger items may involve extensive disassembly, preparation, shipping and reassembly costs. NASA will work closely with eligible organizations, on a case-by-case basis, to address any unique special handling costs.

Special items, such as space shuttle thermal protective tiles and packages of three packets of astronaut food, also are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Instructions for requesting artifacts and special items are linked on the website home page.

To date, more than 7,700 artifacts from programs, including the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, space shuttle and the Hubble Space Telescope, have been given to eligible museums, schools, universities, libraries and planetariums in all 50 U.S. states. Artifacts are on display for 42 days. NASA organizations must register their requests within the first 21 days. All other eligible organizations may register their requests after the first 21 days. After the viewing period ends, organizations will be notified about the status of their requests.

For more about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov

Space mission simulations by students in the Space Age days

John Sisson has an interesting post about space mission simulations carried out by young people during the late 1960s: Books and Ephemera: Kevin Kelly, forgotten space celebrity (1968) – Dreams of Space

One of the most famous junior testing astronauts was a 14 year old boy named Kevin Kelly. He and groups of dedicated  youth tested the limits of survival in a space capsule and led the way to our landing on the Moon.  This October 30, 1968 story in Current Science the outlines these heroic efforts. Unfortunately this coverage was limited to a newspaper distributed in classrooms so few recognize this hero today.

1968CurrentScienceOct30-boy-01_450x660

Kevin spent a grueling 336 hours in a test capsule in order to prove that the human body was capable of a flight to the Moon. By locating the expensive test apparatus in the basement of a suburban house they were able to avoid harmful media exposure during the testing.

The Current Science article went on to describe other projects by student teams who simulated multi-day Gemini and Apollo missions.

As described in the HobbySpace Space Simulation section, there are still some schools and organizations who carry out elaborate space simulations with students such as the Columbia Aeronautics and Space Association (CASA)  at Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri.

Everyone can participate in space