270 Johns hopkins ApL TechnicAL DigesT, VoLume 26, number 3 (2005) T From the sun to pluto: inspiring the next generation of explorers Kerri B. Beisser he ApL space Department’s education and public outreach (e/po) office strives to excite and inspire the next generation of space explorers by creating hands-on, minds- on learning experiences. The e/po programs provide training and materials to teachers to enhance their classroom activities and develop and implement activities that directly engage students and members of the general public. This article offers a brief overview of the many e/po office efforts, illustrating the programs’ wide range of educational activi- ties, diverse audiences, and venues including schools, museums, and science centers. WE ARE ALL EXPLORERS The space Department’ s education and public out- reach e/po office provides unique opportunities for students, educators, museums, science centers, and the general public to share in the excitement of ApL’s cur- rent missions for nAsA. The office’ s responsibilities include creating informational materials that increase a mission’s visibility and highlight its capabilities, rep- resenting ApL’s space Department and its missions and instruments at professional and educator conferences through exhibits and workshops, and developing work- ing relationships and joint activities using the nAsA education and public outreach infrastructure. in addi- tion, the office liaises with nAsA, private industry, educational partners, and the general public and designs and implements printed and web-based materials, such as brochures, fact sheets, educational curricula, fre- quently asked questions, graphics, exhibits and displays, mission animations, videos, and web sites. From the sun to pluto, the ApL space Department is engineering the future of space exploration—explor- ing earth’s near-space environment, the sun, planetary bodies, and the outer solar system (Fig. 1). With the Janu- ary2006launchof nAsA’ snewhorizons mission to pluto and the upcoming sTereo launch to image the sun in 3-D, this is an exciting time for space exploration. The e/po office offers a unique glimpse into the space Department’ s “end-to-end” approach to mission design and execution. ApL designs, manages, fabricates, integrates, tests, and operates interplanetary space and earth science missions and instruments. The depart- ment is also charged with the scientific challenge of capturing and analyzing mission and instrument data, leading to new scientific findings. spacecraft and remote sensing instruments designed and built by ApL are used in the study of astrophysics, planetary magnetospheres and geology, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, and
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WE ARE ALL EXPLORERSThespaceDepartment’seducationandpublicout-
reach e/po office provides unique opportunities forstudents,educators,museums,sciencecenters,andthegeneralpublictoshareintheexcitementofApL’scur-rent missions for nAsA. The office’s responsibilitiesinclude creating informational materials that increaseamission’svisibilityandhighlight itscapabilities, rep-resentingApL’sspaceDepartmentanditsmissionsandinstruments at professional and educator conferencesthroughexhibitsandworkshops,anddevelopingwork-ing relationships and joint activities using the nAsAeducationandpublicoutreach infrastructure. inaddi-tion, the office liaises with nAsA, private industry,educationalpartners,andthegeneralpublicanddesignsandimplementsprintedandweb-basedmaterials,suchas brochures, fact sheets, educational curricula, fre-quentlyaskedquestions,graphics,exhibitsanddisplays,missionanimations,videos,andwebsites.
The e/po office offers a unique glimpse into thespace Department’s “end-to-end” approach to missiondesignandexecution.ApLdesigns,manages,fabricates,integrates,tests,andoperatesinterplanetaryspaceandearth science missions and instruments. The depart-ment is also charged with the scientific challenge ofcapturingandanalyzingmissionand instrumentdata,leadingtonewscientificfindings.spacecraftandremotesensinginstrumentsdesignedandbuiltbyApLareusedinthestudyofastrophysics,planetarymagnetospheresand geology, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, and
• newhorizonswillbethefirstmissiontoperformtheinitialreconnaissanceofpluto-charonandthekuiperbelt—sentouttoexplorethemysteriousworldsattheedgeofoursolarsystem(http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/).Dr.Alansternofthesouthwestresearchinstituteistheprincipalinvestigatorforthemissionandleadsthesci-enceteam.ApLmanagesthemissionfornAsA’ssci-encemissionDirectorateand isoperating the space-craft in flight. The mission team also includes ballAerospace corp., the boeing co., nAsA goddardspace Flight center (gsFc), nAsA Jet propulsionLaboratory, stanford university, kinetX inc., Lock-heed martin, the university of colorado, the u.s.Department of energy, and a number of other firms,nAsAcenters,anduniversitypartners.
• TimeD (Thermosphere, ionosphere, mesosphereenergetics and Dynamics) provides an opportunity
for students of all ages to explore one of the lastfrontiers in earth's atmosphere. TimeD is the firstmission in nAsA’s solar Terrestrial probes pro-gram(http://www.timed.jhuapl.edu/).ApLleadstheproject’s science effort and manages the mission’sscienceDatacenterfornAsA.nAsA’sgsFc,ingreenbelt,maryland,oversees theTimeDmissionfornAsAheadquartersinWashington,D.c.
• sTereo(solarTerrestrialrelationsobservatory)offersanewperspectiveonsolareruptionsbysimul-taneouslyimagingcoronalmassejectionsandback-groundevents fromtwonearly identicalobservato-ries(http://stereo.jhuapl.edu/).sTereoisthethirdmissioninnAsA’ssolarTerrestrialprobesprogramand is sponsored by the agency’s science missionDirectorate, Washington, D.c. nAsA gsFc’ssolar Terrestrial probes program office managesthemission,instruments,andsciencecenter.ApLdesigned,built,andwilloperatethetwinobservato-riesfornAsAduringthemission.
• crism (compact reconnaissance imaging spec-trometer for mars) is an instrument that joinsnAsA's set of high-tech detectives seeking traces
of past water on the martian surface (http://crism.jhuapl.edu/). Led by ApL, crism is onboard themars reconnaissance orbiter mission managed bythemarsexplorationprogramattheJetpropulsionLaboratory for nAsA’s office of space science,Washington,D.c.
• messenger (mercury surface, space environ-ment,geochemistry, andranging), set to becomethe first spacecraft to orbit the planet mercury(http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/), is the seventh mis-sion in nAsA’s Discovery program of lower-cost,scientifically focusedexplorationprojects.Dr.seansolomonofthecarnegieinstitutionofWashingtonleadsthemissionasprincipalinvestigator.ApLbuiltmessenger,operatesthespacecraft,andmanagesthemissionfornAsA.
• neAr (near earth Asteroid rendezvous) was thefirstmissiontoorbitandlandonanasteroid(http://near.jhuapl.edu/).neAr,thefirstlaunchinnAsA’sDiscoveryprogram,wasbuiltandmanagedbyApL.
e/poprogramsarealignedwiththescienceandengi-neeringobjectivesofnAsA’ssciencemissionDirector-ateandaremanagedbythee/poofficeincollabora-tion with each of the mission and instrument teams.These programs also are aligned to the national sci-enceeducationstandards(nrc,1996)andthenAsAimplementationstrategy(nAsA,1996).
Thise/poapproach,asnotedpreviously,involvesavarietyofinterdisciplinaryclassroomactivities,teachertraining,workshops,posters,factsheets,andwebsites,aswellasamultimediacomponent.high-leveragepartner-ships across the countryhavebeenkey to the successofwidelydisseminated,awardwinninge/poprograms.e/po partners participate in tasks such as programdesign, development, dissemination, implementation,andevaluation.Theeducationalprogramsareregularlyevaluatedbyexternalprofessionalevaluators.Datacol-lectedonallofthespaceDepartmente/poprogramsarealsoreporteddirectlytonAsA.
Thee/poofficeworkscloselywiththeApLofficeof communications and public Affairs to provide acomprehensiveandrobustpublicinformationcampaign.Thismultidepartmentalteamdevelopsproductsservingthecampaign’stargetaudiences.
FORMAL EDUCATIONThe e/po formal education (k–12) programs are
and mathematics, fusing a pipeline of future scientistsandengineerswithascience-literatecommunity.manyof these programs create opportunities that allow stu-dentsandteachersdirectaccesstoreal-timedatathoughhands-onparticipation.highereducationprogramsofferundergraduateandgraduatestudentsopportunitiesrang-ing fromdesigningandbuildingaflight instrument tointerningduringintegrationandtestphasesofmissionsandinstruments.manyoftheseopportunitiesfocusonstudentsfromhistoricallyblackcollegesanduniversi-tiesandminorityservinginstitutions.Thefollowingarehighlightsoftheformaleducationprograms.
Opportunities for Educators Teachers across the country can integrate ApL-led
mission and instrument science and engineering intotheircurriculum,exposingstudentstoexplorationini-tiatives and encouraging them to follow up-to-dateresultsfromyeartoyear.
manye/poprogramshaveacadreofeducatorswhoteachspecificmissionandinstrumentmaterialstoothereducatorsintheformofteacherworkshopsintheirhomestates.besidesaligningmissionandinstrumentscienceandengineeringtothenational standardscitedabove,these efforts develop examples and target implementa-tionplans,includinghowteacherscanincorporatespe-cific topics into their classrooms. professional develop-mentworkshopsalsoteacheducatorshowtodisseminatethesematerialsandmodelsviaprintmedia,workshops,andnewcommunicationtechnologies.
For example, the cadre of new horizons teachersconvergedonApLfora3-dayworkshopinAugust2005 at the kennedy space center (Fig. 2) and then againduringlaunchinJanuary2006.Thesek–12masteredu-cators were trained on mission science and engineer-inggoalsaswellasnewhorizonscurriculummaterialsandlessonplansandwillcarryouttheirownregionalteacherworkshopsonthemission.TheApLworkshop
Figure 2. The cadre of New Horizons K–12 educators visit with the engineering team and interns during their workshop.
and universities (hbcus), hispanic serving institu-tions(hsis),andTribalcolleges.
manyof these studentsexperienceda“summeronpluto”byparticipatingininternshipsduringtheintegra-tionandtestphaseofthenewhorizonsmissionduringthesummerof2005.studentscamefromthemu-spinand nAsA Academy programs. each student workedcloselywithamissionteam“mentor”for10weeks.
oneoftheactivitiesforthise/poprogramwassup-porting the environmental testing phase of the newhorizonsmissionwheretheentirespacecraftwastestedunder flight-like conditions. other examples includedeveloping software forpresenting, receiving, anddis-tributing spacecraft operational and scientific data;tools for manipulating spacecraft data; graphical userinterfacesforexistingcommandlineapplications;anddocumentationandtestingofnewandexistinggroundsystemapplications.
Space AcademyThee/poofficecreatedthespaceAcademyseries
inwhichstudentsgobehindthescenesofcurrentspacemissionsandareintroducedtoscientistsandengineersworking on these projects (Fig. 4). space Academy issponsored by comcast, the Discovery networks, andApL. These programs, which are based on a mission,instrument, or specific science theme, give middleschoolstudentsaclose-up lookatnAsA’sworkbeingdonebyApL.eventsincludeastudentpressconferenceinwhichstudentsplaytheroleofreportersandinter-viewApLpanelists.TheeventisalsomoderatedbyanApLpublicrelationsrepresentative.
Afterlearningwhyspacecraftengineerswearwhiteoutfitscalled“clean-roomsuits”duringspacecraftcon-struction and testing, students don suits of their owntotourApL’sspacefacilities.spacecraftandinstrumentteammembers lead studentgroups througha seriesof
Figure 3. NASA’s Minority University-Space Interdisciplinary Net-work (MU-SPIN) interns experience a “summer on Pluto” working with the New Horizons team during integration and test.
includedanopportunitytoseethenewhorizonsspace-craftwhileitwasintestingatnAsAgsFcandtopar-ticipateinseveraldiscussionswithkeymissionscientistsandengineers.These teachersalso led thenewhori-zons national Teacher Workshop at kennedy spacecenterduringlaunchweek.
Teachersparticipatinginsuchactivitiesareencour-agedto submitproposals toholdworkshopsatconfer-encessuchasthoseheldbytheirstateorregionalsci-ence Teachers Association, allowing them to reach agreaternumberofeducators fromawidedemographicarea.cadre teammembers followupwith theirwork-shopparticipantstofacilitatetheintegrationofmissionandinstrumentmaterialsintotheclassroom.
The e/po office also manages an on-site Teacherinternshipprogram.Teachersarepairedwithmentorsthatrepresentthemanydisciplines involved inamis-sion,andtogethertheydevelopcurricularelatedtothemission. The e/po office and mentors make lessonplans available via the mission and instrument web-sitesforuseintheirclassrooms.Teacherinternsarealsoencouraged to conduct workshops at educator confer-encesto introducetheircurriculatoclassroomsacrossthenation.
Experiences for Students
Student-Built InstrumentsThe student Dust counter (sDc) on new hori-
The sDc was designed by students at the univer-sityofcoloradoatboulder.Theinstrumenthadacleardevelopmentscheduleandwhileseparatefromthebase-linescienceinvestigationwasheldtothesamecriteriaastheotherflightinstruments.Thedevicewilldetectdust grains produced by collisions between asteroids,comets,andkuiperbeltobjectsduringnewhorizons’journey. it is thefirst science instrumentonanAsAplanetarymissiontobedesigned,built,and“flown”bystudents.
Participation by Underserved and Underrepresented Groups
Thee/poprogramsalsoseekopportunitiestoengageminoritiesandwomeninscienceandengineeringasso-ciatedwithnAsAspacescienceinvestigations.Akeyexample has been the new horizons’ e/po programpartnership with nAsA’s minority university-spaceinterdisciplinary network (mu-spin). new horizonsand mu-spin are providing internship opportunitiesforcollegestudentstohelptrainthenextgenerationofnAsA’sminorityscientistsandengineers(Fig.3).Theseprograms serve America’s historically black colleges
Alliancewithmiddleschools)sci-ence and technology competition.Thegoal is togivestudentsa fun,competitive experience combin-ingmath, science, technology andengineering.
The robotics competition issponsored by ApL, the odysseyschool,nAsAgsFc,a.i.solutions,computer sciences corp., themarylandspacebusinessroundta-ble,AiAA/baltimoresection,theWashingtonAcademyofsciences,themarioni.andhenryJ.knottFoundation,andhoneywell.
Educational ResourcesspaceDepartmente/poefforts
Figure 4. Students go behind the scenes of NASA’s missions during the Space Academy program.
“explorationstations”thatincludeamissionoperationscenterusedtocontrolspacecraftandasatellitecommu-nications facility. They witness spacecraft and instru-ments being assembled and participate in a variety ofmission-related sciencedemonstrations.Toprepare fortheir visit, students learn about the featured missionandspace-relatedcareersthroughaseriesofclassroomactivities andvideosdevelopedby theDiscoverynet-worksandApL.Aftertheirvisit,thestudentsengageinfollow-upactivitiesonthemissionandontheirspaceAcademyexperience.
Maryland Summer Center for Space Science ApLoffersanexcitingenvironmentforthestudyof
spacemissionsbyhostingtheannualmarylandsummercenter for space science sponsored by the marylandstateDepartmentofeducation.Duringthisevent,rising
students experience firsthand planning a mission,designingandfabricatinginstrumentation,andlaunch-ingspacecraft.Theyareanintegralpartofasimulatedmission team tasked to build a scale-model spacecraftcompletewithinstrumentation.Theexperienceculmi-natesinapresentationtotheirpeerscoveringthefullmissionoverview(Fig.5).
TEAMing for SuccessThespaceDepartmente/poofficehostsanannual
middleschoolroboticscompetition.Armedwithdozensofrobots,nearly300studentsfromanumberofmary-land schools participate in the TeAms (Technology
create educational resources that complement today’scurricula(Fig.6).Forexample,thenewhorizonscur-riculum provides a unique opportunity for students ofall ages to “grow up with the mission” because of themission’slongdurationwithlaunchin2006andplutoflyby in2015.Theoverarchinggoalof thecurriculumistocapitalizeontheexcitementgeneratedbygoingtounchartedterritoriesandvisitinganunexploredplanetandnewregionofthesolarsystem.
• Charting the Progress of New Horizons (gradesk–5):Withthehelpofanewhorizonsposterdepictingascaledrawingofthesolarsystem,studentstracktheprogressofthespacecraft.
• Where Are We Going? (grades k–5): studentstake imaginary trips through the solar system on aspacebusandusemathskillstofindthenextspacebusstop.
Figure 5. Students participating in the Maryland Summer Center for Space Science design their own Discovery-class missions.
provide public access to real-time data, milestone events, andgeneral mission and instrumentinformation in informal settingsacross thecountry suchasmuse-ums,sciencecentersandlibraries,planetaria and broadcast televi-sionwiththegoalofcontributingtotheoveralladvancementofthenation’sscientific,technical,engi-neering, andmathematics aware-ness. services range from fullexhibits with spacecraft modelsandartwork,toguestspeakersandlectures, to the development ofplanetariumshows.
A local example of these part-nerships is the maryland sciencecenter’s spaceLink. A combina-tion of media center, discoveryroom, and newsroom, spaceLinkfocusesonthe“latestandgreatest”in space science and astronomy.
Figure 6. Examples of educational resources designed to inspire the next generation of explorers.
• Modeling the Orbits of the Planets(gradesk–5):stu-dentsmakeascalemodeloftheorbitsoftheouterplanetsandexplorethepeculiaritiesofpluto’sorbit.
• Growing up with a Mission (grades k–5): using agrowth chart, students measure their own heightand the heights of classmates to predict thesemeasurements at the time new horizons flies bypluto.
• Looking to the Future(gradesk–5):studentsexamineaspectsoftheirlivesandpredictwhatthefuturewillbelikewhennewhorizonspassesbypluto.
• Last Year on Pluto(gradesk–5):studentsdeterminethelengthof1yearonthenineplanetsandmatchhistoricaleventsthatoccurredonearth1yearagoontheseplanets.
• Orbit and Spin(grades3–5):Awhole-bodyactivitythatexplorestherelativesizes,distances,orbits,andspinsofthesun,earth,andmoon.
• Discovering Planet “X”(grades3–5):studentsexploreparallax and then simulate the discovery of plutowith a blink comparator via an online interactiveprogram.
• Appearance Can Be Deceiving!(grades6–8):studentsexplore the relationships among angular width,actualsize,anddistancebyusingtheirfinger,thumb,andfistasunitsofangularmeasurement.
ApLspaceDepartmentscientistsandengineersprovideworkshops, monthly credited seminars for educators(Teachers’ Thursdays), a menu of classroom programsonrequest,distancelearningteacherpresentations,andspecial liveeventstohighlightmissionmilestonesandspace-related anniversaries. These events complementthespaceDepartment’smissionandinstrumentexhib-itsthatarepermanentlyhousedatthemarylandsciencecenter.
Thee/poofficealsopartnerswithnAsA’sspaceplace,aprogramcoveringawiderangeofeducationalactivitiesthatreachanationalaudience.Thespaceplacewebsite (http://www.spaceplace.nasa.gov) for elemen-tary-agechildrenfeaturesmanyactivitiesregardingthenewhorizonsmission.TheLaboratoryalsohasjoinedin a space place partnership with the internationalTechnology education Association’s (iTeA) and itsTechnology Teacher Journal.ApL-specificnewhorizonscurriculumsupplementshavebeencreated,reachingthe8,000 iTeAmembers.spaceplacealsodisplaysApLmission/instrument materials through a networkof over 220 museums and libraries in 49 states, withanexposure toapotential audienceofmore than27million.
Anothersignificante/poactivityisthepartnershipwith thenAsAsolarsystemAmbassadorpublicout-reacheffortdesignedtoworkwithmotivatedvolunteersacrossthenation.Thesevolunteerscommunicateinfor-mation about nAsA’s space exploration missions andrecentdiscoveriestopeopleintheirlocalcommunities.currently there are 459 ambassadors in 50 states andpuertorico that are trainedonanumberofApL-ledmissionsandinstruments.
zonse/poproduct,Passport to Pluto,includesthebehind-the-sceneslookat how the new horizons missionwas put together. The documen-tarywasairedonDiscoverysciencechannel as well as nAsA TV. itwas alsodistributed to sciencecen-ters,museums,andeducatorsacrossthecountry.Passportto Pluto allowsviewers to embark on a deep-spaceadventure with the new horizonsteamas itprepares for thefirst-evermissiontotheninthplanet.ittakesthem inside this historic nAsAendeavor, a story that begins withpluto’sdiscoveryatLowellobserva-toryin1930andcontinueswithprep-arationstolaunchthenewhorizonsspacecraftfromcapecanaveralAirForcestationinFlorida.
over75yearsourviewofplutohasevolvedfromatelescopicdotinthe heavens into a very real worldwiththreemoons,acomplexatmo-
Figure 7. The quarterly Explorer newsletter and DVD created for sponsor engagement.
sun?howwillengineersbuildtheseprobestooperateintheextremeconditionsofouterspace?howdoyoulaunchtwospacecraftononerocket?usingabroadcastnewsapproach,a6-minutevideo,Solar News Network: NASA Gets a Double Dose of the Sun,answerstheseandotherquestions.sTereoisemployingtwonearlyiden-ticalspace-basedobservatoriestoprovidethefirst-ever3-D“stereo” imagesof thesun to study thenatureofcoronalmassejections.
The e/po office also managed production of theCivilian Space Video, which offers a unique glimpse atApL’s “end-to-end” approach to mission design andexecution (Fig. 7). The video, along with additionalinformation about ApL’s civilian space activities, canbefoundathttp://civspace.jhuapl.edu.(Thee/po-man-
aged civilian space newsletter, Explorer, can also beaccessedatthiswebsite.)
These are just a few examples of the many videoscreatedbythee/poofficeforaudiencesrangingfromstudents to museums, science centers, and potentialcustomers.
MAKING AN IMPACTThespaceDepartment’se/poprogramusesmission
and instrument science and engineering to enhancethenation’sformaleducationsystemandtocontributeto thepublicunderstandingof science,mathematics,andtechnology.Thee/poteamstrivestocreatespaceexplorationadventuresforstudentsofallagesandhasa continued commitment to develop new opportuni-tiestocarrythemessageacrossthenation—Weareallexplorers!
AcknoWLeDgmenTs: many descriptions of themissions,instruments,andeffortspresentedinthisarti-clewere crafted jointlywithmikebuckley andkristimarren of the ApL office of communications andpublicAffairs.
Kerri B. Beisser,ApL’se/poofficeLeadsince1999,isamemberoftheseniorprofessionalstaff.shereceivedab.A.ingovernmentwithaminorinastronomyfromFranklinandmarshallcollegein1996.sheiscurrentlycompletingherm.s.