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NASA Co-Op Week 16: Barf Lab & Mockups

Twenty five weeks at NASA Johnson I finally got a proper tour, lead by a tour guide, of the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility that houses exact replicas (build with same blueprint) of International Space Station modules, Shuttle, and Soyuz. Astronauts train in these mockups. A "low definition" mockup of Orion was present too.

Neurosciences Laboratory took us on a tour of their various astronaut barf machines. It is really like the rumors of spinning chairs, dizzying treadmills, and dark enclosed sliding contraptions. The spinning is to isolate parts of your brain that are used for balance. Only one day after Space Station astronauts return to Earth in Russia they are flown over to Johnson Space Center and put through a series of gravity adaptation tests. They had to pick up weighted objects, navigate around obstacles, jump of a short platform, and exit a hatch like structure. These tests will help NASA determine if astronauts would be capable of completing Mars surface operations after a long low gravity flight to the Red Planet. I wouldn't be surprised if returning astronauts Kjell, Oleg and Kimiya are on their way to the barf lab right now!

Most of the NASA Johnson Co-Ops and Interns complete their Fall semester this week. It is absolutely heart breaking to get to know so many space passionate people only to have to say goodbye at the end of the semester. I wish I could see all of these stellar students participate in NASA's future as they have already contributed to the growth of space exploration. It was an honor to work among these bright minds.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Accomplishments this week at NASA: https://youtu.be/4tw5uwHD0PEApply for a NASA Internship NOW (high school to grad school):https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/main/Apply for a NASA Co-Op (Pathways Internship):http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htmLearn to code: https://hourofcode.com/usMeteor Shower live chat December 13th: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2015/M15-180.htmlCurrent NASA opportunities for students: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/current-opps-index.htmlCode more: https://www.madewithcode.com/

Intern Week 9: Flying With An Astronaut

T-38 Simulator To get ready for intensive piloting into space astronauts train on the Northrop T-38 Talon, the first supersonic two seated trainer. I hear astronauts flying through the air in the T-38s every morning around Johnson Space Center. Before you can even think of piloting, it's essential to fly in a simulator to get use to the controls and indicators. I had the gracious opportunity to fly in the T-38 simulator with Astronaut Gregory C Johnson. With myself in the front of the tandem simulator and Johnson in the back (often entering God commands) I preformed rolls, buzzed the landing strip, and attempted a loop d' loop. I did enjoy flying in the simulation and would consider finding a flight simulator on Steam and hooking up my Logitech controller for practice.

Truth About The Russian Agreement Following the $490 million dollar deal NASA made with Russia to continue to use Soyuz, many are expressing concern about sending money overseas. This week Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa and Deputy Director Kirk Shireman spoke with us interns sharing career advice, illustrating their vision for the future of NASA and addressing this concern. Ochoa shared, while we are currently dependent on Russia for human transport to the International Space Station (ISS) NASA has assigned SpaceX and Boeing the task to transport astronauts from NASA to space from American soil. We are still purchasing seats on Soyuz because there must be overlap. While troubleshooting launching our own transport vehicles we must ensure there is still a way to get astronauts to the ISS. Reflecting on all the science that has been done on the ISS - the collaboration between the United States and Russia has propelled space flight into the future and expanded exploration. Shireman noted that although the United States will create a transport vehicle the partnership with Russia and other nations will continue. Shireman shared that the European Space Agency (ESA) is creating Orion's Service Vehicle after their experience with solar panels on the ISS. In the future Shireman sees many nations apart of the journey to Mars. What I took from this lecture is that it takes a planet to get to another planet.

Flight Director Wisdom Astronaut Michael Fossum and Flight Director Royce Renfrew shared career and life wisdom to interns and Co-Ops. A question I find helpful during my transitional time as a college student is - What would you tell your twenty year old self? Fossum shared that you should chase after what you desire to do, if you want to pursue a particular career find someone who got there and ask for advice. In respect to becoming an astronaut do not just check items off a list of skills and experiences you think astronauts should have, people have ruined their lives doing that. I asked Renfrew what key characteristic that an aspiring flight director should have. Renfrew mentioned this concept of having, Command Presence, meaning when you step into a room everyone knows the meeting is about to start. This presence doesn't necessarily have to do with your personality, how tall you are or how old you are. It is a very ambiguously defined characteristic but apparent when someone has it.

Intern Update This week I was primarily finishing documentation on my displays, writing my abstract, practicing my intern accomplishment summary presentation and creating a simple low fidelity interface the audio system can be tested with.

Ideas for Teachers: Programming Lesson Plan 

When I return back to my hometown I will be visiting schools to share about my NASA experience and teach programming. I will be sharing my lesson plans here for a day of programming and a day of space related learning. Let’s start with programming. One of my first stops will be my Mom’s Kindergarten class so you will notice my lesson plan is catered for elementary students.

Morning: What is programming?

After your usual morning activities; “G-O-O-D M-O-R-N-I-N-G Good Morning Aye Aye Good Morning *clap* *clap”, drawing sticks and telling about your weekend, introduce students to the concept of programming. Ask students, “What do you think programming is?” Write down the answers on the white board. After answer along the lines of “Programming is telling a computer to do things - make a video game, control a robot, create an App, and more!” Next I would show them a short video with our current stars in technology.

Lets Start Coding

“Enough talk about programming let’s do it!” A great introduction to coding is a Made With Code project. The Yeti project is my favorite of these activities. Students take turns dragging and dropping blocks of code assigning attributes to the Yeti fur color and feet size. After assigning attributes the students can watch the Yeti dance. When I have had students write yeti code they enjoy changing the colors and dance many times!

Afternoon: Code Related Rotations

Skills needed to program are not only found in front of a screen but working in a team, time for activity rotations. (These will be the centers I will have but you all can have different ones.) At one center I will have my LEGO robot for the students to program. There will be objects that the robot can pick up or avoid. At the second center 3D printed puzzles will be available for students to solve. At the third center an activity with half a blank page and half a lined page. Students can draw a picture of what they think would be cool to program and write about it. Last center create a robot out of construction paper, foil, or other mediums.

Now You Try

Take a trip to the computer lab and let students try to program on their own. Hour of Code is a great resource where students can learn programming at various levels. Two activities I tested out an enjoyed was a Flappy Bird Game Creator and Star Wars Drone Game. Students can code on their own or work in a group to help each other figure things out.

Have fun teaching students about programming! In the future I hope to get a Sphero, 3D printer, and Arduino type kit. Maybe you all have other ideas for a programming lesson plan.

Us interns in front of NASA’s Saturn V rocket. Yes that astro-nerd on the far left is Caleb who is a fellow intern and Tumblr star: http://astronomicalwonders.tumblr.com/ who blogs about stars. 

Intern Week 3: Graveyard Shift

Why am I at NASA at 2am? (Like what, thought that was a SpaceX thing.) Us interns have the graveyard shift to thermo test cameras for the ISS. This means that we are making the cameras really cold and really hot to see if they can withstand conditions in space. The cameras are just really high class HD Nikon cameras in custom housing and 3D printed lenses. The astronauts will use these to show ground what they are working on in space and zoom in on fine details to show damages. We record time and temperatures and the test lead does operational testing to see if the cameras still give back an image. Such a cool experience to assist in testing equipment that will actually go to space. The bottom picture is me next to the thermo test chamber.

The top picture is me in front of a motion/ zero gravity chamber that the astronauts trained in that needed to be decommissioned.

The goober next to me in the Orion mock is Caleb and he has a sick blog: astronomicalwonders

Looking Forward to NASA

Recently I received, and accepted, the gracious opportunity to intern at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas this summer. Using my skills in HTML and Java programming I will be assisting in the Flight Deck of the Future Project. With a team of engineers and fellow intern we will create a user interface for astronauts on board a habitat. I will be blogging about my internship throughout the summer! I had a fantastic experience interning at NASA's Glenn Research Center the summer following my high school graduation. At Johnson Space I hope to meet other peers who share the same passion in aerospace, learn about NASA's latest and greatest endeavors, and maybe even shake hands with a few astronauts.

While captaining my high school's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition for Science and Technology) robotics team I got hooked on engineering and aerospace research. During a robotics Kick Off event NASA’s Jon Grunsfeld, remarked that FIRST robotics is similar to "how we design, built, and tested the NASA Mars Curiosity rover”. This encouraged me to apply to a NASA internship even as a high school student. I interned at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and built a circuit board for a solar array regulator on board a deep space habitat. My circuit board will ensure the habitat is powered by solar panels or batteries at all times. Some of the things I enjoyed at Glenn that I hope to experience again at Johnson Space is the ample hands on meaningful work I did and presentations interns got to attend highlighting NASA's new innovations.

How you can get involved...

High School to College: There are internship opportunities in the fall, spring, and summer in a wide variety of disciplines. There are some interns this summer studying medicine, graphic arts, and journalism. There is something for everyone! Contact me if you need help with the application. Apply on OSSI (one stop shopping initiative) here: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/main/

Elementary to Middle School: There are a ton of  programs for students, even a chance to train as a junior astronaut at space centers. Here are a list of programs: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/Students-rd.html

Everyone: Honestly I get most of my NASA updates from twitter and you can follow here: https://twitter.com/NASA They post lots of beautiful pictures too.

People Who Want to be Astronauts (I want to be one too): NASA gets the "how do I become an astronaut?" question a lot and they complied a helpful guide to how you can become one! http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut101.html

Duluth Budgeteer News shares my NASA experience. Photo and article by Ellie French: http://www.duluthbudgeteer.com/news/3827414-it-rocket-science

STEAMworks: Robotics Game Theories

Teaser trailer for the 2017 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition for Science and Technology) Robotics Competition was released late September revealing a Steampunk theme. Now is the time for my annual game conspiracy post about what I think teams can expect based on nuanced clues and veteran FIRST experience.

FLYING MINI BOTS - "Prepare to take flight!" was the closing statement of the 2017 FIRST STEAMworks Teaser video. Could minibots be coming back with quadcopter features? Minibots was a successful and entertaining aspect of the 2011 FIRST challenge Logo Motion. At the end of the Logo Motion teams' primary 120lb robot deployed smaller minibots to climb a tower. A FIRST inspired robotics competition, Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration (CARD), launched at the 2011 World Championship with the hope to start a College-Level FIRST competition. According to CARD's Wikipedia page the competitions were held between 2011 and 2013. In the teaser video the flying contraptions illustrated have circular quadcopter like rioters. With the growing interest in quadcopters, drones and other flying robots it would be easier FIRST to suppliers for teams' Kit Of Parts and easier to find mentoring help from college students and companies than years prior.  

STEAM (Science Technology Engineering ART and Math) - Within the past decade educators and professionals have realized that the arts do indeed belong in STEM education. FIRST appears to be adopting the trend by imagining STEAMworks. Even a paint brush is visible in the STEAMworks game logo. What would life be without music and art? (My father is a high school art teacher and both of my parents and myself play stringed instruments). The Beautility factor or engineering, when something is aesthetic while serving a purpose, is due to the blend of STEAM disciplines. FIRST could include arts in the 2017 season by adding a Beautility award, challenging teams to combine their brand with the game's theme, continue the team website competition and add scholarships to their ~200 already offered that include students in the arts.

PNEUMATICS - It would be disappointing if STEAMworks did not emphasize the use of pneumatic devices. Although water is a component that makes steam happen a water game does not seem feasible... I'm imagining teams trying to isolate electronics from water reservoirs... don't get your hopes up. Likely, FIRST will require teams to have at least one pneumatic device. In past seasons pneumatics have been used for championship winning actuators but primarily underutilized. In the teaser trailer a gauge showing 40psi was visible, a possible operating pressure for Kit of Parts pneumatics parts (that est. 1989 is the year Dean Kamen Founded FIRST).

Hopefully these theories get you excited about the upcoming season!

Kick Off Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 9:00 amCT, will update with broadcast link before 1/9/17.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Find a local team to help.

Mentor a team.

Check out my past robotics team.

PATHWAYS INTERNSHIP (Co-Op) postings for NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX to open September 12th-16th, 2016! Get your USAJobs.gov resume builder resumes ready because the have changed the website layout! Mine was 20,000 characters and 7 pages long so don't wait until the night before. They are looking for business and technical Co-Ops. It looks like they are accepting COMPUTER SCIENCE students now as long as your college's curriculum meets their new criteria! What is the Pathways Intern Program? The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Pathways Intern Program (formerly known as co-op program) follows a cooperative education model where current undergraduate and graduate students gain valuable work experience on an alternating school/work basis, and serves as a pipeline for our future full-time employees. Each work tour you will rotate into a different functional area at JSC, this allows you to try out different career paths while you are still in school and decide what you want to do after graduation. Each time you come for a work rotation you'll be assigned a mentor who will work side-by-side with you to make sure that you have a meaningful project and the tools/knowledge to complete it. Additionally, Interns are able to receive the same benefits as full-time employees such as bi-weekly pay, insurance, and paid time-off. Will be posted here on the 12th: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htm

Supposed 125mi high water plumes on Europa spotted by NASA Hubble Telescope's infrared images! https://youtu.be/4QJS9LcB66g