By Aswini Krishnan, 10th Grade
Challenging but enjoyable, my experience in INSPIRE has marked my debut into the world of astronomy. Live Chats and activities have taught me plenty about solar flares, solar storms, planets, nebulae, galaxies, and infinite other things. However, one thing that I have learned about stands out among the others : supernovae. Why do these massive explosions occur? What all impacts do they have? Although they are extremely powerful and frightening, these explosions are nature's magnificent way of recycling.
Supernovae are basically huge stellar explosions that are energized by gravity. There are two basic types of supernovae. The first type occurs when a carbon-oxygen white dwarf from a binary star system releases matter. Piling up on the white dwarf, the core reaches a large density and sets off an uncontrolled fusion of carbon and oxygen. The second type occurs at the end of a massive star's lifetime. Exhausted, the nuclear fuel can no longer support the star and release nuclear energy; therefore, it cannot hold its own weight. Collapsing, it becomes a supernova. Supernovae scatter matter all around the interstellar medium; ultimately, these are the elements that compose new stars, planets, and everything on earth, including us. The most energetic explosions in nature, supernovae will always fascinate me and will fire up my curiosity for the many years to come.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Honoring Four Legends
By NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
Today I made these remarks during a ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where leaders of Congress honored astronauts John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins with congressional gold medals:
"As we embark upon the next great chapter of human space exploration, we stand on the shoulders of the extraordinary men we recognize today. Those of us who have had the privilege to fly in space followed the trail they forged.
America's leadership in space and the confidence that we can go farther into the unknown and achieve great things as a people rests on the achievements of these brave men.
When, 50 years ago this year, President Kennedy challenged the nation to reach the moon, to 'take longer strides' toward a 'great new American enterprise,' these men were the human face of those words. From Mercury and Gemini, on through our landings on the Moon in the Apollo Program, their actions unfolded the will of a nation for the greater achievement of humankind.
Today, another young President has challenged us to reach for new heights and plan an ambitious mission to Mars. Just as we called on the four individuals we honor today to carry out our early achievements in space, we now call on a new generation of explorers to go where we have never gone before.
As we honor these heroes, I want to recognize the hundreds of thousands of dedicated NASA employees and industry partners who contributed to the incredible success of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and all that has followed, and all that is yet to come.
I also want to thank our Congress. Our nation is a better place because of more than a half century of strong, bipartisan support for NASA's work in human exploration, science and aeronautics.
Five members of the most recent Astronaut Candidate Class are with us today to pay tribute to the Congressional Gold Medal honorees, and build on their accomplishments to make similar, lasting contributions to our nation's space program.
This new group of astronauts will redefine space exploration in the years to come and continue to honor the legacy of John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
It is a lasting legacy – a legacy that continues to unfold and transform our modern world.
The inspiration these four have provided to generations isn't something we can measure, but we can feel it in our hearts. As a nation, we would not be the same without them and their bravery, their sense of duty and dedication to public service and their great skill at thinking on their feet.
They changed the course of history and helped our nation to achieve the bigger things to which our greater nature aspires. We owe them our humblest gratitude.
On behalf of NASA and all the astronauts past and present, I congratulate and thank each of you – John, Neil, Buzz, and Mike, our Congressional Gold Medal recipients."
For biographies of the astronauts, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio_former.html
Today I made these remarks during a ceremony in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where leaders of Congress honored astronauts John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins with congressional gold medals:
"As we embark upon the next great chapter of human space exploration, we stand on the shoulders of the extraordinary men we recognize today. Those of us who have had the privilege to fly in space followed the trail they forged.
America's leadership in space and the confidence that we can go farther into the unknown and achieve great things as a people rests on the achievements of these brave men.
When, 50 years ago this year, President Kennedy challenged the nation to reach the moon, to 'take longer strides' toward a 'great new American enterprise,' these men were the human face of those words. From Mercury and Gemini, on through our landings on the Moon in the Apollo Program, their actions unfolded the will of a nation for the greater achievement of humankind.
Today, another young President has challenged us to reach for new heights and plan an ambitious mission to Mars. Just as we called on the four individuals we honor today to carry out our early achievements in space, we now call on a new generation of explorers to go where we have never gone before.
As we honor these heroes, I want to recognize the hundreds of thousands of dedicated NASA employees and industry partners who contributed to the incredible success of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and all that has followed, and all that is yet to come.
I also want to thank our Congress. Our nation is a better place because of more than a half century of strong, bipartisan support for NASA's work in human exploration, science and aeronautics.
Five members of the most recent Astronaut Candidate Class are with us today to pay tribute to the Congressional Gold Medal honorees, and build on their accomplishments to make similar, lasting contributions to our nation's space program.
This new group of astronauts will redefine space exploration in the years to come and continue to honor the legacy of John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
It is a lasting legacy – a legacy that continues to unfold and transform our modern world.
The inspiration these four have provided to generations isn't something we can measure, but we can feel it in our hearts. As a nation, we would not be the same without them and their bravery, their sense of duty and dedication to public service and their great skill at thinking on their feet.
They changed the course of history and helped our nation to achieve the bigger things to which our greater nature aspires. We owe them our humblest gratitude.
On behalf of NASA and all the astronauts past and present, I congratulate and thank each of you – John, Neil, Buzz, and Mike, our Congressional Gold Medal recipients."
For biographies of the astronauts, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio_former.html
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Poll of the Week - Space Station
By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL
Here are the results of the past Poll of the Week:
The Discussion Board had a few comments about the poll, all positive. Here are a couple:
*Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada
Here are the results of the past Poll of the Week:
Should NASA form another international partnership to go to Mars?An overwhelming majority selected the answer yes to forming an international partnership to send humans to Mars. To tell the truth, it is the answer I was expecting! Students today have grown up with the international collaboration of the ISS and seeing NASA work closely with ESA, RSA, JAXA and the CSA*. It makes sense to continue those partnerships in an endeavor that would place humans on another planet.
yes 90.9% 412 votes
no 9.1% 41 votes
Total 453 votes
The Discussion Board had a few comments about the poll, all positive. Here are a couple:
Zachary B. said: Definately. We haven't the money or the level of technology to go to Mars quickly, but with the help of another country or several others we can more easily achieve this goal.While the poll is closed, you can still leave comments and your opinion on the Discussion Board. Watch the home page for a new poll later today!
Katherine D. said: Absolutely yes, international partnerships bring different perspectives and experiences. The Russians, for example, have a great deal of experience designing space stations, and that experience in building structures designed for long-term habitation would be very useful when designing craft to go to Mars.
*Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada
Monday, November 14, 2011
A Bundle of (Science) Joy
By Connor Hause, INSPIRE 12th grade, Gilbertsville, PA
NASA has been batting a thousand recently in terms of science probes and rovers. The Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars have/had been wildly successful. And this year alone NASA has launched such projects like Juno and GRAIL. Soon the Mar Science Laboratory, with its super-sized payload Curiosity, will depart for Mars. Although being at the top may seem good for the US, it could be considered detrimental in some way for science. Luckily, the Russians are planning to make a comeback.
Just this last Tuesday, the Russians have launched their most ambitious robotics mission yet: a sample return from Mars’ largest moon Phobos. The mission, Phobos Grunt, should reach Mars orbit by late 2012. There it will collect samples of regolith that will be launched back toward Earth. Scientists predict that Phobos should also have tiny bits of Martian soil on it from asteroid impacts blasting off the planet and into space. This is the ultimate prize. But why not go directly to Mars then? Mainly because the 0.38 G will give the return samples severe difficulties. Although I do not know for sure, I think a person could jump out of the gravitational field of Phobos, which is only 16 miles wide. If all goes well, the sample should be back by late 2014. The craft itself will stay behind to make further measurements and observations.
The Russians even let two projects hitch rides on the spacecraft too. First is the Chinese Yinghuo-1 which is to be their first Martian satellite. It will stay in orbit for 2 years and study the planet’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetic field. Although the satellite will hopefully be of success, one can see this project is nowhere near as unprecedented as its two companions.
Lastly is the Planetary Society’s LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment). It is well known that bacteria reproduce very quickly. For this reason they evolve pretty fast too. 18 years in a custom environment and you could have your own species. So the Planetary Society decided to fund a project to test life’s ability to adapt to most every environment and a theory called transpermia. This theory states that life can survive on a rock blasted off from meteor impact and be transported from one planet to another. The small biomodule containing to specimens was launched with Phobos Grunt and will hopefully return with the regolith samples for biologists and geneticists to study. For more information on the selection of the microorganisms, please visit:
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/organisms.html
Three great projects, too little time. Unfortunately, difficulties arose soon after the Phobos Grunt launch. According to the BBC, this is how it went down:
• The probe launches successfully on its Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
• It is dropped off 11 minutes later in an elliptical orbit some 345km above the Earth
• Two firings from the probe's hydrazine-fuelled cruise stage were planed over South America
• The first, lasting 11.5 minutes, should have raised the orbit of Phobos-Grunt to 4,000km
• A second burn, four hours into the mission, was to have sent the probe on a path to Mars
• Russian space agency officials say neither burn on the big cruise stage took place
• The probe remains in a low-Earth orbit while the anomaly is investigated by engineers
• If it is a software error, new commands could be uploaded to correct it
• Hardware failure would doom the probe unless a switch to a back-up system is possible
The Russians have until Friday the 11th to fix the issue before the projects fail. For the benefit of science, we all hope they succeed.
Sources:
Phobos Grunt image:
http://www.space.com/13545-russia-launches-mars-sample-phobos-grunt-spacecraft.html
LIFE capsule image:
https://planetary.org/special/life/index_email.html
Information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15631472
http://www.space.com/13545-russia-launches-mars-sample-phobos-grunt-spacecraft.html
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/
NASA has been batting a thousand recently in terms of science probes and rovers. The Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars have/had been wildly successful. And this year alone NASA has launched such projects like Juno and GRAIL. Soon the Mar Science Laboratory, with its super-sized payload Curiosity, will depart for Mars. Although being at the top may seem good for the US, it could be considered detrimental in some way for science. Luckily, the Russians are planning to make a comeback.
Just this last Tuesday, the Russians have launched their most ambitious robotics mission yet: a sample return from Mars’ largest moon Phobos. The mission, Phobos Grunt, should reach Mars orbit by late 2012. There it will collect samples of regolith that will be launched back toward Earth. Scientists predict that Phobos should also have tiny bits of Martian soil on it from asteroid impacts blasting off the planet and into space. This is the ultimate prize. But why not go directly to Mars then? Mainly because the 0.38 G will give the return samples severe difficulties. Although I do not know for sure, I think a person could jump out of the gravitational field of Phobos, which is only 16 miles wide. If all goes well, the sample should be back by late 2014. The craft itself will stay behind to make further measurements and observations.
 |
| If all goes well, the Phobos Grunt spacecraft will reach Mars by late 2012. |
The Russians even let two projects hitch rides on the spacecraft too. First is the Chinese Yinghuo-1 which is to be their first Martian satellite. It will stay in orbit for 2 years and study the planet’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetic field. Although the satellite will hopefully be of success, one can see this project is nowhere near as unprecedented as its two companions.
Lastly is the Planetary Society’s LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment). It is well known that bacteria reproduce very quickly. For this reason they evolve pretty fast too. 18 years in a custom environment and you could have your own species. So the Planetary Society decided to fund a project to test life’s ability to adapt to most every environment and a theory called transpermia. This theory states that life can survive on a rock blasted off from meteor impact and be transported from one planet to another. The small biomodule containing to specimens was launched with Phobos Grunt and will hopefully return with the regolith samples for biologists and geneticists to study. For more information on the selection of the microorganisms, please visit:
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/organisms.html
 |
| 11 species, 31 tubes |
Three great projects, too little time. Unfortunately, difficulties arose soon after the Phobos Grunt launch. According to the BBC, this is how it went down:
• The probe launches successfully on its Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
• It is dropped off 11 minutes later in an elliptical orbit some 345km above the Earth
• Two firings from the probe's hydrazine-fuelled cruise stage were planed over South America
• The first, lasting 11.5 minutes, should have raised the orbit of Phobos-Grunt to 4,000km
• A second burn, four hours into the mission, was to have sent the probe on a path to Mars
• Russian space agency officials say neither burn on the big cruise stage took place
• The probe remains in a low-Earth orbit while the anomaly is investigated by engineers
• If it is a software error, new commands could be uploaded to correct it
• Hardware failure would doom the probe unless a switch to a back-up system is possible
The Russians have until Friday the 11th to fix the issue before the projects fail. For the benefit of science, we all hope they succeed.
Sources:
Phobos Grunt image:
http://www.space.com/13545-russia-launches-mars-sample-phobos-grunt-spacecraft.html
LIFE capsule image:
https://planetary.org/special/life/index_email.html
Information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15631472
http://www.space.com/13545-russia-launches-mars-sample-phobos-grunt-spacecraft.html
http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/
Robots on the Court
By Aisha Rigert, 11th grade, from Lancaster, CA
It’s the last few seconds of the match, and he’s got only one chance to make it to the finals. He’s blocked left and right by the opposition, and his teammate is stumbling in his way, but racing toward the goal he goes. He shoots and scores for a twenty-point victory, and the crowd goes wild as the buzzer signals the end of the match!
This probably sounds like a typical semifinals basketball game- excitement, suspense, and heroic triumph in the final seconds of the game. If you look a little closer, though, you’ll see that not everything is as it seems. The champion of our story is not a well-known NBA star, but a humble eighteen-inch-tall robot named Thumper. Instead of muscle and bone, he’s made of metal, plastic, and electrical wires. He’s got six AA batteries to power his brain. And he was built in less than three months by a team of ten high school students.
Yes, Thumper is a robot. And along with his team, PHI Robotics, he is competing in the 2009 FIRST World Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. Like a major sports event, this robotics tournament is an energetic competition between the top teams in the world, and it’s worth the hard work it takes to get there, too. It’s three long, exciting days of competition where members of one hundred robotics teams like PHI get to make new friends, compare robot designs, get a taste of real-world deadlines and competition, and just enjoy robotics.
Each day, teams arrive at the Georgia Dome and nearby convention center from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., depending on the day’s schedule. That can include going through inspection, meeting with judges for an interview, competing in fast-paced matches, and scouting out other teams and their robots. The upbeat emcees, loud music, and excitedly chattering kids only add to the constant commotion. It’s a good thing that the competition day ends at around 5:00- by then, team members and parents, not just robots, need a chance to recharge their batteries!
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is the international organization responsible for this thrilling event. FIRST is dedicated to doing just what its name implies: to encourage kids to be leaders in science and technology by introducing them to robotics in fun and exciting ways, such as the energetic competition just described. However, that's not their only goal; FIRST also wants to help kids grow in basic character traits such as confidence, integrity, and leadership.
In keeping with FIRST’s ideals, the FIRST championship differs from most sports events in a very important way: it’s instilled with all the values FIRST prizes, including honesty, collaboration, and respect. So even though every team wants to win, the rivalry is friendly, and teams are eager to help others, sometimes even ripping apart their own robots to lend others vital wiring or metal components. By promoting these kinds of values, FIRST teaches kids and young adults not only how to build robots, but also how to plan ahead, work together, and motivate themselves and others- valuable life skills that everyone should have.
FIRST is also exceptional in that it reaches a wide range of ages; you can start with your first FIRST robotics team when you are six years old and continue on through high school, or even apply for special college scholarships! Thumper and PHI Robotics, though, are part of FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), the division of FIRST that’s for teams of three to ten high school students. In FTC, each team builds a medium-sized robot in a little less than three months, based on a game that FIRST releases each September. In 2009, the game, HotShot, involved a twelve-foot square field with several different kinds of goals, including ones outside the field. Two alliances of two robots each competed against each other in matches that were two minutes and thirty seconds long. The object of the game was to get the most points by shooting three-inch wiffle balls into the three different types of goals.
This task may sound easy to you, but Thumper and PHI had to work hard to accomplish it- after all, they were competing against 1100 other teams across the globe to gain one of the few spots in the FIRST World Championship. Just experiencing that championship, though, was a reward more than sufficient for the months of faithful work team members put in to build Thumper. As a member of PHI Robotics, I can personally tell you that it was even more fun than I'd expected! Before I went to the competition, I knew it would be an incredible experience, but I had no idea how exciting meeting and competing with teams and robots from all over the world can be until I tried it.
That’s why I’m glad that robotics has recently become more popular- because it’s so rewarding, I want everyone to try it, and now that FIRST has made science and technology “cool,” more kids will want to. Though building a robot in three months while collaborating with nine other students is often challenging, it’s interesting and satisfying at the same time. I learned a lot during the action-packed weeks of planning and building at robotics meetings, and I'm sure that other kids who try it will learn a lot too.
It’s been several long months since the FIRST championship ended, but the first meeting of the new season starts tomorrow. Thumper is waiting expectantly for us to take him apart and reassemble him into a new robot, to accomplish our new task. I’d love it if you would join me- and the 250,000 other kids that are part of FIRST- next year by becoming part of one of FIRST’s robotics programs! Maybe I’ll meet you at a tournament- or even at the world championship. I hope to see you there!
For more information on FIRST and how to join a robotics team near you, visit www.usfirst.org.
It’s the last few seconds of the match, and he’s got only one chance to make it to the finals. He’s blocked left and right by the opposition, and his teammate is stumbling in his way, but racing toward the goal he goes. He shoots and scores for a twenty-point victory, and the crowd goes wild as the buzzer signals the end of the match!
This probably sounds like a typical semifinals basketball game- excitement, suspense, and heroic triumph in the final seconds of the game. If you look a little closer, though, you’ll see that not everything is as it seems. The champion of our story is not a well-known NBA star, but a humble eighteen-inch-tall robot named Thumper. Instead of muscle and bone, he’s made of metal, plastic, and electrical wires. He’s got six AA batteries to power his brain. And he was built in less than three months by a team of ten high school students.
Yes, Thumper is a robot. And along with his team, PHI Robotics, he is competing in the 2009 FIRST World Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. Like a major sports event, this robotics tournament is an energetic competition between the top teams in the world, and it’s worth the hard work it takes to get there, too. It’s three long, exciting days of competition where members of one hundred robotics teams like PHI get to make new friends, compare robot designs, get a taste of real-world deadlines and competition, and just enjoy robotics.
Each day, teams arrive at the Georgia Dome and nearby convention center from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., depending on the day’s schedule. That can include going through inspection, meeting with judges for an interview, competing in fast-paced matches, and scouting out other teams and their robots. The upbeat emcees, loud music, and excitedly chattering kids only add to the constant commotion. It’s a good thing that the competition day ends at around 5:00- by then, team members and parents, not just robots, need a chance to recharge their batteries!
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is the international organization responsible for this thrilling event. FIRST is dedicated to doing just what its name implies: to encourage kids to be leaders in science and technology by introducing them to robotics in fun and exciting ways, such as the energetic competition just described. However, that's not their only goal; FIRST also wants to help kids grow in basic character traits such as confidence, integrity, and leadership.
In keeping with FIRST’s ideals, the FIRST championship differs from most sports events in a very important way: it’s instilled with all the values FIRST prizes, including honesty, collaboration, and respect. So even though every team wants to win, the rivalry is friendly, and teams are eager to help others, sometimes even ripping apart their own robots to lend others vital wiring or metal components. By promoting these kinds of values, FIRST teaches kids and young adults not only how to build robots, but also how to plan ahead, work together, and motivate themselves and others- valuable life skills that everyone should have.
FIRST is also exceptional in that it reaches a wide range of ages; you can start with your first FIRST robotics team when you are six years old and continue on through high school, or even apply for special college scholarships! Thumper and PHI Robotics, though, are part of FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), the division of FIRST that’s for teams of three to ten high school students. In FTC, each team builds a medium-sized robot in a little less than three months, based on a game that FIRST releases each September. In 2009, the game, HotShot, involved a twelve-foot square field with several different kinds of goals, including ones outside the field. Two alliances of two robots each competed against each other in matches that were two minutes and thirty seconds long. The object of the game was to get the most points by shooting three-inch wiffle balls into the three different types of goals.
This task may sound easy to you, but Thumper and PHI had to work hard to accomplish it- after all, they were competing against 1100 other teams across the globe to gain one of the few spots in the FIRST World Championship. Just experiencing that championship, though, was a reward more than sufficient for the months of faithful work team members put in to build Thumper. As a member of PHI Robotics, I can personally tell you that it was even more fun than I'd expected! Before I went to the competition, I knew it would be an incredible experience, but I had no idea how exciting meeting and competing with teams and robots from all over the world can be until I tried it.
That’s why I’m glad that robotics has recently become more popular- because it’s so rewarding, I want everyone to try it, and now that FIRST has made science and technology “cool,” more kids will want to. Though building a robot in three months while collaborating with nine other students is often challenging, it’s interesting and satisfying at the same time. I learned a lot during the action-packed weeks of planning and building at robotics meetings, and I'm sure that other kids who try it will learn a lot too.
It’s been several long months since the FIRST championship ended, but the first meeting of the new season starts tomorrow. Thumper is waiting expectantly for us to take him apart and reassemble him into a new robot, to accomplish our new task. I’d love it if you would join me- and the 250,000 other kids that are part of FIRST- next year by becoming part of one of FIRST’s robotics programs! Maybe I’ll meet you at a tournament- or even at the world championship. I hope to see you there!
For more information on FIRST and how to join a robotics team near you, visit www.usfirst.org.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Join High School Aerospace Scholars!
By Hallie Ford, Austin, TX, 12th Grade
Looking for a STEM opportunity other than those offered by the NASA INSPIRE program? If you are currently a high school junior living in Texas, High School Aerospace Scholars is looking for students with a passion for aerospace-related science to participate in semester long online lessons and compete for a week long internship at Johnson Space Center during Summer 2012.
Last year, I became a High School Aerospace Scholar (HAS) and completed 10 online lessons related to space travel and design as well as a final project during my spring semester of junior year. Assignments are due about every two weeks and the grades you receive count towards your qualification for a summer experience at JSC. If you keep up with your work by turning assignments in on time and completing work with dedication, you have a good chance of getting to "intern" at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas-all expenses paid!
What can you expect to learn through High School Aerospace Scholars? Though the curriculum is not as demanding as what you'll find on the INSPIRE website, assignments for the HAS program are mandatory to be able to apply for a summer experience at the end of the semester and require on average at least three hours to complete all parts of the assignment being asked of you.
If you qualify to spend a week down at JSC you can expect to meet with former NASA engineers Norm Chaffee and Jerry Woodfill (both worked on the Apollo-era missions) and take a tour that not many other visitors get to experience of the Mission Control Centers. You'll visit Rocket Park, where the Saturn V rocket is housed, and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, the largest indoor pool! (It's also known for training astronauts for space walks...)
In addition, students will be split up into four teams during their week at JSC and asked to plan out specific parts of a mission to Mars. Each team is crucial in collaborating to make the mission work, but ultimately responsible for their component of the mission. However, every night teams will compete against each other to earn "money" and whoever has the largest budget surplus is crowned the victor at the end of the week! Expect to get creative with the nightly competitions, that's where the fun is!
Sign up to be a High School Aerospace Scholar today!
More info at: http://HAS.aerospacescholars.org
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Robotics
By Wei Low, INSPIRE 11th Grade
This year, I received the opportunity to speak to the Prince William County School board. It was amazing to be able to speak to the school board on behalf of robotics at my high school. Because students from other schools and I spoke passionately about our experiences and achievements through participation in VEX Robotics Competition and FIRST First Tech Challenge Competition, the members of the school board were able to get a glimpse of what we can do. Robotics teams in the high school, middle school and elementary school level will become even more popular within my school system and hopefully achieve the kind of popularity that sports teams have.
Opportunities like these contribute to the goal of expanding interest and knowledge in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) areas. Hopefully, other students in school systems all throughout the United States will be inspired to participate in robotics and just might get the opportunity to advocate robotics in front of the school board. Finally, because of my speech and other people’s speeches, the school board saw the necessity to approve over $40,000 from the budget to be dedicated solely to robotics.
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