LiveChat Round Up 11/29/12

By Jim Gerard, NASA INSPIRE Specialist, KSC, FL

Do you like technology? Is 'T' your favorite part of STEM? Then you should have been with us last night to hear Dayna Ise of Marshall Space Flight Center present on An Introduction to Liquid Fueled Rockets! 60 OLC members were on hand to learn the whys and hows of designing and testing liquid fueled rocket engines.

Scattered through her presentation, which delved into the physics and chemistry of rocket propulsion, were a selection of 'baseball cards' depicting various rocket engines in use to day. These provided a way to see the practical applications of the theories behind rocketry.

The chat ended with this summary:

• It is the responsibility of propulsion to propel the launch vehicle to its destination or hold it at an intended destination by providing a force (push) referred to as “Thrust” 
• This thrust, in most modern rockets, is delivered by engines burning liquid fuel 
• Liquid rocket engines are barely controlled explosions that provide extremely high energy for very small mass and volume 
• Failures with liquid rocket engines are inevitable, but when they’re on a test stand, fun!

The fun was emphasized with a video showing various mishaps testing the SSME.

The rocket science continues all month, with next weeks presentation be Eddie Jefferies, also of MSFC. Remember, no sign up needed, just click the link on the Home page calendar or the INSPIRE Cafe button to join us! See you there!

Photographing Endeavour

By Allan Ko, the Imagineers

“Wait, wait, quiet—listen!” We fell silent as the music on the radio faded out and the DJs began discussing the space shuttle Endeavour’s flyover of the San Francisco Bay Area on its way to its future home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. On the morning of September 21, I was following my journalism advisor Sandra Cohen with two other editors from my school newspaper to Van’s Restaurant on the Hill in Belmont (near San Mateo) in hopes of getting a glimpse of Endeavour’s final flight, the last time a space shuttle would ever be airborne.

“So hear me out,” said a male voice. “The space shuttle’s sort of like an airplane, right? So what I don’t get is, why can’t it just fly itself to SoCal? Why does it need to be flown by another airplane?”

We collectively groaned as a second voice, evidently baffled, expressed agreement and the explanation of “maybe they didn’t want to wear it out.” The shuttle has no jet engines, and uses its wings only for gliding during landings. Using its rocket engines during its flyover would be not only noisy, but also difficult to control and terribly inefficient.

It was nevertheless heartening that everyone in the Bay was seemingly as excited as we for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see an actual NASA space shuttle piggybacking on a modified Boeing 747. As we drove up to the restaurant parking lot, we passed a row of similarly expeditious people armed with binoculars and cameras, scanning the skies and checking their phones for updates on Endeavour’s flight path.

The four of us headed up to the second floor of the restaurant and set ourselves up with two Nikon D-SLR cameras, three lenses, two pairs of binoculars, and a laptop. We opened all the windows, set up our cameras, and scanned the panoramic view of the Bay, wondering about possible flight paths and Googling up-to-the-minute news updates to get a sense of when the shuttle would fly over. We knew that it had circled the Golden Gate Bridge about an hour ago, and that it was headed towards Moffett Field at Ames Research Center, but the exact flight path had not been released. Mrs. Cohen even called the newsroom of the San Jose Mercury News only to learn that the flight had taken a turn over the peninsula somewhere south of the San Mateo bridge.

After a number of false alarms from commercial airplanes, the people gathered in the parking lot below started pointing excitedly towards the northern horizon. “I think that’s it,” someone said. “Where?” said someone else. “There—no, there! Look, look, look, do you see the white dot?” Angie and I aimed our cameras and captured exactly three shots before we realized that the airplane was turning and flying northwest—away from the restaurant. We lowered our cameras and examined our shots. All of them consisted of blurry, distant images of an indistinct white smudge, barely identifiable as the space shuttle.

We were about to give up when we realized the shuttle would have to turn around at some point and loop back in order to make it to Moffett Field, and a few minutes later, it came into view again, headed almost directly towards our vantage point. Prepared, we aimed our viewfinders and held down the shutter, taking as many pictures as we could through the tree and the power lines that blocked our otherwise clear view of Endeavour. Leaning over each other out of the windows, we followed the shuttle with our cameras as it came closer, and closer, finally disappearing around the side of the hill. We scrambled over to the other side of the restaurant, dodging chairs and tables in hopes of catching a few more shots as Endeavour emerged on the other side, but when it did, it was already off in the distance, fading into the southern horizon.

As we reviewed our pictures, our hopes weren’t too high; the power lines and the tree had proven bothersome obstacles and we weren’t sure our lenses had been powerful enough for a clear image. After a few minutes of browsing, we found the perfect shot: the shuttle on top of its carrier, centered exactly between two power lines in front of an azure, cloudless sky.

Loath to return to the relative mundanity of school after having witnessing the historical finale of a 30-year space program, an enduring symbol of human ingenuity and international cooperation, we grudgingly packed up our supplies and piled back into the car.

“Not bad, guys, not bad,” we said to each other as we headed onto the highway. “It’ll make a great front-page photo.”

The Stars Will Align

By Michael Lin, JSC Co-op, Houston, TX

Hello INSPIRE Students,

Welcome to or welcome back to INSPIRE! I hope you have had a great semester at school so far and will continue to do well in school this year, as you also try to move up the leaderboard in INSPIRE.

I was in INSPIRE in 2010-2011, so two years ago. For those of you who did not know me, I will tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in Kansas, where I lived for 7 years. I moved to Plano, TX, at the turn of the century, where I basically spent my entire grade school life. I graduated from Plano Senior High School in June of 2011. I loved basketball and played on the school team. My junior year of high school, I was a member of High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS), which helped bring me to INSPIRE. I was in INSPIRE for only one year, my senior year of high school. I was able to do an internship through INSPIRE during the summer before my freshman year of college. I attended the University of Texas at Dallas my freshman year and will be soon transferring to University of Texas at Austin so Hook ‘Em! I am currently a co-op at Johnson Space Center on my first tour.

During my INSPIRE internship, which was also here at JSC, I worked on MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle) through Lockheed Martin. It was an engineering-type of internship, as I did not know what I wanted to do in college. I have since moved over to the business office (yes, NASA has a business office, if you go down that path) and am working on budgets for the Space Station program.

I encourage you to take full advantage of INSPIRE! Use all the resources you have and ask all the questions you think of, as you are not only helping yourself for a very impressive college application but also beginning to build professional connections in the NASA community. I know the budgets were a little tighter for INSPIRE this past year, so there may not have been the same opportunities I had my year in INSPIRE, but still do the best job you can possibly do. My INSPIRE internship not only helped me get a co-op here at JSC, but this past summer I also interned at a company called Lewis and Ellis, where I worked on bid proposals for the Medicare program. NASA will not just open the doors for you and your future, it will blow them open, as recruiting managers light up when those four letters are on a resume. Keep this in mind, as it can only help as you grow older.

I have met several astronauts here at JSC, as they work in the same building that I am working in. I want to leave you with two pieces of advice that they told me. When I was in Scott Tingle’s office, he told me something along the lines of, “Look Michael, there isn’t anything that one of us on this floor is doing that you cannot do, if you work hard towards it.” He was referring to all of the astronauts, as they all sit on the same floor in the building I am working in. For some reason that has given me a determination to work toward my lofty goals, even harder, as the advice comes straight from an astronaut himself. Jack Fischer encouraged me to always prepare for the next step. For him, he always wanted to be an astronaut, and so he read all the bios of NASA astronauts to see how he could become more like them. He would always look one step ahead and see how he had to move up through the military to give him a better NASA application.

If you are in need some inspiration, look up the name Ginger Kerrick. She is a flight director here at JSC that I had the chance to meet. Her story is so heartbreaking and heartwarming, almost like falling into the Grand Canyon three times!

Just work as hard as you possibly can and the stars will align for you! Let Mr. Gerard know if you have any questions and he can pass them along to me!

Good luck,

Michael 

Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12

LiveChat Round Up 11/16/12

By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

The Big Bang Theory was on last night. No, not the TV show (well, yes it was - did you see Sheldon open that intradimensional portal? Whoops, spoilers!), but our LiveChat featuring Dr. Edward Wollack from Goddard Space Flight Center who talked about his work developing instruments to measure the Big Bang. 54 OLC members were present for this high-level briefing.

COBE - Cosmic Background Explorer Launched 1989

Dr. Edward talked about the astronomical history leading up the big bang hypothesis and the dicovery of the microwave background radiation, the remnant of the bang. The COBE probe enabled scientists to create the first microwave map of the universe, showing the homogeneity of the remnant.

Also discussed was the extent of the universe - whether it is flat and extends forever, curved into a closed system, or open with curved space that extends infinitely. This created some discussion as thoughts about what might be outside this universe 'space' were entertained. 'Multi-verses' and 'branes' were offered to explain what may be out there. As I mentioned, it was BBT IRL*!

Closed, curved and open universes

Next week's LiveChat is on the 'Mastication and Peristalsis of Meleagris gallopavo'. Actually, it is Thanksgiving Day, so no LiveChat next week! We'll meet again on Thursday, November 29 with Dayna Ise of Marshall Space Flight Center who will start our month of Rocketry. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

(*Big Bang Theory in real life!)
Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12

Tiger Cruising - Part 2

By Fiona McGroarty, Grade 12, Imagineers

The next day, we got up bright and early to voluntarily participate in EOD PT. EOD PT can be translated into living death. EOD is the Explosive Ordinance Disposal; they have to be fit, and if they’re running the PT everyone else will be too.

After that, we were rewarded for surviving with one of the best parts of the day: aircraft launch. The planes have to leave before the ship pulls into port, otherwise they’ll have to be lifted off by crane, which is both difficult, time consuming, and very expensive. The launch is truly incredible to watch. The flight deck crew guides the plane into alignment with the catapult and the pilot throttles the engine. A crewman crawls underneath the plane to attach the catapult, and two more crewmen kneel under the wings to ensure that everything is moving properly. The catapult crewman runs as soon as the catapult is attached, and the moment the wing crewmen see that things are working properly they give the thumbs up to the Shooter and run. The Shooter is giving the pilot all the commands, and when the second he gets the OK from the control, he signals the pilot and then ducks as low as he can to prevent being hit by the plane. Other crewmen on the flight deck are Emergency Medical Response, Crash and Fire Rescue, and Fuel and Mechanics. Working on the flight deck is one the most dangerous jobs in the world; sailors can be killed by being hit by planes, caught in propellers, and blasted off the ship. Average age is 18-23, but even 17 year olds work on it. It’s truly incredible the risks they take, and how they grow and mature and are able to work safely to minimize those risks.

Since I said nothing about how the planes land, I’ll mention it here, even though I really saw it yesterday after the air show. Four slightly raised wires are laid across the aft of the flight deck. The pilot puts the engines onto full throttle and lowers the landing gear, which includes a tail-hook for a Navy plane. The aim is to catch the second wire; if the pilot is too far back she can still catch the first, and if she’s too far forward she can catch the third or fourth. If the wire is caught, it is a successful landing and the plane will be dragged to a stop by the wire. Flight deck crew will direct the pilot to the side of the carrier, where she is towed onto the elevators that will bring the plane down to the hanger bay. If the landing is not successful, the pilot is able to “bolt”, that is, pull up and circle around to reattempt the landing (this is why she throttles the engines before she tries to land, in case she misses she will have enough power to bolt and not crash into the sea).

After we watched the planes, we went back down. My dad is the Floss Boss, meaning he’s in charge of Dental, so he had to meet a tour group that was coming through. This left Robert and me on our own for a few hours. We were going to just wander around and see what we could find, but we heard an announcement inviting Tigers to come onto the flight deck for a shooting demo by the Nitze and the Willy, more officially known as the USS Nitze DDG-94 and USS James E. Williams DDG-95. Each destroyer took turns firing a shot from their 5 inch cannons, and each time achieved a range of approximately 11-12.5 miles. It was marvelous; each time there would be a loud bang and a lot of smoke from one of the ships. We never actually saw the cannon, but after a few seconds we would see a huge pillar of water almost out near the horizon. There were about 5 shots total in the demo, enough to finish off a crate, since opened crates of ammo can’t be brought into port.

We took a picture of the entire group of Tigers with our sponsors, and then we saw the USS Truman pass by, and all ran to the edge to wave. There were two planes from the Truman circling around, and they landed for us to watch. After they had passed, it was time for another old Navy tradition: firing the boots. Navy tradition is that the last shots fired from a ship on a deployment are the boots of her officers. The boots were tied to a catapult and shot off the ship six times. It was glorious!
Robert and I met two of our friends at the demo. Their dad is in flight ops and also has Watch Duty on the Bridge. We hung out and wandered around the ship together for a while. We went down to the very bottom of the ship and saw the engines. The engines are each separated so that if water leaks into one and shuts it off, the other three can still move the ship. In addition, control of the ship can be accessed directly in an emergency.

Since our friends’ dad had Watch Duty, we all headed up the Bridge to hang out for a while. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can say about the Bridge, and I could only take one or two pictures for security. The Bridge was off limits to everyone except those on duty and their Tigers unless they were part of a tour group. Mostly there were just instruments, radar, and maps. The Captain and the Gator have the most comfortable chairs imaginable; I guess if you have to sit somewhere for 6 hours, you want it to be comfortable. They even have their meals brought to them on the Bridge, so their chairs have very nice little trays. We mostly hung out and asked lots and lots of questions. We asked so many questions that a Master Chief told us he couldn’t tell us anything and then started talking into his headset about sending in the SEALS and closing off the flight deck and having lifeboats ready. It was very interesting to listen to, and he made sure we were listening (he later confessed the joke). After a few hours, my dad came up and joined us and we mostly just sat around and talked to the Bridge crew. Besides bother the crew, we also got to take the helm and steer the ship, which was really awesome. As Robert said, before he’s even backed the car out of the driveway, he’s already driven an aircraft carrier.

We left the Bridge to eat dinner, and when we came back, we got to see a spectacular sight. It turns out that the Enterprise had a lot of leftover ammo that had to be either fired or thrown overboard. So in order to prevent waste, security officers stood in the Crow’s Nest and aimed lasers down at the ocean. Sharpshooters took turns aiming for the laser point. It was glorious, the lights were brilliant shades of red, orange, green, and blue, and the little beams of light combined with explosive noises was a marvel to behold.

By then it was getting late, so we went back down and had ice cream to celebrate the end of the final deployment of the USS Enterprise CVN-65. We sat around and played Phase 10 with our friends before going to bed.

Next morning was the big day: the day the Carrier Strike Group 12 came home at last. After 8 months at sea, the USS Enterprise, USS Nitze, USS James E. Williams, the USS Porter, and the USS Vicksburg all pulled into port in Norfolk, VA and were warmly welcomed home. The homecoming of a ship is a huge deal. The newly returned ship gets a special red, white, and blue streamer to hang from the bow. Huge crowds swarm the pier and the area outside the gate, waiting to welcome the returned sailors. To pull into port, the ship is guided in by little tugboats. Lines are tossed ashore and the ship is moored securely into place. The anchor on the side away from the pier is lowered to counter the lines, and the brail is secured. The ship is now home, and the deployment is officially over.

The Tiger Cruise was one of the most splendiferous experiences of my life. Seeing how the Navy crews live every day was amazing, and actually being part of it was even better. I think the best part was being able to spend time with my dad after the deployment, but after that, I would have to say the planes. What that flight deck crew does is nothing short of miraculous, and they and the pilots are so brave to risk their lives like that. And the best thing about this deployment? No deaths from anything besides one natural cause, no flight deck accidents or fires to cost the lives of the crew!

Tiger Cruising- Part 1

By Fiona McGroarty, Grade 12, Imagineers

My brother, Robert, and I were lucky enough to be invited to the final Tiger Cruise of the USS Enterprise CVN-65. The Tiger Cruise is a special short trip that the Navy ships do as a fun thing to do for the families of the Sailors on board, usually at the end of a deployment. This year, the Tigers (that’s us) met the ship at its final port call in Mayport, Florida to come back on board to the homeport of Norfolk, Virginia.

We boarded the bus that would take us to Florida at Norfolk Naval Station and left about 1800, or 6 pm. We rode in more or less quiet for about an hour and a half, until we hit a dead buck lying in the road. So we pulled over and stopped, and the four other buses behind us all stopped as well, I guess they had to stick together or something. We hung out around the side of the road for a while until they determined that the tire was too flat and the headlight was too shattered and a bunch of other things were broken and it was unsafe. So we turned around and all drove to a gas station about a mile back, where we sat around outside wrapped in blankets and drinking ice cold lemonade because the gas station had it on sale. After about two hours of this, the replacement bus came and we got back underway.

We pretty much did nothing for a while until we remembered that we had brought The Avengers with us. Instantly popular, we watched that and then sat around and swapped stories, most of which were probably grossly exaggerated. We then just dozed off until about 1 am, when we got to a rest area. We spent about an hour here because someone on the bus didn’t call loud enough when they took roll, so we were waiting for her for a while until it was finally realized that she was on board and had been for an hour. By now it was about 2 am, so it was decided that we should see a video about safety on board the ship; so not walking through propeller blades, not crossing certain points on the flight deck, etc. I guess some people paid attention, though I personally was mostly asleep. After 16 hours in the bus and 18 hours with no food, we finally arrived and were rewarded with Krispy Kreme doughnuts, courtesy of the ship. The security dogs ensured that all the baggage was safe and we boarded the proud Big E.

The first thing we did was on board was eat, and trust me, those galley officers can cook like you wouldn’t believe. Even the fish on board is delicious, and the macaroni and cheese is marvelous. The galley officers on the Enterprise could make a meal out of nothing but Brussels sprouts, fish, and fried squash and it would be the best thing you could imagine.

At about 12, the ship pulled out of port. The helicopters were out circling and the security boats were patrolling for about an hour before, making sure that the area was secure. The little tugboats latched to the sides of the ship and pulled her out away from the pier. We turned out to sea and headed away. There are other ships that go out with the Enterprise, and we could see them out a little ways past. In addition to their regular ship functions, the smaller ships have the extremely important job of being ready to rescue anyone who falls overboard from the flight deck and any pilots from downed aircraft. Since the Enterprise is too big to safely retrieve people, they rely on the battleships, helicopters, and lifeboats.

There was an air demonstration, of course. It was really awesome, though, and not like a typical air show at all. For one thing, it was over water, and we got to see the planes take off and land while on the flight deck. There were helicopters that dropped flares that are used for search and rescue and to light up an area to make sure it’s ok to land. There were some planes that did some really neat flight patterns. The coolest thing though was that they were able to drop bombs. Nothing powerful was used, of course, and all way out over the ocean, but enough to make a big boom and cause everyone on the ship to jump. They also demonstrated how Sailors and Marines slide down from the helicopters. It was sooo awesome!

Music to my Ears

By Jim Gerard, NASA INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

A recent activity was offered titled "Music to my Ears" that asked students to compose new lyrics to songs to explain a STEM concept. The INSPIRE staff has been impressed by many of these submissions, and will occasionally post some here in the blog. Today we begin this feature with a couple of songs from Nicholaus Dettmer and Rebecca Bussard. Enjoy!

Home in the Sky
(Original Song: Home on the Range)
By Nicholaus Dettmer

Oh help me to learn, how the thrusters should burn,
In the air as we conquer all fears.
And of how I should be, free of all gravity,
When our final trajectory nears.

Home, here in the sky,
As the world down below lumbers by.
From our orbit we’ll wave, to the home of the brave,
And together the higher we’ll fly.

When I look up at night, algebraic delight,
See the dance of the planets and stars.
And I know in my heart, that someday I’ll take part,
In a NASA manned mission to Mars.

Home, here in the sky,
As the world down below lumbers by.
From our orbit we’ll wave, to the home of the brave,
And together the higher we’ll fly.

But for now while I yearn, many pages I’ll turn,
As I grow my STEM science command.
For I know there’s a goal, that inspires my soul,
Reaching heights not yet conquered by man.

Home, here in the sky,
As the world down below lumbers by.
From our orbit we’ll wave, to the home of the brave,
And together the higher we’ll fly.
______________________________________________

Hale-Bopp Comet
(Original Song: We Will Rock You)
By Rebecca Bussard

Seven years ago, when it was found
Flying with three tails, streaking through the sky, no way!
It had lots of argon, and sodium
Maybe even some deuterium!

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!
Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!

 Noticed by two men, good men,
Working in their labs, gonna help with science that way!
They were called Hale and Bopp,they didn’t stop
Studied the comet known as Hale-Bopp!

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!
Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!

Soaring through the great sky, our sky
Level of dust high, a magnitude of 10.5
Was named the Great Comet, because it met,
Expectations of its brightness that were set

Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!
Hale-Bopp, Hale-Bopp, Comet!