Gary Garber's Blog

So Thursday we attended a professional development workshop.  This was nice because there was a lot of information on the different opportunities for students and teachers at NASA.   I should give a plug for the Teaching From Space Website at this point.   The best place to click on it “get students involved” followed by your grade level.   I really like EarthKam which gives you photos taken from the International Space Station.   If you want to perform your own microgravity experiment, NASA has a 2.2 second drop tube you can use.  The experiment is called Wing or DIME depending on your grade level.   I remember a couple years ago, the Academy students were thinking of launching a Weather Balloon and NASA has a BalloonSAT program.

After our workshop, our NASA Mentor, CJ, took us on a tour of her lab.  Just outside of her lab in the Famous Building JSC Building 220 is the Vacuum Chamber A It is actually a US Historical Landmark.  They have been using it to test out the James Webb Telescope.  The photos on the NASA website are better than my photo.

This is the Biggest Vac Chamber they have!

CJ works on a small robot called Robonaut.   I was really amazed with the tour.   R2B is currently living on the International Space Station in the Destiny Module.  They are working on R2C, and yes, someday there will be an R2D2.    We got to see R2C, but all the photos included here are of R2B.   Not only is the strength of R2 amazing, but also the sensitivity.  It knows it if knocks into something and goes into safe mode.

The combination of strength, durability, and sensitivity is amazing.  All built by engineers in the US from NASA and General Motors.  I remember in St. Louis at the FIRST Robotics Competition being really impressed with ASIMO, which is made by Honda.  But I got the feeling that if ASIMO were to get slide tackled then he wouldn’t do to well.  And in a dark alley, I think I would rather have Robonaut watching my back over ASIMO.

BUA Group with Robonaut

Uh, Laurie, don't look behind you.....

He likes to shake hands and pose for the camera (R2, not me)

BIG Muscles

We started out the day on Monday making all of the final adjustments to our experiment.  We added padding to the outside, added Velcro to hold everything down, and ran through the software.

After a group photo in front of the plane, we had our Test Readiness Review.  I gave a quick presentation on our experiment to a panel of 20 engineers.  Weighed our experiments and loaded them onto the airplane.  The cargo hold was padded everywhere with seats in the very back.  Our glove box was bolted to the floor of the plane which is a C9 which is a modified Boeing 727.   Here is the C9 which NASA owns,

but we are flying on the Zero G Airplane Ride. This plane is not owned by NASA but by a private contractor. You can buy your own ride on the Zero G for $5000.  New glitch.  As I tested our our FlipCam.....it didn't work.

After loading our experiments

we received our flight suits and learned move about the anti-motion sickness.  We finished the day a bit early.  So I went exploring and bought a new Flip Cam at Best Buy.  I also went to the mall and bought a Boston Bruins cap.

That night we went to the Mission debriefing for STS-134.  This was the highlight of the entire trip.  It was held in the IMAX theator in Space Center Houston.  After a loooong line to get in (full of NASA families of the astronauts, flight crew, engineers, and NASA fans) we found choice seats.  Everyone stood up and cheered when Gabrielle Giffords came in smiling.  Commander Mark Kelly helped to pass out the awards to all of the NASA engineers who worked on the instruments for the flight.  The Astronauts from the flight also received their Flight Medals and showed pictures and a video from the flight.  The primary instrument they installed on the International Space Station was the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.  The AMS will detect cosmic rays and help search for antimatter and dark matter in the universe. Another interesting thing is that the shuttle left their robotic boom arm on the ISS. They tested some equipment for the Orion space program.

So we finished our first day.  Jim Berkman, Rose White, and I left the hotel at 7:15.  Missing was Laurie Glenn whose train from LA was delayed???  We drove to Johnson Space Center to the Giruth Conference Rooms. Once there, the first thing we saw were several heads of oxen on the walls.  As we checked in sans Laurie Glenn, we were informed that if she didn't make it in time for the physiological training, she wouldn't be able to fly with us.  Yikes!

We then listened to several introductory talks.  Then at 8:30 the two hour Physiological training began.  No sign of Ms. Glenn.  After 45 minutes learning about hypoxia, we began to learn about hyperventilation.  Still no Ms. Glenn.  We talked to the Flight Surgeon and he said that if she could make it to JSC before the end of his talk, then he would fill her in.  Otherwise, she couldn't fly.  I contemplated hyperventilating to delay his talk.  I realized this wouldn't work. A long discussion of bodily gasses.  We heard a long discussion of the inner ear.  10:20.  The door opens.  My head swings around.  I realize, I just did something you are not supposed to do on a reduced gravity flight, which is suddenly turn your head while standing up.  Ms. Glenn walks in.  She can fly!!!

So at 10:30 the Flight Surgeon gives Ms. Glenn the abbreviated version of the talk. He covered every slide (without the jokes, and I must admit, he was funny).  But it makes me think, why did I just sit through two hours physiological training if it could be done in under 30 minutes? Ah well.

A quick lunch at Lenny's sub shop and we drove to Ellington Field.  After a quick introduction of what not to do (AVOID the Flight Line), we started to work on our experiments.  The first thing to do was unpack.  Except they lost our experiment.  It was on the field....somewhere.  An hour later...Laurie found it sitting in a corner of the hanger.

So along with our NASA mentor CJ, we began to quickly assemble our experiment!  We finished.  All is well mechanically.  Except that the bluetooth connection to our WDSS (wireless accelerometer) kept cutting out.  So tonight I charged the battery up and it seems to work in the hotel room.  Unless there is radio interference......we won't know until Monday morning.

While I was at NASA-JSC, Catalina took the boys to Space Center Houston.  They had an exciting time.  An entry from Alejandro's journal: We went to  Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. When we went in we saw a big Jungle Gym.  We went on a tour bus which took us to the Apollo Mission Control Room.  When we left we went to a circle of oak trees which was planted to remember the Challenger Astronauts.  We went to Rocket Park where we saw Apollo 17.

So this has been a busy week for finishing up our NASA experiment.  The BUA FIRST Robotics Team has been busy building an experiment which will fly on the NASA vomit comet during the last week of June.  Many thanks to Nima, Bard, Borg, Perry and Matt for all of their hard work on this project for the past several weeks. Scroll to the end of this entry if you want to see the experiment running in our lab!

The parabola for reduced (and hyper) gravity

We were very excited when we were chosen for this program!!  Our project consists of a simple pendulum, and we will take measurement of how the pendulum will behave in different amounts of gravity.

The experiment is built from C-channel by AndyMark, Tetrix by Pitsco, and sensors from Vernier.  We will be using Vernier's LoggerPro to collection acceleration and tension data.   The pendulum bob itself is a wireless accelerometer from Vernier.

Nima and Matt build the experiment!

This year, four Boston University Academy educators will be one of 14 teams that will venture to NASA Johnson Space Center‘s Ellington Field in Houston to conduct their experiments aboard the agency’s “Weightless Wonder” aircraft.

Each year, the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program (RGEFP) gives undergraduate students and K-12 educators the opportunity to propose, build and fly a reduced gravity experiment. The teams will perform the experiments aboard a microgravity aircraft, which produces weightlessness 18 to 25 seconds at a time by executing a series of about 30 parabolas – a steep climb followed by a free fall – over the Gulf of Mexico. During the free falls, the teachers will be able to gather data in the unique environment and experience near-weightlessness.

Vernier Sensor as a Pendulum Bob

Boston University Academy’s opportunity to participate is the result of the hard work and commitment of Gary Garber the Principal Investigator along with James Berkman, Rosemary White, and Laurie Glenn. The educators were selected from more than 40 proposals based on scientific merit and educational outreach potential. They have put many hours into researching and building their experiment. They are also taking time to reach out to other educators, students and the community to share their unique experiences and discoveries.

Completed Frame made from AndyMark C-channel

The Boston University Academy team will arrive at Ellington Field, where astronauts do their T-38 training, on June 23rd. They will then go through physiological training and fly their experiment during the week of June 27 -30, 2011.   A common high school physics experiment is to have students explore the effects that different variables, such as mass and length, will have on the period of a simple pendulum.  Although the period of a pendulum also depends on the acceleration due to gravity, changing this variable is not easily accomplished in the classroom.  By setting a pendulum in motion at various gravitational accelerations on a Reduced Gravity Education Flight, one can obtain a set of data for students to verify the theoretical dependence of the period of a pendulum on gravity.  A Vernier Wireless Dynamic Sensor System will be used as a pendulum bob to obtain tension and acceleration data during the flight.  The information recorded by the dynamic sensor system will provide students with more detailed data for more in-depth analysis of the pendulum dynamics.  By obtaining video footage of the experiment with accompanying measurements of acceleration and tension, students in the classroom can use image analysis to verify a standard textbook relationship, or even derive the relationship by observing the video footage.  The experimental package is being built by members of the Boston University FIRST robotics team.  Following their flight, the team will evaluate findings, draw conclusions and provide the results to NASA.

Watch our pendulum in action!

Pendulum in action!