The International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Thursday, March 1, 2012

NASA LOOKING FOR WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS TO LEARN HOW TO LAUNCH EXPERIMENT INTO SPACE


The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

WASHINGTON -- University faculty and students are invited to join a
weeklong workshop June 16-21 to learn how to build and launch a
scientific experiment to space. Registration is open through May 1.

RockOn! 2012 will be held at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the
Eastern Shore of Virginia. The annual workshop is held in partnership
with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia.

"This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to learn how
to build an experiment for space flight," said Phil Eberspeaker,
chief of the sounding rocket program office at Wallops. "The hope is
this experience will encourage them to participate in more ambitious
payload programs, including someday building instruments for orbital
spacecraft and beyond."

During the program, participants will work together to build
experiment payloads for a NASA Terrier-Orion sounding rocket
predicted to fly to an altitude of 73 miles. The flight will take
place June 21, the last day of the workshop, weather permitting.

"During the week, the participants will gain an understanding of what
it takes to build a basic scientific payload," said Chris Koehler,
director of the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. "Through hands-on
learning, they will learn how to develop circuit boards, program
flight code and work together as a cohesive team."

Since the annual workshop began in 2008, 150 students and instructors
have participated. It has been a successful program, with all
experiments completed on time, launched and recovered. In addition,
48 of the 50 payloads have worked as intended.

For more information and to register online, visit:

http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/rockon

No comments: