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Posted by: bkpierce
on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 12:45 AM
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - High school students from 35 Florida schools
recently experienced what it might be like to land a rocket on the
moon or excavate the lunar surface. During two, one-week sessions
this summer, eager students worked alongside NASA mentors at Kennedy
Space Center to participate in a Governor's School pilot program for
the gifted.
NASA's involvement in the pilot program included hosting the student
groups and creating research projects that explore challenges related
to lunar exploration. These challenges included lunar landing, lunar
excavating and protecting a pressurized habitat. At the end of each
session, the students presented their solutions to a NASA panel of
engineers and education coordinators.
Dr. Lesley Garner, the pre-college officer in NASA's Education Office
at Kennedy, coordinated NASA's portion of the pilot program. Garner
hopes the students will have a greater understanding of academic
majors they can pursue in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics for careers they didn't know existed.
Funding for the pilot program was provided by the state of Florida and
given to three universities, Florida Tech, Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University and Florida State University, to plan and pilot test the
program. Space Florida, NASA and Delaware North Park Services
provided the curriculum.
Kennedy mentors were Drs. Bob Youngquist and Philip Metzger, as well
as Rob Mueller and Greg Galloway, all from the Applied Technology
Directorate. They presented real space-related problems for the
students to solve along with hands-on activities.
Bailee Williams, a senior at Hardee Senior High in Wauchula, was one
of six students who conducted a team experiment to simulate
excavating on the moon. Under Galloway's guidance, Williams used a
scaled-down NASA prototype lunar excavator to investigate the amount
of force required to dig in a simulated lunar surface.
"This isn't something I get to do everyday, so it's great I was able
to participate in a program like this," Williams said. When she
returns to her school she will give a presentation to her physics
teacher and classmates on what she learned.
Corbin Ferris, a senior at St. Augustine High School, said the best
parts of his experience at Kennedy were the group projects and
learning about new technologies. Ferris learned about current methods
for locating and measuring defects in orbiter windows. With Dr.
Youngquist as mentor, Ferris and his team members learned about
optical techniques and carried out discussions of how they could be
utilized in a space station or lunar habitat scenario.
Ferris, who is looking into a career in engineering, said it was
interesting to see all the types of available jobs at NASA.
"NASA research will benefit from the students' fresh 'out of the box'
solutions for future lunar missions," Garner said. "It was a win-win
situation; and I hope a sustainable Governor's School for the gifted
is the end product."
Student participants are listed by county:
Bay: Amilea Borel, Bay High School, Panama City.
Brevard: Parker Allen, Melbourne High School, Melbourne; Joshua
Emison, Bayside High School, Palm Bay; and Julia Rauchfuss, West
Shore Jr./Sr. High, Melbourne Beach.
Broward: Aaron Lewis, JP Taravella High School, Coral Springs.
Calhoun: Harlea Perdue, Blountstown High School, Altha.
Charlotte: Ashley Kreher, Lemon Bay High School, Rotonda West.
Clay: Jessica Evans, Orange Park High School, Orange Park.
Columbia: Adam Griffy, Fort White High School, Fort White.
Duval: Jessica Yeung, Stanton College Preparatory School,
Jacksonville.
Escambia: Victor Mendez, Pensacola High School I.B. Program,
Cantonment.
Flagler: Rebecca Wight, Matanzas High School, Palm Coast.
Gilchrist: Sean Kirby, Trenton Middle High School, Trenton.
Hardee: Bailee Williams, Hardee Senior High School, Wauchula.
Hillsborough: Elisa Berson, Freedom High School, Tampa.
Lee: Brittany Kociuba, North Fort Myers High School, Cape Coral.
Leon: Jayshree Balakrishnan, James S. Rickards High School, Catherine
Branch, Lawton Chiles High School, both in Tallahassee.
Marion: David Lakin, Forest High School, Ocala.
Miami-Dade: Natalia Slepak, Miami Palmetto Sr. High School, Miami.
Monroe: Daniella Fioravanti-Score, Coral Shores High School, Key
Largo.
Orange: Linda Cao, Timber Creek High School, Orlando; Scott Palmese,
Olympia High School, Ocoee.
Palm Beach: Michael Koester, Park Vista High School, Lake Worth.
Pasco: Stephanie Schlageter, Zephyrhills High School, Zephryhills.
Pinellas: Shailaja Emani, Palm Harbor University High, Safety Harbor;
Sarah Gardiner, Lakewood High School, St. Petersburg.
St. Johns: Matthew Walsh, Bartram High School, Saint Johns; Corbin
Ferris, St. Augustine High School.
St. Lucie: Gerald Condon, Lincoln Park Academy, Port St. Lucie.
Seminole: Alex Friedman, Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary.
Sumter: Connor Schofill, South Sumter High School, Bushnell.
Suwannee: Wendell Mellette, Branford High School, Branford.
Volusia: Deepak Sathyanarayan, Spruce Creek High School, Ormond Beach;
Kyle Mays, DeLand High School, Deland.
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