Social, Cultural and Educational Legacies - ER - NASA

Sciences Corporation,11 years laterbecoming the proud IT Project Manager.I often think about how different mycareer path may have been without theGet Away Specials Program and all ofthe doors it opened for me.”The Get Away Specials Program wassuccessful for both high school anduniversity students. Over the years, itchanged to the Space ExperimentModule Program, which simplified theprocess for students and teachers.Space Experiment ModulesTo reduce costs to get more studentsinvolved, NASA developed the SpaceExperiment Module Program sincemuch of the engineering to power andcontrol experiments was done for thestudents. Space Experiment Moduleexperiments, packaged 10 modules to apayload canister, varied from active(requiring power) to passive (nopower). Since no cost was involved,students in kindergarten as well ascollege students proposed projects.During the mid 1990s, 50 teachers fromthe northeastern United States,participating in the NASA EducationalWorkshops at Goddard Space FlightCenter and Wallops Flight Facility,designed Space Experiment Moduleswith activities for their students.During this 2-week workshop, teacherslearned about the engineering designprocess and designed module hardware,completed the activities with theirstudents, and submitted theirexperiment for consideration. One ofthe Get Away Special cans on STS-88(1998) contained a number of SpaceExperiment Module experimentsfrom NASA Educational Workshopsparticipants. Students and teachersattended integration and de-integrationactivities as well as the launch.Martin Crapnell, a retired technologyeducation teacher who attended oneof the NASA Educational Workshopsessions, explained.“Experiencing the tours, briefings,and launch were once-in-a-lifetimeexperiences. I tried to convey thatexcitement to my students. The SpaceExperiment Modules and NASAEducational Workshops experienceallowed me to share many things withmy students, such as the physics ofthe thrust at launch and the ‘twang’of the shuttle, long-term space traveland the need for food (SpaceExperiment Modules/Mars Lunchbox),spin-offs that became life-savingdiagnostics and treatments (especiallymine), job opportunities, andmanufacturing and equipment that wassimilar to our Technology Lab.“Even though delays in receiving allof the Space Experiment Modulesmaterials affected the successfulcompletion we desired, I believe I wasable to share the experience and createmore excitement and understandingamong the students as a result of theattempt. The Space Experiment Modulesand NASA Educational Workshopsexperiences allowed relevant transfer tolab and life experiences.”A Nutty Experiment of InterestOne of the many experiments conductedby students during the Space ShuttleProgram was to determine the effects ofmicrogravity and temperature extremeson various brands of peanut butter.Students microscopically examined thepeanut butters, measured their viscosity,and conducted qualitative visual,spreadability, and aroma tests on thesamples before and after flight. Thestudents from Tuttle Middle School,South Burlington, Vermont, and TheGilbert School, Winsted, Connecticut,called this research “a nutty idea.”Students Go On to Careersin EngineeringJohn Vellinger, executive vice presidentand chief operating officer of Techshot,Inc. (Greenville, Indiana), is anexample of how one participatingstudent secured a career in engineering.As an eighth-grade student in Lafayette,Indiana, Vellinger had an idea for ascience project—to send chicken eggsinto space to study the effects ofmicrogravity on embryo development.Vellinger entered his project in ascience competition called the ShuttleStudent Involvement Program,sponsored by NASA and the NationalScience Teachers Association.In 1985, after Vellinger’s freshman yearat Purdue University, NASA pairedhim with Techshot, Inc. co-founderMark Deuser who was working as anengineer at Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC). Through a grant from KFC,Deuser and Vellinger set out to developa flight-ready egg incubator.By early 1986, their completed“Chix in Space” hardware waslaunched aboard Space ShuttleChallenger on its ill-fated STS-51L(1986) mission. Regrouping after thetragic loss of the shuttle, its crew, andthe Chix in Space incubator, Deuserand Vellinger continued to developthe payload for a subsequent flight.Together, the pair designed, fabricated,478Social, Cultural, and Educational Legacies