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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Rebecca Anderson, a junior enrolled at the Portage School of Leaders High School in South Bend, Indiana, spent time with NASA Glenn Research Center’s Daniel Sutliff, an acoustic engineer, on the campus of the University of Notre Dame on Nov. 7, 2024. Students witnessed the operation of the Advanced Noise Control Fan owned by NASA and on loan to the university for STEM experiences.Credit: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame High school students in Indiana are contributing to NASA’s groundbreaking research to develop quieter, more fuel-efficient aircraft engines.
Their learning experience is a collaboration between aircraft noise researchers from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and educators from the University of Notre Dame’s Turbomachinery Laboratory. The collaboration aims to encourage students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers.
Recently, Notre Dame hosted students from The Portage School of Leaders High School and a team from NASA Glenn to see the Advanced Noise Control Fan operate in an outdoor setting. The fan is a NASA-owned test rig that has been configured to enable the study of a quieter aircraft engine technology. Known as the open rotor fan concept, the configuration involves an engine fan without a cover. Ground microphones were used during the test operated by Notre Dame to evaluate the radiated sound as the open rotor fan spun at various speeds.
NASA’s Advanced Noise Control Fan is on loan at the University of Notre Dame through a Space Act Agreement. It provides a hands-on learning laboratory for students in STEM.Credit: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame Students from the high school, which is part of the Career Academy Network of Public Schools, used 3D printers from the school’s facilities to fabricate parts for the open rotor test fan. The parts, known as stator blades, help direct and control airflow, ensuring smooth operation of the large, exposed fan blades that are the defining feature of an open fan engine design.
“It was beyond words,” said Rebecca Anderson, a junior from the high school. “The part I enjoyed most was when they got the fan running. It was really impressive to see how quiet it was. I feel like everyone involved in STEM would love to work for NASA, including me.”
NASA researcher Dr. Daniel Sutliff was part of the team from NASA Glenn to spend time mentoring the students.
“This is real-world, hands-on research for them,” Sutliff said. “If airlines are able to use technologies to make flight quieter and cleaner, passengers will have more enjoyable flights.”
The Advanced Noise Control Fan is on loan to Notre Dame from NASA through a Space Act Agreement. The fan research is supported by NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project and its Efficient Quiet Integrated Propulsors technical challenge.
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By NASA
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams aboard the International Space Station on Oct. 15, 2024. (Credit: NASA) Students from U.S. military families based overseas will have the chance to hear NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station answer their prerecorded questions.
On Wednesday, Dec. 11, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will respond to questions submitted by students from Stuttgart Elementary, followed by another call on Thursday, Dec. 12, with Nick Hague answering questions from Kwajalein School System students.
Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth calls on NASA+ at 12:25 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. EST, respectively. Learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.
Stuttgart Elementary, part of the Department of Defense Education Activity’s Europe East District, will host a space-themed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) night, featuring a live education downlink as the evening’s highlight. The school, located on Panzer Kaserne near Stuttgart, serves military-connected students from pre-kindergarten to grade five. Media interested in covering the event in person must RSVP by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, to Chrissy Mitchell at chrissy.mitchell@dodea.edu or 0-631-7106-7060.
Additionally, the Kwajalein School System, situated on a secure army installation on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, will host an event that brings together local STEM resources to inspire students. For media access, RSVP to Sherman Hogue at sherman.hogue.civ@army.mil or 808-580-4848.
For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
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Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Members belonging to one of three teams from Oakwood School aim their devices — armed with chocolate-coated-peanut candies — at a target during JPL’s annual Invention Challenge on Dec. 6.NASA/JPL-Caltech Teams competed with homemade devices to try to launch 50 peanut candies in 60 seconds into a target container.NASA/JPL-Caltech More points were awarded for successfully landing the candy into the highest, smallest level of the triangular Plexiglas target — not an easy task.NASA/JPL-Caltech Treats went flying through the air by the dozens at the annual Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The 25th Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which welcomed more than 200 students to compete using home-built devices, was pretty sweet this year. Literally.
That’s because the challenge at the Friday, Dec. 6, competition was to construct an automated machine that would launch, within 60 seconds, 50 chocolate-coated-peanut candies over a barrier and into a triangular Plexiglas container 16 feet (5 meters) away. The mood was tense as teachers, parents, and JPL employees watched the “Peanut Candy Toss Contest” from the sidelines, some of them eating the ammunition.
Students on 21 teams from Los Angeles and Orange county middle and high schools turned to catapults, slingshots, flywheels, springs, and massive rubber bands. There was lots of PVC piping. A giant device shaped like a blue bunny shot candy out of its nose with the help of an air compressor, while other entries relied on leaf blowers and vacuums.
A team from Santa Monica High School won the 2024 Invention Challenge at JPL on Dec. 6 with a device was based on a crossbow.NASA/JPL-Caltech Some were more successful than others. Ultimately, it was an old-school design that won first place for a team from Santa Monica High School: a modified crossbow.
“I tried to come up with something that was historically tried and true,” said Steele Winterer, a senior on the team who produced the initial design. Like his teammates, Steele is in the school’s engineering program and helped build the device during class. He described the process as “nerve-wracking,” “messy,” and “disorganized,” but everyone found their role as the design was refined.
Second and third place went to teams from Oakwood School in North Hollywood, which both took a firing-line approach, using four parallel wooden devices, with one student per device firing after each other in quick succession.
Two regional Invention Challenges held at Costa Mesa High School and Augustus Hawkins High School in South L.A. last month had winnowed the field to the 21 teams invited to the final event at JPL. At the finals, three JPL-sponsored teams from out-of-state schools and two teams that included adult engineers faced off in a parallel competition. In this second competition group, retired JPL engineer Alan DeVault took first place, followed by Boston Charter School of Science coming in second, and Centaurus High School from Colorado in third.
Competing with a wooden device at the 2024 Invention Challenge, retired JPL engineer and longtime participant Alan DeVault won first place among JPL-sponsored teams, which included professionals and out-of-state students. Challenge organizer Paul MacNeal kneels at right.NASA/JPL-Caltech Held since 1998 (with a two-year break during the COVID-19 pandemic), the contest was designed by JPL mechanical engineer Paul MacNeal to inspire students to discover a love for building things and solving problems. Student teams spend months designing, constructing, and testing their devices to try to win the new challenge that MacNeal comes up with each year.
“When student teams come to the finals, they are engaged just as engineers are engaged in the work we do here at JPL,” MacNeal said. “It’s engineering for the joy of it. It’s problem-solving but it’s also team building. And it’s unique because the rules change every year. The student teams get to see JPL engineering teams compete side by side. I started this contest to show students that engineering is fun!”
The event is supported by dozens of volunteers from JPL, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena for NASA.
News Media Contact
Melissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-166
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Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A group of middle school students engage with a model aircraft while learning from NASA experts in the model lab at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California during an event hosted by NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement.NASA/Steve Freeman In celebration of National Aviation History Month, experts from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, spoke with middle school students during a recent event hosted by NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement. NASA Armstrong employees shared stories about the center’s role in aviation history and current research projects while also talking about their own paths to working at NASA. During the virtual and in-person event on Nov. 6, Southern California middle school students were presented with the importance of pursing their passions, the value of internships and exploring diverse career opportunities within NASA.
Kicking off the event, NASA Armstrong Center Director Brad Flick talked about his journey from a small town to becoming a NASA engineer. “I never, in my wildest dreams thought I had the opportunity to work for someplace like NASA,” Flick said. “I’ve been here for almost 40 years and at a little part of NASA that most people don’t know exists, right? Which is really cool that we’re tying this to aviation history month, because this is one of the places where aviation history has been made, is being made and will continue to be made.” Flick encouraged students to participate in STEAM programs that integrate the arts with science, technology, engineering, and math and stressed the importance of asking questions and being curious.
A panel of four NASA Armstrong experts – Laurie Grindle, deputy center director; Troy Asher, director of Flight Operations; Nicki Reid, lead operations engineer; and Julio Trevino, operations engineer – shared their stories about their career paths and experiences at NASA.
NASA Armstrong experts share their stories about their career paths and experiences at NASA to middle school students during an event hosted by NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. From left to right: Laurie Grindle, Julio Trevino, Nicki Reid and Troy Asher.NASA/Steve Freeman Reid talked about her initial struggle with math and science and how it didn’t stop her from obtaining an engineering degree and applying for internships, which is what ultimately opened the door for her at NASA. “It was a really cool experience because it gives you a chance to decide whether or not you like the job and I got to learn from different people every summer,” Reid said.
Grindle’s dream as a kid was to become an astronaut and although did not happen for her, her interest in aviation and space continued, which ultimately led to working at NASA as a student. “I had a lot of different opportunities working in different roles. I had fun while doing it and did a job I really enjoyed that made it not like work,” Grindle said.
For Asher, determination and commitment helped him become a pilot. “I remember sitting in the back seat of the airplane, looking out and thinking, ‘I love this. I’m doing this forever,’” Asher said. “But it took me five or six years before I had that moment, and it was the commitment the kept me going.”
A group of middle school students and their teachers sit in the control room for a hands-on experience at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California during an event hosted by NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement for National Aviation History Month.NASA/Steve Freeman Stories and experiences like these are important for students to hear to inspire them in their own journeys into adulthood. Students also received tours around the center with stops in the model lab, life support office and control room.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for my seventh-grade students to learn more about careers and career paths in NASA,” said Shauna Tinich, Tropico Middle School teacher. “They were surprised that people other than astronauts and rocket scientists work for NASA, and this excited many of my students.”
NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement collaborates with the regional STEM community to provide opportunities like these, with the support of Next Gen STEM, to help students in sparking their interest and inspiring the next generation of leaders. To learn more, visit www.nasa.gov/learning-resources.
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Last Updated Dec 02, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactElena Aguirreelena.aguirre@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
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By Space Force
Astronauts aboard the ISS conducted an educational downlink, a communication signal from the spacecraft back to Earth, for Denver School of Science and Technology students.
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