The Space Frontier Foundation's Teachers in Space
program and NASA are teaming up this summer for a second round of
science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workshops that focus on
Suborbital Astronautics, Space Medicine and Human Factors, and
Suborbital Flight Experiments. The goal of the workshops is to give
teachers the curriculum and experiences necessary to boost STEM
instruction, including the opportunity to fly an experiment on a Masten
Space suborbital vehicle.
The workshop instructors will include a former Space Shuttle Commander
as well as leading scientists from NASA, FAA, NewSpace and leading
aerospace universities. Secondary teachers currently teaching STEM
subjects should apply at tis.spacefrontier.org/workshops by April 5, 2012.
The Suborbital Astronautics Workshops
will offer teachers the opportunity to learn about
aeronautics/astronautics and spaceflight while experiencing some of the
training concepts that future space pilots will receive. Expert
instructors will include former Shuttle Commander/Pilot and XCOR
Aerospace Chief Test Pilot Col. Rick Searfoss (USAF-ret), wind tunnel
expert Dr. Kurt Long of NASA Ames, and Teachers in Space Pathfinders
Maureen Adams and Lt. Col. Steve Heck (USAF-ret). Participants will fly
in a glider and Embry-Riddle flight simulators. They will also learn
about the Lynx suborbital spacecraft now under development by XCOR
Aerospace. These workshops will be held at at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University in Daytona Beach, FL on July 9-13 and at the NASA Dryden AERO
Institute in Palmdale, CA on July 30-Aug 3.
The Space Medicine and Human Factors Workshop will
cover high-altitude physiology and respiration, decompression and
vacuum exposure, space weather and radiation, and the effects of
weightlessness, G-forces, noise, and vibration. Participants will
experience the effects of high altitude in a normobaric chamber. The
workshop will be held at the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
(CAMI) in Oklahoma City on June 25-29 and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University in Daytona Beach, FL on July 16-20.
At the Suborbital Flight Experiment Workshop teachers
will gain hands-on experience with space hardware by building
experiments to fly aboard a Masten Space unmanned suborbital vehicle as
part of the Excelsior STEM mission. The workshop will be held at the
NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, CA on July 23-27 in
conjunction with the NewSpace Conference.
The
workshops are open to secondary teachers currently teaching science,
technology, engineering or math. The workshops are free and stipends are
available to assist teachers in travel and housing expenses.
Go to tis.spacefrontier.org/workshops
to apply. Seats are limited and the application process will close on
April 15, 2012. For more information please contact Don McMahon at don.m...@spacefrontier.org.
Teachers
in Space began in 2004 as a non-profit project of the 501(c)3 Space
Frontier Foundation. Our mission is to put space in the hands of STEM
teachers via professional development workshops offered each summer. Our
teachers and their students have flown experiments on ZeroG and to the
International Space Station on the final mission of space shuttle
Atlantis. With support from NASA and the NewSpace industry, we are
giving teachers the tools and experiences needed to inspire their
students, peers and communities. |
