STEM Engagement at NASA – Page 8

Foggy Fun with STEM

January 3, 2024 NeRD

NASA / Keegan Barber On March 30, 2023, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins, and Robert Hines took part in STEM demonstrations with local students in Washington. Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station. While aboard, the crew studied ways to reverse the aging of immune cells, how wounds heal in microgravity, and cardiovascular health. They also participated in spacewalks, tested new technology to diagnose medical conditions, explored the development of new construction materials in space,…

Ham Radio in Space: Engaging with Students Worldwide for 40 Years

November 29, 2023 NeRD

In May 2018, a student at Mill Springs Academy in Alpharetta, Georgia, Andrew Maichle, talked to NASA astronaut Scott Tingle on the International Space Station via amateur or ham radio. The experience profoundly affected Maichle, who went on to study electrical engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina. “It was so cool to see in real time the utmost levels of what people in science are able to accomplish, and to talk to and interact with someone at that level,” Maichle recalls. “The space station is an incredible work of…

Aero Engineer Brings NASA into Hawaii’s Classrooms

November 28, 2023 NeRD

On the left, NASA Ames engineer Evan Kawamura on his first day of sixth grade with teacher Kristen Stoker of Hanalani Schools. On the right, Kawamura reunited with Mrs. Stoker when speaking to her students about his work at NASA. The field of aerial vehicle autonomy focuses on self-reliance, building the flight equivalent of puppets without puppeteers. Behind the scenes, however, is a rich network of people and systems that work together to develop frameworks, test new technologies, and inspire a pipeline of engineers to create the breakthroughs of the…

Student innovators invited to develop BIG ideas for lunar inflatables

October 17, 2023 NeRD

With its “Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations” theme, NASA’s 2024 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge invites student innovators to build and demonstrate how their concepts can benefit future missions to the Moon and beyond. Inflatable systems could greatly reduce the mass and stowed volume of science and exploration payloads, which is critical for lowering delivery costs to deep space destinations. As the first step in the next era of human space exploration, NASA’s Artemis program brings together commercial, international, and academic partners to explore the Moon for the…

NASA Leaders Inspire Girls to Fly Toward STEM Careers

September 26, 2023 NeRD

Students from various schools and organizations with a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) focus are photographed with employees from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at the Launch and Landing Facility following their arrival to Kennedy on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as part of Delta Air Lines’ Women Inspiring Our Next Generation (WING) flight. The all-female flight crew brought girls from Atlanta, Georgia, ranging in age from 12 to 18, to learn about the various careers available at the Florida spaceport. NASA/Kim Shiflett By Matina DouzenisNASA’s Kennedy Space Center Women at NASA’s…

Students Walk in the Clouds at NASA Armstrong STEM Event

September 21, 2023 NeRD

2 min read Students Walk in the Clouds at NASA Armstrong STEM Event Students are wrapped in a cloud from a demonstration by NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement event with Center of Science and Industry at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA/Steve Freeman More than 500 local students, ranging from grades first to eighth, joined NASA and COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in a Learning Lunchbox event where they saw a demonstration of how clouds form, and had the opportunity to ask NASA experts questions.…

Student-Focused Scientific Balloon Mission Inspires Future Generation

September 1, 2023 NeRD

Team members from the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado School of Mines pose with their flight-ready payload set to fly with the HASP mission during NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program’s fall campaign in Fort Sumner, N.M. From left, Elsa Carreras, Benjamin Hellem, Erick Bueno, and Chloe Zentner. Not pictured: team members Shuyu Song, Hallie Hill, and Peter Braza. u003cstrongu003eCredits: NASAu003c/strongu003e The fall campaign of NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program is underway at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) balloon launch site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The program will launch a…

Management and Program Analyst Trinesha Dixon

August 28, 2023 NeRD

"I think I do that with my interns and teams too — I give them the space to grow and learn and try to just be their guide along the way." — Trinesha M. Dixon, Management and Program Analyst, NASA Office of STEM Engagement, NASA's Johnson Space Center “During my first internship [as a Physics major in college], I had a female mentor who was well respected in the field. It was interesting watching her. She had what I call quiet power — and I see myself as also having…