[NASA] Educational Activities in Space

[SpaceMan 0]

4 Min Read

Educational Activities in Space

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship (at right) and a pair of the International Space Station's main solar arrays foreshadow a trek into an orbital sunset.

Credits: NASA

Science in Space: September 2024

As students of all ages returned to school this month, crew members on the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

continue to conduct a variety of educational programs and activities that support learning on the ground. These efforts are part of a wider commitment at NASA to engage, inspire, and attract future generations of explorers and to build a diverse future workforce equipped with skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

An Astrobee ****** moves through the space station for the Robo-Pro Challenge.

NASA

One current activity is

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, an educational program hosted by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in cooperation with NASA. For the challenge, students create software programs to control NASA’s Astrobee and JAXA’s Internal Ball Camera, using image processing to move the free-flying robots through a series of coordinates to a target point. The challenge helps support computing and coding curricula, and the hands-on experience inspires the study of STEM subjects.

Analyzing DNA in space

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

is a national contest for students in grades 7 through 12 to design DNA analysis experiments for the space station. It is sponsored by the ISS National Lab and New England Biolabs in collaboration with Boeing and miniPCR bio. There have been more than a dozen contests to date, many producing significant results.

Genes in Space-5 provided

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

of simultaneously amplifying multiple DNA sequences in space, expanding the possibilities for in-flight research and health monitoring.

Genes in Space-6

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing for the first time in space, using the technique to generate breaks in the DNA of a common yeast, direct a method to repair the breaks, and sequence the patched-up DNA to determine whether its original order was restored.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Selin Kocalar, the student who designed the experiment on which Genes in Space-9 is based, prepares her samples for launch.

Genes in Space

Genes in Space-9 validated

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

used to synthesize proteins without needing living cells. This technique could produce proteins for research, vaccines, and development of diagnostic tests for environmental contaminants and infectious agents. Ultimately, such synthesis also could enable portable, low-cost devices for health monitoring, detection of environmental hazards on Earth and in space, and other applications.

Sending code to space

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet poses with the AstroPi Raspberry Pi computers.

NASA

In addition to the Robo-Pro challenge, several other programs involve student coding.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, a program from ESA (********* Space Agency), uses special computers, one equipped with an infrared camera and the other with a standard visible spectrum camera. ********* students write programs for the computers that address specific challenges such as measurement and calibration and image processing. One project successfully

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and computed the horizontal wavelengths of atmospheric gravity waves in clouds.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson performs a Zero Robotics demonstration with an Astrobee.

NASA

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

also is a competition where students write software to control one of the Astrobees, co-led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Innovation Learning Center, and other collaborators. Finalists have their code downloaded to the Astrobee platform and can observe its performance in space.

Students have good “HUNCHes”

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins uses the HUNCH Tape Dispenser, which can be operated with one hand.

NASA

High school students ******* with NASA to Create Hardware, or

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, is a learning program where high school students design and fabricate real-world products for NASA. More than 2,500 students have participated to date, flying some 3,000 products to space, including a tape dispenser that can be operated with one hand, footpads, sleeping pad liners, and orange blackberry croissants and other food products.

Very long-distance calls

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

NASA astronaut Suni Williams talks to students from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, during an ISS Ham Radio session.

NASA

Through

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, a collaboration with ******** Radio on the International Space Station, students use ham radio to ask astronauts questions about life in space, career opportunities, and other space-related topics. Participating teachers

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that the program has a significant and positive impact on students, increasing interest in all STEM areas. The experiences also

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

make real-world connections among disciplines, learn problem-solving, and hone communication skills. To date, more than 100 crew members have communicated with over 1 million students from 49 U.S. states, 63 countries, and every continent.

Out-of-this-world videos

Developed through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

are short educational videos demonstrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics topics in microgravity for grades K through 12. The videos are available online and every STEMonstration includes materials teachers can use to explore the topics in their classrooms. Six videos released in the past 12 months have been viewed 98,705 times to date across various social media platforms. The program provides students with a connection to NASA and scientific work conducted on the space station, inspiring the next generation of explorers and contributing to a diverse future workforce.

Melissa Gaskill
International Space Station Research Communications Team

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Search

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned in this article.

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Latest News from Space Station Research

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

Humans in Space

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

Station Science 101

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

Expedition 71

Expedition 71 began on April 5, 2024 and ends in September 2024. This crew will explore neuro-degenerative ********* and therapies,…

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up