CREATING AN APPLICATION

APPLICATION ADVICE

TOPIC AREAS FOR MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENTS

• Teams may find researching topics below useful in deciding on a experiment area to study in Microgravity.
• Physics, Physical Science, Chemistry, and Models (Designs)
• This link to Prior Campaigns  may also help show what kinds of experiments have been performed in the previous years.
• Educator Guides to Microgravity may also serve as a guide to choosing an experiment:
  • MICROGRAVITY: A Teacher's Guide With Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology (PDF - 3MB)
    This educator guide contains excellent background information accompanied by classroom activities that enable students to experiment with the forces and processes microgravity scientists are investigating today.
  • International Toys in Space: Science on the Station (PDF - 2MB)
    The educational video "International Toys in Space" shows International Space Station crewmembers and students back on Earth co-investigating the behavior of toys in space. Video program segments show the behavior of the toys in 1 g (Earth's gravity) and then their behavior in the microgravity environment of space. Activities, brief descriptions of what happened during the ISS flight, and science and mathematics links are available in the International Toys in Space Video Resource Guide.
  • NASA - Microgravity Resources from CORE
    This site lists microgravity-related videos and resources available for purchase from the Central Operation of Resources for Educators. Visit the CORE Web site for more information.
  • PSA (Personal Satellite Assistant) (Grades 5-8)

Explore math and physics with a robotic helper.

• Teams are not limited to these areas but are encouraged to look for experiments that can give measurable, repeatable data collection. 
• Emphasize science in the proposal - there should be some theory, postulate, data or calculation that leads you to believe that the phenomena you are investigating will react differently in microgravity than in your 1-G lab. Simply proposing to do something "to see what happens" will probably weaken your proposal's technical merit. A well-stated hypothesis with underlying rationale on why you believe something will happen will probably strengthen your proposal's technical merit.

OTHER INFORMATION TO CONSIDER

• Flight Team Members will be need substitute class coverage for at least 7 school days.

• Flight Team Members will be in Houston for a minimum of 10 days (includes travel time).  Flight team members must be willing to commit to all scheduled days in the opportuntiy.  Schedule is subject to change and participants are asked to be flexible with opportunity staff.

• Each RGO flight team will be expected to give a final presentation to the entire group of flyers at the end of the week.  This can be in the form of a power point or key note.  More detailed information about the presentation will be given to the RGO flight teams at your flight week.

• Each RGO flight team will also be expected to complete a 3-5 minute video (Quicktime, iMovie, or Movie Maker) of their RGO experience from designing the research question with your students to participating in the Distance Learning Network connection to completing your RGO flight.  Details about the video will be given to teams at flight week.

• Each RGO team will be expected to complete a final report.  NES educators associated with an accepted Reduced Gravity investigation are not eligible to participate in any other NES-related activities (except attendance at a professional development conference) until after the final report is accepted by the reduced gravity staff at JSC, unless approved by NES Program Management.

• Physiological training (classroom and hypo baric chamber) is provided for team flight-crew members and alternates while in Houston. Each member will attend a half-day of classroom instruction, followed by a physiological training experience in an altitude chamber. Flight-crew members who are unable to complete physiological training will be disqualified for flight.

• The support of the school Administrator is crucial to the success of this opportunity. As this project may require the selected NES teachers to use additional school time on this project, the Administrator is asked to make the necessary adjustments.

• Given the existing structure of the NES opportunity, second and third year NES schools are in the best position to take advantage of this opportunity, however, all NES schools may apply. Please note that all NES schools are eligible to apply however priority will be given to schools that have not previously flown.

• Due to Ellington Field and NASA Johnson Space Center security restrictions, visitors are not permitted on-site during this opportunity. (Note: Ellington Field is the location of the reduced gravity aircraft and the work site for this opportunity).

• Distance Learning events are an integral part of this opportunity, and participating schools must have access to WORKING video conferencing equipment, whether on site at their own schools or in another location. A test call to Johnson Space Center's Digital Learning Network must be completed successfully prior to acceptance to the Reduced Gravity Program.  To involve participation with the students, video conferences will be held twice before,  and immediately following the NES teams flight on the reduced gravity aircraft.  NASA will make appropriate actions to accommodate the team’s videoconference requests.

• Use of animal/human test subjects as part of an investigation is prohibited.

• Use of any hazardous material in investigations is prohibited.

• The weight limit for test equipment is 18.14 kg (40 pounds).  Experiments MUST be designed to fit into one of two types of gloveboxes provided by the program.
• Tall boxes  (only 2 are available for use) are 57.15 cm X 66.04 cm X 88.9 cm (22.5 in X 26 in X 35 in)
• Wide boxes are 52.07 cm X 66.04 cm X 88.9 cm (20.5 in X 26 in X 35 in)
• If teams wish to utilize free-floating test equipment , they should be aware of the following:
• Free-floating hardware should weigh less than 22.7 kg (50 pounds) and measure no more than 61cm (24 in) on any side. (Free floating investigations are not secured to the plane during the parabolic flight.)

USING OLD APPLICATIONS - be very careful

Please do not use any text from older proposals. Even if you wrote a section for last year's application and have been assigned to write it again this year, please resist the temptation to include last year's work in this year's application. If your ideas are basically the same, find another way to present them.   The best advice is to start from scratch. Please be careful. If you feel you must include a small amount of previous text, cite it properly.

Why are we so strict about this? Because this is an educational opportunity, and each team should submit original work.