NASA Selects High Schools To Compete In New Challenge; Winning Software Designs Will Program Satellites on the International Space Station

WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass., have selected 24 high schools to participate in
a new science, technology, engineering, and math education program.
The teams will design software to program small satellites aboard the
International Space Station.

The Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, and Reorient Experimental
Satellites, or SPHERES, are three volley ball-sized spherical
satellites that fly inside the space station's cabin to test advanced
maneuvers for spacecraft, like formation flying and autonomous
rendezvous and docking. Each contains its own power, propulsion,
computing, and navigation equipment.

The selections are part of the Zero-Robotics investigation, which is
run by MIT and designed to inspire future scientists and engineers.
Students write their own algorithms to solve a problem important to
future missions. This year's pilot program, "HelioSPHERES," allows
selected high schools to compete against each other and helps
students build critical engineering skills, such as problem solving,
design thought process, operations training, teamwork and presentation skills.

The competition was open to all accredited high schools in the United
States and attracted 48 applications. The 24 high schools are from 19
states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and
Washington. The list of schools is available at

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/zero_robotics_2010.html

The 24 teams will compete in elimination rounds against each other
using online simulations and ground-based testing at MIT. The
software of the top 10 winners will be sent to the station, and an
astronaut aboard the orbiting laboratory will program the SPHERES
satellites to run the students' tests.

MIT's Space Systems Laboratory developed the SPHERES program to
provide the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA and other
researchers with a long-term test bed for validating technologies
critical to the operation of future satellites, docking missions and
satellite autonomous maneuvers. SPHERES have been used by many
organizations, including other government agencies and graduate
student research groups, since the program began in 2006. The
satellites provide opportunities to test a wide range of hardware and
software at an affordable cost.

For additional information on NASA and MIT's Zero-Robotics program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/SPHERES-Zero-Robotics.html

For more information on the Zero-Robotics "HelioSPHERES" competition,
selection process, and upcoming activities, visit:

http://zerorobotics.mit.edu/

Source: NASA