NASA Glenn "Drops" Student Microgravity Experiments
CLEVELAND -- NASA has selected four high school teams of students to test their science experiments in a competition that simulates the microgravity in space. The experiments will be dropped next week into a 79-foot tower at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, so that they experience weightlessness for 2.2 seconds.The experiments are part of NASA's national science competition, "Dropping In a Microgravity Environment," or DIME. NASA provides the funding for up to four students and one adult advisor from each team to travel to Glenn to conduct its experiment and review the results with Glenn engineers and scientists. While at the center, they will tour Glenn facilities and participate in workshops.
Student teams from Ransom Everglades School, Coconut Grove, Fla., and
Troy High School, Troy, Mich., will conduct their experiments Monday,
March 21 from 1 to 3 p.m., and Tuesday, March 22 from 8 a.m. to 3
p.m. The teams' proposal titles are "How Hot is Hot Enough? --
Temperature and Capillary Action" and "Effect of Microgravity on the
Motion of Air Bubbles in Water."
Student teams from Ozaukee High School, Fredonia, Wis., and St. Ursula
Academy, Toledo, Ohio, will conduct their experiments Thursday, March
24 from 1 to 3 p.m., and Friday, March 25 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
teams' proposal titles are "Influence of Microgravity of the
Weissenberg Effect" and "Convection Evaluation in Microgravity."
Reporters interested in viewing the drop tests may contact Sandra Nagy
at 216-433-9079 or sandra.l.nagy@nasa.gov to arrange for security clearance.
DIME and other NASA educational programs help the agency attract and
retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -
disciplines critical to space exploration. The DIME competition is
part of the agency's Teaching From Space Office at NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston, which provides unique education experiences
using the unique environment of microgravity and NASA's human space
exploration program. For information about the DIME student
competitions, visit:
http://spaceflightsystems.grc.
For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education
For information about NASA's Glenn Research Center, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/glenn
Source: NASA
