The California Space Authority is hoping to build a $175 million education center just outside the gates at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, Calif., the Santa Maria Times reports.
CSA officials are negotiating a lease for use of 66 acres of Air Force property. The land sits on a bluff that is used as the primary viewing area for rocket launches from the military spaceport.
“The purpose of the space center is to primarily inspire young people to look to Vandenberg and learn the story of the land - what’s happening there today, and what’s going to happen there in the future,” CSA Executive Director Andrea Seastrand told KSBY-TV.
NMSA PRESS RELEASE
April 15, 2008
UPHAM, NM — The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) today announced intentions to create a new venture between the NMSA, the Air Force, higher education, and the private sector to create a competitive educational launch program for students in public schools and universities.
The program is envisioned to be a collaborative effort between the NMSA, the Air Force Research Lab Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base (AFRL), the X-Prize Foundation, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University (NMSG), UP Aerospace and Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. (MEI), all of which have demonstrated support for Spaceport America, the nation’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.
NMSA Executive Director Steve Landeene looks forward to creating the launch competition for the 2008-2009 academic year. “The spaceport is all about finding new, innovative ways to access space, and inspiring today’s young minds to meet tomorrow’s challenges,” Landeene said. “It is a part of fulfilling Spaceport America’s educational mission.”
Continue reading ‘Spaceport America Plans Educational Launch Competition’
NASA is offering U.S. schoolchildren a chance to control the Cassini spacecraft. The space agency is holding a contest for students in grades 5-12 to decide what part of Saturn the spacecraft will explore for nearly an hour on June 10. Cassini’s Science Planning Team has developed a list of three possible targets.
“You are to weigh all the factors, and after choosing one of the three targets, explain the reasons for your choice in a 500-word essay,” the contest’s website states. “Your decision should be based on which image would yield the most scientific results. Just like actual scientists do, you are to explain what you hope to learn from the image you have selected. The artistic value of the image can be an added bonus to your decision.”
Students can work alone or in groups of up to four. The deadline for submission is May 8 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
SPACE FLORIDA PRESS RELEASE
Space Florida recently launched its inaugural unattended microgravity research flight from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.
Engaging twenty-two middle and high school teachers from 12 counties, this opportunity is one of many innovative Space Florida education programs designed to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, and engage and encourage student interest in space.
Continue reading ‘Space Florida Inaugurates Microgravity Research Flights’
