Building Bridges

       As we discussed our goals for outreach, mentoring came up several times. Having been inspired and guided by many mentors over the course of our academic careers, we wanted to give back, and maybe inspire other kids to take up math, science, and engineering. With this aim in mind, we planned our first session at a local community center called The Bridge, which provides after-school tutoring services to children of all ages. One of the members of the NExT design team knew the director of The Bridge from previous volunteer experience, so it was pretty easy for us to get involved. The director was thrilled that we wanted to help out!

       Monday, November 21st was the date of our first session with the students at The Bridge. The program director handpicked about 20 students in grades 4 through 10 as our audience. These students were selected based on their motivation and involvement in their after school tutoring sessions. In our first session, we introduced the kids to NASA, talked a bit about our specific Micro-g NExT project, and then gave them some challenges to help them understand how astronauts do work in space. We were a little nervous as students began to arrive, anxious to see how interested they might be in spaceflight.

       We began with a very short presentation about who we are and what we are doing as part of the Micro-g NExT program. We described the basics of our tool, and then discussed space and NASA in general. The students enthusiastically answered questions about NASA, asteroids, and astronauts, providing the perfect segue into the activities session of the evening. We designed the activities to be a fun, competitive way to introduce the students to some of the limitations astronauts experience in space. We split the group into five teams composed of students of different ages, and set up a relay race. Each team had thick oven mitts to simulate astronaut gloves. Each student had to complete a task using the oven mitt, and then hand off the oven mitt to the next student. The team that finished first would win the challenge. The tasks included tying a shoe, drawing a picture of a dog, and picking up pennies off of a table.

       The students were very excited about this challenge! The room was loud with excitement as teammates cheered each other on. When the challenge got tough, different teams responded in different ways. One team member decided to pick up the pennies by gently hitting the table next to the penny so it would jump up and he could grab it. Another team decided to try drawing a larger dog instead of a smaller one since the glove made fine drawing difficult. The winning team was joyful and seemed pretty satisfied with themselves.

       Afterwards, we asked them what they had learned from the session. Some students were astounded at the limited mobility an astronaut has in a full spacesuit, while others were interested
in the exploration of asteroids. Before the students left, we reminded them that we are here in a mentoring capacity, meaning that we want them to ask us questions. We want them to feel comfortable asking us questions about college, NASA, and engineering. One of the best parts of the night was when one of the high school students came up to us afterwards to give us her contact information. She wanted to know more about NASA opportunities for high school students. This was so rewarding; we are doing this to inspire students and show them how big dreams like working for NASA are within their reach. Through our work, we want to inspire kids to be whatever they want to be and show them that their dreams can be realized, just like ours are starting to be.


"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."   - John Quincy Adams

T-0 -- The Proposal Has Cleared the Tower

The Ohio State AstroNuts have submitted their proposal for Micro-g NExT!

Last minute design changes and late nights are what we'll remember from this part, but we've also all enjoyed this part of the challenge. We developed an anchoring device for astronauts to use on an asteroid or other low gravity celestial objects. A mission to an asteroid is part of NASA's journey to Mars (which you can read about here: http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars)

We have designed not only a tool that astronauts can use in space, but also an outreach plan to expose our community to NASA and encourage fellow students to participate in Micro-g NExT. It's all detailed in the proposal, which NASA now has.

We'll hear back from them in December about whether we were selected or not. Fingers crossed!

Godspeed, AstroNuts.

Go get some sleep.