NASA Visits Stanley High School
The North Dakota NASA Grant Consortium visited Stanley High School on Thursday, Jan. 29. Each state, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, has a grant consortium. NASA provides the funding and they disburse it to students in grades K-12, college undergraduates and graduate students.
Their visit in Stanley was part of the STEM outreach, giving Mrs. Verano’s eighth grade students the opportunity for hands on activities as they envision space and NASA.
The program opened with an overview of the program that helps provide NASA internships, student research fellowships and scholarships. They are affiliated with colleges across the state. They focus on workforce development as well, saying that there are internships in all degree fields.
The event focused on the lunar rovers, with solar panels collecting energy to power them. The dust accumulates on the panels, creating a significant challenge.
The event also focused on the lunar mission as Artemis 2 is set to launch on February 6, sending astronauts around the moon. The goal with Artemis 2 is to look at ways to build a habitat on the moon as a way to continue the mission to Mars.
Each student was given three components to create their own bristle bot including brush heads, a battery and motor. There were also a number of other supplies available to help decorate and create their own bot.
The goal was to create one that would clean lunar solar panels covered in moon dust. They were able to test their bot for success and then sent back to redesign the bot to work better. In some cases, it might have been a need for better balance or increased weight to make sure they stayed upright and were able to clear the panels.