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Education Payload Operations (EPO)
03.22.12

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Experiment/Payload Overview

Brief Summary

Education Payload Operations (EPO) includes curriculum-based educational activities that will demonstrate basic principles of science, mathematics, technology, engineering and geography. These activities are videotaped and then used in classroom lectures. EPO is designed to support the NASA mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.

Principal Investigator

  • Jonathan Neubauer, , Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States

    • Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

  • Matthew Keil, , Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States

    • Payload Developer
    Expedition 7 - 9:
    Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO, United States
    Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, MD, United States

    Expedition 5:
    Miami University, Oxford, OH, United States
    Rice University, The Rice Space Institute, Houston, TX, United States

    Expedition 7 - 9:
    Heinz, Ontario, , Canada
    Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, United States
    Center of Science and Industry, Columbus, OH, United States

    Expedition 5:
    Houston Independent School District, Houston, TX, United States
    Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX, United States

    Expedition 7 - 9:
    St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, MO, United States
    Association of Science and Technology, Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), United States
    Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada

    Expedition 4:
    Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States

    Expedition 7 - 9:
    Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States

    Sponsoring Space Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Sponsoring Organization:

    Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD)

    ISS Expedition Duration:

    December 2001 - October 2004



    Expeditions Assigned

    4, 5, 7, 8, 9

    Previous ISS Missions

    EPO began ISS operations during Expedition 4.

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    Experiment/Payload Description

    Research Summary

    • The objective of Education Payload Operations (EPO) investigation is to use toys, tools and other common items in the microgravity environment of the ISS to create educational video and multimedia products that inspire the next generation of mathematicians, physicists, engineers, and other scientists.


    • The products are used for demonstrations and to support curriculum materials that are distributed across the United States and internationally to educators.


    • The individual EPO projects are designed to explore physical phenomena such as force, motion, and energy. Each ISS Expedition involves different on-orbit activities and themes as well as different partners such as museums, universities, and public school districts.

    Description

    The objective of the Education Payload Operations (EPO) investigation was to use toys, tools, and other common items in the microgravity environment of ISS to create educational video and multimedia products that inspire the next generation of engineers, mathematicians, physicists, and other scientists. The products are used for demonstrations and to support curriculum materials distributed across the United States and internationally. The individual EPO projects were designed to explore physical phenomena such as force, motion, and energy. Each Expedition involved different on-orbit activities and themes, as well as different partners, such as museums, universities, and public school districts.

    The EPO payloads were small, weighing less than 6.8 kg (15 lbs) each. Whenever possible, the demonstrations use materials and objects already available on ISS. Some of the activities cover physical properties, such as Newton?s Laws of Motion or Bernoulli?s Principle for air pressure, and others are specific to life in space, such as explaining how ISS solar panels work or demonstrating EVAs.

    Specific activities are as follows:

    • Education demonstration activities (EDAs) showed basic physics, such as of Weight vs. Mass, Center of Mass.
    • EDAs illustrated aspects of living in space, such as Tools in Space, and Pouring Liquid into a Container.
    • International Toys in Space developed a DVD for use in classrooms around the United States based on the physics behind a variety of toys.
    • Tomatosphere II, exposed 1.5 million tomato seeds to the space environment. The seeds have been distributed to classrooms throughout Canada. Students will measure the germination rates, growth patterns, and vigor of growth of the seeds.
    • EDAs for use by science museums included a harmonica, puzzles, dexterity puzzles, and a balsa wood Wright Flyer.

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    Applications

    Space Applications

    EPO introduces the next generation of explorers to the environment of space.

    Earth Applications

    EPO is part of NASA's continuing effort to use space as a unique educational tool for K-12 students. Everyday items, such as toys and tools, are given a new twist by combining them with the allure of space flight and the unusual weightless environment to produce educational materials that inspire interest in science and technology and encourage curiosity and creativity.

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    Operations

    Operational Requirements

    EPO does not require power, telemetry, or specialized hardware. However, each demonstration requires several hours from at least two crew members, one of whom will operate the video equipment and the other will demonstrate the activity.

    Operational Protocols

    After setting up the demonstration, at least one crew member will perform the demonstration while another films it. Each demonstration will have its own props (e.g., toys or tools). The demonstration is then dismantled and returned to stowage. After the videos are returned to Earth, they will be used to develop teaching guides, project plans, and educational packages focusing on the physical sciences and technology.

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    Results/More Information

    EPO has been a successful education program on ISS. By using simple objects and the microgravity environment, NASA is able to produce videos that demonstrate physical properties, such as force, motion, and energy, that may be obscured by gravity on Earth. To date, over 500 videos, DVDs, and video clips have been produced and distributed to science teachers and schools throughout the United States. About 1500 teachers each year are trained to use the materials in their classrooms. An additional 30.9 million students have had the opportunity to participate in live downlink events where their classmates pose questions of ISS crews on orbit.

    The 1.5 million Tomatosphere-II seeds from Expedition 9 were divided and distributed to 160,000 students in 6,000 classrooms across Canada. (Evans et al. 2009)

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    Related Web Sites
  • NASA eClips
  • NASA Fact Sheet
  • Johnson Space Center Education and Student Programs
  • NASA Education Program
  • Central Operations of Resources for Educators (CORE)
  • Observatorium: Toys in Space
  • Tomatosphere

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    Publications

    • ,International Toys in Space - Science on the Station DVD 2004

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    Ground Based Results Publications

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    ISS Patent Publications

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    Related Publications
    • McClain B ,Woodard D ,Extending the Learning Environment to the World's Most Unique Microgravity Laboratory: The International Space Station 54th International Astronautical Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the International Institute of Space Law 2003

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    Images

    imageVideo screen shot of Expedition 8 Science Officer, Mike Foale, demonstrating the use of tools on ISS for an EPO event.


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    imageVideo screen shot of Expedition 8 Science Officer Mike Foale uses small and large magnets to show the pull of the Earth's magnetic field on ISS for an EPO event.


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    imageVideo screen shot of Expedition 9 Science Officer, Mike Fincke, demonstrating First Aid on ISS for an EPO event.


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    imageNASA Image: ISS009E15359 - Astronaut Mike Fincke holds a bag of tomato seeds for the EPO Tomatosphere II project in the SM during Expedition 9.


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    imageVideo screen shot of ISS Expedition 9 Science Officer, Mike Fincke, performing the EPO Puzzles demonstration.


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    imageVideo screen shot of ISS Expedition 9 Science Officer, Mike Fincke, performing the EPO Water Droplet demonstration.


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    imageCover of the Digital Video Disc (DVD) produced by the Education Payloads Office for the Increment 5 EPO activity of International Toys in Space. This DVD is available to the public to help educate students about how toys are used differently in space compared to Earth.


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    imageNASA Image: JSC2004E14164 - Astronaut Leland Melvin speaking with a group of students following the viewing of the EPO video International Toys in Space.


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    Information provided by the investigation team to the ISS Program Scientist's Office.
    If updates are needed to the summary please contact JSC-ISS-Program-Science-Group. For other general questions regarding space station research and technology, please feel free to call our help line at 281-244-6187 or e-mail at JSC-ISS-Payloads-Helpline.
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