Plenty for Youth to See and Do at NASA Langley
08.12.11
By:
Denise Lineberry
Towards the end of every summer, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins are invited to bring the children in their lives to NASA's Langley Research Center. This year, several community and academic groups were invited to attend, making Youth Day at NASA Langley more diverse than ever.
Scenes of fun and education combined were abundant in the Reid Conference Center, Langley's gymnasium and tour spots throughout the center.
Patrice Quander-Hoss, who was manning the table for tour tickets, started with about 325 tickets. By 10:30 a.m., she was left with one.
A popular tour spot was NASA Langley’s Hangar. There, the SR-22, an F-22 and the UC-12 were lined up with their wings towering over dozens of curious children.
"How many of you would get in a plane without anyone flying it?" a large group from Girls, Inc of the Greater Peninsula were asked. A few raised their hands.
They learned that Langley's Cirrus SR-22 was an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and that a data link atop the plane communicates with pilots who control the plane from NASA Langley. As Ed Radwinski explained, a pilot rides aboard the SR-22, but only for added safety.
Their next stop was an F-22, where the Raptor demonstration team from Langley Air Force Base led small groups around the massive plane’s exterior.
"How many of you have been on a commercial airplane?" one of the demonstrators asked. About half of the group raised their hands.
"A commercial airplane goes about 25,000 to 35,000 feet in the air. The F-22 goes about 60,000 feet – extremely high," he explained. "And also extremely fast.
"In a car you might go about 45 to 50 miles per hour, but in this plane you could go up to 1,500 miles per hour – twice the speed of sound."
They ended their Hangar visit by peeking into NASA Langley's UC-12 twin turbo-prop aircraft, which has the same laser beam onboard as NASA's CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite.
Jackie Jackson, executive director of Girls, Inc. of the Greater Peninsula, brought the group because she wanted to expose them to this type of technology and to increase their STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) knowledge. It’s part of the organization’s mission through the Operation Smart Program.
Tim Canella, a contracting office at NASA Langley, thought along those same lines. For the fifth year, he brought his daughters, Abby and Emma, to Langley for the annual event.
"It's a great opportunity to expose them to engineering and science," he said. "I think it's especially important for my daughters. Langley has so many great role models, like [Center Director] Lesa Roe."
But he certainly didn’t discount his son, William, who was looking on in awe at a Parrot AR drone that hovered in front of him and his sisters.
Emma, a rising sixth-grader, decided she would ask for a drone for her birthday, which is in September. William had an idea to also ask for one and to install a camera on it to "spy" on his sisters.
Creative ideas and imaginations were flowing with each stop in and around the Reid Conference Center.
"What's this screw for?" asked Tyler Sisk as he held it up alongside his brother Adam.
"That's a tool that could be made on the moon using technology developed here at Langley," responded Meghan Guethe. She was referring to the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) technology.
Tyler and Adam most liked the X-plane flight simulator, as did many others who patiently waiting their turn to test their piloting skills. Children could also play NASA’s demo version of Moonbase Alpha, a multiplayer online game and a reality video game with "Mindshift" technology.
Youth Day at NASA Langley was presented by Langley's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and the Strategic Relationships Office with the help of dozens of employees, volunteers and organizations.
For more information, please contact Venita Robinson or Katrina Young.
Children weighted down small containers and placed them in tubs of water. Their objective was to not make the container sink, but also, not allow it to float atop the water. They were demonstrating NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab, where astronauts train underwater.
Children made "slime" and decided which planets they would most like to visit. "Jupiter," one child responded at the "Because It Flew" table. "Because it Flew" is a free innovative educational program that introduces kids to the impact of the NASA Space Shuttle Program on our planet and people.
Many adults took the children to a special room for free child identification provided by the Virginia Child Identification Program. The pre-interview and interview gathered the child’s physical information and provided voice recognition, photos and fingerprints. A CD with the information was then given to parents.
In the gym, children jumped across stepping-stones and over ropes and made bracelets out of Ultra-Violet sensor beads. They posed as astronauts for photos, walked blindfolded through a half circle lined by jump ropes and tested their agility by dribbling a ball through an obstacle.
Saidi Tumwa created her own tornado inside of 2-liter bottles.
Her father, Vick, an operations manager at Langley, tagged along with a handful of bags filled with items collected throughout the day.
A raffle winner, Brandon Kwa, was there with his father Teck-Seng Kwa, a research engineer at Langley. Brandon is still deciding whether he wants to be a police officer or an astronaut when he grows up.
His father suggested that he become an astronaut cop, a position that seemed possible on a Friday when many things seemed possible to the children who visited NASA's Langley Research Center.
The Researcher News
NASA Langley Research Center
Editor & Curator: Denise Lineberry
Managing Editor: Jim Hodges
Executive Editor & Responsible NASA Official: Rob Wyman