If you’re fascinated by the idea of humans traveling through space and curious about how that all works, you’ve come to the right place.
“Houston We Have a Podcast” is the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center from Houston, Texas, home for NASA’s astronauts and Mission Control Center. Listen to the brightest minds of America’s space agency – astronauts, engineers, scientists and program leaders – discuss exciting topics in engineering, science and technology, sharing their personal stories and expertise on every aspect of human spaceflight. Learn more about how the work being done will help send humans forward to the Moon and on to Mars in the Artemis program.
On Episode 163, Jamie Semple and Mike McGlone, education specialist and coordinator, respectively, based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, share how students and teachers get involved in the form of student programs and challenges that contribute to missions across the agency. This episode was recorded on September 3, 2020.
Check out NASA’s App Development Challenge and the kickoff event on Sept. 30, and NASA’s WEAR Challenge!
Transcript
Gary Jordan (Host): Houston, we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Episode 163, “Next Gen STEM.” I’m Gary Jordan and I’ll be your host today. On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers, astronauts all to let you know what’s going on in the world of human spaceflight. This one is for the students and teachers out there that want to get involved with NASA, even getting some experience with NASA before you hit college. NASA has some exciting ways to get involved in America’s space agency and get real hands on experience. An, initiative called Next Gen STEM is doing just that. And, there are some incredible challenges to get involved with, where students can contribute to NASA missions directly. On this episode we’re bringing in Jamie Semple and Mike McGlone education specialist and coordinator, respectively, based here at the Johnson Space Center to talk about some of the more recent challenges and how you can stay tuned for some upcoming opportunities. Let’s get right into it. Of course, after our opening music. Enjoy.
[ Music]
Host: Jamie and Mike thanks so much for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast today.
Jamie Semple: Thanks, Gary. It’s great to be here.
Mike McGlone: Thanks, Gary. Very glad to be back on again after a couple years ago we did a fun one, looking forward to doing it again.
Host: Yeah. Mike, it’s been a while, that’s right. We did Microgravity University, MgUE was the last thing we talked about. This one’s a little bit different. It’s called Next Gen STEM. There’s a lot of really cool challenges coming up in the very near future and some that have already taken place. And, we’re going to recall some of the ones that have been, I guess, just recently passed. So, this is very exciting. Some of the opportunities that can be for students. I want to get a little bit of a better understanding of who we’re talking to here. Just some of your background so we know who are the people that are actually leading some of these activities that get students to participate in actual real-life NASA missions. Jamie we’ll start with you.
Jamie Semple: Sure. So, I actually started my career doing research. I was actually part of the team that did the nutrition science research out of the University of Alabama Birmingham. I originally graduated from Stanford University with a biology degree. And, while I was working in the laboratory. I really was interested in actually moving on to teach and actually coached, coached basketball specifically. So, I went ahead and actually completed my masters in secondary education. And, then from there went on to teach high school and middle school science as well as coached football and basketball. So, I really enjoyed that. And, in 2006, I had the opportunity to come to Houston to join the Space Center Houston Education Team at the Official Visitor’s Center for Johnson Space Center. And, I was there for about six years. Really enjoyed working with the team there and the programs. And then I had the opportunity to come to Johnson Space Center and specifically the Office of STEM Engagement, which at that time was actually the Office of Education. So, was there for about six years as well. And, really enjoyed just being part of the NASA family and being able to serve and you know, to provide education programs to people around the nation. I did go ahead and explore some different opportunities in 2017, but I made my way back to Johnson Space Center at the end of 2018. And, I’ve been working on the NASA App Development Challenge ever since. So, looking forward to sharing some information about that today.
Host: Well, very good. And, so nice to have you back. I’m zooming in here on the part of your career where you were going for a science degree and then somewhere in there you got passionate about teaching others. Was it, was it a moment, some event that you went out and you were teaching, and something just clicked where you’re like, “oh wow, this is awesome, I can actually influence other people’s careers? This is what I want to do.” Was there some moment that, that made you want to change your career path?
Jamie Semple: I wouldn’t say a specific moment. I was always a big fan of NASA and was really interested in what was going on with the agency. I actually grew up west of Houston, Katy, Texas. And, I remember coming to Johnson Space Center as a little kid. So, I always enjoyed the, you know, seeing what’s going on and very interested in the space program. I also like working on teams where I can help others be successful. So just as I was thinking about those things and enjoying coaching basketball. And, just wanted to try to, you know, bring all those things together. So, been very lucky, like I said, I was lucky to be able to come over in 2006 and actually join the Space Center Houston team and actually come onboard with Johnson Space Center and the Office of Education. So, it’s been, you know, close to I would say 12 years now in space science education. But I really have enjoyed the opportunities to be able to just serve the community and obviously teach as many as people as possible.
Host: Very good. I’m very excited to get into some of those things that we’re doing here at NASA. But first, let’s go back over to Mike. Mike, a little bit about yourself.
Mike McGlone: Sure, you bet. My background is in STEM education and training. I’ve been a classroom teacher, teaching mostly high school sciences. I also worked in the nonprofit career for a while doing informal education and training of volunteers. I came to NASA first in 2004, working with a group at the time, Aerospace Education Services Project, which did teacher development programs, teacher education throughout the United States, also did student programs, etcetera. Had to leave for a while. There was the shuttle program, some cutbacks. So, I spent some time then doing online education and developing science curriculum and activities. Then we had everybody come back few years ago and now to the Office of Education now Office of STEM Engagement. And, I’ve been working on these new student challenges, which is our purpose for today, you know, about getting kids excited about NASA and getting them actually involved in the missions.
Host: Well, let’s go right into that Mike. Both of you mentioned starting in the Office of Education. Now it’s called NASA Stem Engagement. So, Mike tell me a little bit more about this. What is, what is STEM engagement?
Mike McGlone: You bet. I guess it started about two years ago, but about 18 months ago it became official, we moved to the Office of STEM Engagement. And, what it was, more than just a name change. We really wanted to focus on engaging students. And NASA’s mission, I mean, that’s actually, kind of our tagline to inspire, engage, educate, and employ. Go out and talk to folks about the STEM pipeline. You know, kids, students out there that are working towards STEM careers, which of course NASA employs hundreds of those and through our contractors, thousands of those. And, we need to keep people moving along that pipeline to get involved. So, what we want to do is focus on those activities that actually engage the students in our mission. From the simplest things of, you know, watching an eclipse or watching a launch and doing some things to, in fact an activity we’re going to talk about today where students are actually doing some basic research and designing of materials and software that may actually be used in future missions.
Host: Oh see, that’s very significant. It’s not just like a random exercise, this is actual, practical research and experience. Someone can lock on to it and then find that there’s actual use to some of this. And, if they find it fun and interesting, perhaps dedicate their careers to it. As per that last thing you mentioned, Mike, that was the purpose and the goals of STEM engagement, that last one, being employed, getting more people to go into STEM fields.
Mike McGlone: Yeah. Most definitely, just touched on that. You know, it is one of those things we keep hearing about from Congress, national leaders is we need more folks involved in the STEM fields not only at NASA but across the country. Of course, we’re interested in the NASA folks, but yeah, it’s definitely something very important to the country.
Host: And, you’re talking about a whole range of programs. How do we do this? How do we engage students and get them to this point where they’re actually considering or at the very least participating in STEM activities, being science, technology, engineering, math? What’s the whole, if you were to take a whole snapshot of STEM engagement and all the activities that’s being done within that office, what kinds of things could you expect to do?
Mike McGlone: Oh wow. It’s a long, long list, which we don’t have time to cover it all today. But I can give you a brief overview. And, I think Jamie will jump in with a few of the, some specifics. But we have programs that are designed everywhere in both the formal and the informal education world. You know, we focus at students that are K through 16, so it’s not just your elementary, middle, and high school students. We have, there are programs out there for college students, even graduate level, even some post doctorate things. It includes internships for those students. And, it could be as simple as activities that teachers can use in the classrooms about Artemis, like the SLS or the Orion, to very simple things such as, during a launch, we put together education kits that teach students about like, the recent Commercial Crew launch that we had back in the end of May, first of June. Some of the more in-depth things are such as, the challenges and that Jamie and I are going to talk about just a little bit more here today.
Host: Yeah. Let’s go right into that then. Jamie, so the topic of today’s discussion is Next Gen STEM. That’s one of the many, I guess, activities that fall under the umbrella of STEM Engagement. Tell me a little bit more about this. What’s Next Gen STEM?
Jamie Semple: So, Next Gen STEM is actually a project composed of a variety of different items. And, Mike touched on a little bit of those. But, pretty much is an integrated portfolio of everything from activities to educational products, grants, partnerships, and then student engagement opportunities. Primarily focused on the idea that we want to be able to provide an opportunity for K through 12 students to directly contribute to our NASA’s project and mission goals. So, that development challenge and the word challenge are actually under that project umbrella. And, within Next Gen STEM, there’s quite a few different things. And, Mike talked a little bit about those. But they’re really focused in the four key areas, our mission driven focus areas. There is Commercial Crew, Aeronautics, Moon to Mars, and STEM on Station. And Mike and I actually work on the Moon to Mars team. And, within that specific project, there are actually five student challenges. There are educator guides. There are a lot of different resources available in regards to current projects that are going on. Like, Mike talked a little bit about resource kits for upcoming missions. There’s actually a Mars 2020 toolkit that is available online. So, there is a wide array, excuse me, there’s a wide range of different activities and opportunities for people to get involved with. So, if you look at some of the other focus areas, there’s virtual reality fieldtrips, there’s a citizen’s science guide, and there’s videos. There’s actually opportunities for professional development through the Educator Professional Development Collaborative. So, there’s a lot of different things. But the main goal here is to get, get people excited and spark their interest in STEM. Really focus on showing them that there are ways to be involved in STEM Careers. And, then just giving them that opportunity to contribute to what NASA is doing. So, that’s exactly what that development challenge and the WEAR challenge fall in place.
Host: There’s so many elements to this, Jamie. It can be a little bit overwhelming just diving into the list that you were going through. I’m trying to think about myself. If I was a, if I was a teacher, if I was a student and I had general interest in participating in some of these. I know a lot of people engage with the Commercial Crew Program, with the Demo-2 mission, Bob, and Doug launching to the station and returning home to Earth. A lot of people engaged in that. But, now there’s actually a chance to participate in some of that program. And, you guys are part of the Moon to Mars, so some exploration initiatives. Very, very exciting stuff. But, if I were to look at that, I’d be kind of overwhelmed right off the bat. Oh man, there’s so much. There’s all these different resources that I can go. Where do I start? Jamie, if you were to, if you were to say this to either, either a teacher or student or someone that was eligible or I guess interested in investigating some of this, where would you tell them to start? To at least get their toes in the water here.
Jamie Semple: Yeah, great question. So, kind of depends on which group you’re in. But definitely go to the Next Gen STEM website. And, that will give you an opportunity to obviously see what, they can click on the different mission focus areas and see all the resources that are available. Like you said, there’s just a lot of great products out there, great activities and things that people can participate in as well. So, another way to get involved and actually get updates on what’s going on, more current updates, is the NASA Express. And, you can actually sign up for that email. And, you’ll get updates on what’s going on as far as projects, challenges, live events, kind of like what you were talking about with Demo-2 and of course the upcoming Crew-1 mission here in a few months. So, you definitely want to sign up for that, especially if you want to get those, you now, specific up to date opportunities via email and see those as they’re coming out. And, then also NASA social media. I know that both Mike and I, for our student challenges, we actually utilize that to get information out about information sessions or in the case of our challenge start date or our kickoff events. So, we definitely utilize that as well. So, there’s just a, like you said, there’s a lot out there and there’s a couple different ways that you can actually find out what’s going on in regards to the office of STEM Engagement, in this case Next Gen STEM.
Host: Now Mike, I’m listening to some of these resources that Jamie’s pointing out. And, I think what’s nice about this is we’re in this interesting time where COVID-19 has a lot of us working from home. I know NASA, us specifically at the Johnson Space Center, many of us are at a work from home status. But, seems like a lot of these different resources that you can access are online and available, either if you’re going into the office, performing jobs there or school. Or if you’re like us and you’re stuck at home. There’s a lot of these, there’s ways to access this information even during COVID-19.
Mike McGlone: Oh, most definitely. If you go to the webpage that Jamie mentioned, at NASA.gov/STEM, it’ll take you to our page within NASA that breaks down all the activities. And like you were talking about, what do we have for students? What do we have that will be of interest to educators? And, even for students it breaks it down to their age range. And, a new product that we actually did, as COVID-19 actually, you know, took off back in April, we went through a lot of our activities and pulled them together in a product we call NASA at Home. And, these were activities that, as a group of our educators went through to actually review and said, “hey these are things the kids actually could do at home. They fit in their curriculum. Where does it fit?” Either to help supplement what the teachers are having them do for classes or just something to do for the fun of it. So, and that’s all pulled together like you were saying it is a plethora. Trying to keep up with it will drive you a little bit crazy. But there is plenty of stuff there to look at. And, it’s broken down, like I said, in a really nice way. You can look at it, you know, by grade. Are you a student? What are you looking for? You know, do you want to be a NASA intern? Do you want to be, are you in kindergarten and looking for something to do or looking at it with your parents? It’s just a great site to go and find what you’re looking for.
Host: This is perfect. And, I know this can be overwhelming. So, I’m lucky to have both of you on today because you are leading specific challenges that we can dive into now. So, going beyond this cloud of information, all of these different resources that you can access, let’s dive into — these, some of the specific things that can be done through this program through Next Gen STEM. Jamie, I know you’re the lead for the App Development Challenge. This one sounds interesting. I know you had some experience with the App Development Challenge before. Tell me a little bit about this.
Jamie Semple: Yes. Very excited to launch year-two of App Development Challenge. All the information that we’ve talked about today is actually available on our ADC website. And, that’s NASA.gov/education/appchallenge. But this is year-two. Our pilot program year, last year, we actually collaborated with the Ascent Abort-2 team, or the AA-2 team to actually have students build an app out of visualized flight data for the flight test that took place in July of 2019. So, it was a great pilot program year for us. We had the opportunity to bring a couple teams down to the, to the flight test at Kennedy Space Center. And, we’re actually building off the success of that pilot program year to launch the new challenge, which is actually open for registration right now. And, in just a few days we will actually have our live virtual kickoff event on September 30th. So, this year’s challenge, we are collaborating with the NASA Space Communications and Navigation Team. Their acronym is SCaN, so we’ll refer to them as NASA SCaN. So, we are partnering with SCaN to have student teams create an app that will visualize the South Pole region of the Moon. So, as everyone talks about the Artemis program and us returning to the Moon, this is a direct tie into exactly where future exploration will be. So, we’re very excited that we can offer this to the middle school and high school students throughout the nation. So, we’re looking forward to getting the challenge up and running on September 30th.
Host: You know, if I’m a middle school and high school student, I’m trying to remember myself back in the day. And, I’m hearing this, right. I’m hearing, “hey you have an opportunity to come up with this great way to map the polar region and to do all these fancy space things.” I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is I’m immediately, Jamie, I’m immediately overwhelmed. I’m like there’s no way that I have the skill set to do this. I mean this sounds pretty cool. But, how can I contribute to something like this? I don’t have any experience. I might not be the right person to do this. Tell me about the, you know, the whole challenge and the ways to make it accessible to those that might be interested and take this opportunity to learn how to do it, for those that may want to participate but, at this point, are kind of scared to.
Jamie Semple: That’s a great question and comments regarding the challenge, we have worked very hard to make it more accessible to the students. This is a highly rigorous challenge, you know, seven weeks, it’s a very short time frame that you have to create an app. So, teams that are registered to actually build the app, actually have to have a minimum of five students. They also have to have a lead teacher. And, there’s more information on the website regarding eligibility and actually, how to register a team to participate. We do, we’ll provide a lot of resources along the way to help teams be successful. On September 30th when we have our live kickoff event, we will actually have on our website, the ADC guide. And, that guide will give you all the specifics and details on how to participate in the challenge. And, exactly what we hope to see with your team’s lunar South Pole app. So, in addition to that, we will also provide a lunar data file. That’s the actual data, it’s the position and slope data from the area that we want you to visualize. So, you will actually have both of those components. And, then during our live kickoff event, we’ll talk about how to get started in developing your app. So, if you have an interest in coding, computer science, obviously you’re going to have to work with some other folks. But, a minimum of five students makes up a team. There is no maximum team size. So, you can have as many folks as you’d like to participate in the first phase of developing your app. And, then along the way, we’re also going to provide live virtual connections, where we actually have subject matter experts from NASA, talk through how to develop an app. So, we’ll be supporting teams that way throughout the entire challenge.
Host: See, that’s a great way to kickoff. If you have a basic interest in space and you have a basic interest in coding and software, which I know is a very big field and with a lot of opportunities. This sounds like an amazing opportunity. I wanted to zoom in, though, on this Ascent Abort-2 App Development Challenge that you had. This is something you already did. You have a, you have a case where you tried something new and you saw it through to the end with results. Can you tell me more about that challenge? How the students engaged with the Ascent Abort-2 and some of the things you saw at the end of this whole process?
Jamie Semple: Sure. Yeah. So that was our pilot program year. So, we were trying to obviously figure out how to navigate a new challenge and provide it to students at the same time. So, it was very interesting. But we do have a technical advisor from the Ascent Abort-2 team. We have to do this same thing with this year’s challenge. We actually have a technical advisor from the SCaN team. And, last year, with the Ascent Abort-2 challenge, we were able to provide resources and best practices along, I think it was a seven-week time frame for teams to develop the app. So, we had a great response, a lot more teams involved in the challenge than we thought. And, honestly, we received some great videos of the team’s apps and then honestly, we were just thoroughly impressed with the work that they did. Making this a team-based challenge is something that very closely mimics what NASA teams do throughout their work as they seek to collaborate, to successfully complete a project. So, having that same dynamic will help them understand the challenges and how you overcome those as you’re actually, in this case, building an app. But, it’s tremendously successful. We did take two teams to the flight test in July of 2019. And, they were actually able to see the flight test live, see the launch. They got access to the mission control room where they got a chance to talk to some folks that were working on the mission. And then, we were actually able to use some of the data from the flight test, some altered data from the flight test and actually run it on the students’ apps. And, it was great to see because the flight test ended up actually exceeding, I think the height for the test, the launch itself for the elevation of that, that AA-2 actually went to. So, we were actually able to see that on the students’ apps. So, it was really cool. They did an excellent job. And, like I said, we’ve used that model and expanded on it a little bit to offer this year’s challenge.
Host: What a cool thing. Not only do you get to actually participate in some of this stuff. But I bet you that you had a bunch of eyes lighting up just walking around mission control and actually seeing the Ascent Abort-2 mission, seeing a rocket go off the pad. That must have been such an incredible experience. There was something, I know, I have here called the Culminating Event. Was that, was that it when they actually went to go see it or am I thinking about something else here?
Jamie Semple: No. You got it. That’s exactly it. The Culminating Event was five days. And, the students went on VIP tours. They got to present to NASA leaderships. And, we really just had a great time getting them immersed in the NASA culture. They also had the opportunity to present to the general public. So, after the flight test, there’s a time for community engagement and outreach. And, they were able to talk to people of all ages and share some of their experiences. This year we’re looking to do the same thing. Like I said, the challenge starts on September 30th, it’ll actually wrap up on November 18th, with student team video submissions. So, the teams actually don’t submit their apps. They actually show a similar video and they post it to YouTube for our teams to review. And, we just obviously, are looking at the video and going through the app requirements. And, then based off of review of those videos, we’ll down select interviews. That’s where a smaller group of selected teams, we’ll actually interview with the SCaN and ADC teams. So, that’s a chance to actually talk to the people working for SCaN and learn a little bit more about the team and the app that they’ve created. After that, we will down select again. We might take one, we might take two or more teams. But those will be our top teams for our Culminating Event. Right now, we’re looking at February 2021 for our Culminating Event, that hopefully, will be at a NASA Field Center. But, if not, if we have to do some sort of virtual student symposium, we will definitely do that. But we definitely want to highlight obviously, the students and their work, and that Culminating Event does that.
Host: Now this, yeah, we’re still, some uncertainty here with COVID-19. But I’m sure, you know, if we have the COVID, if we have the Culminating, or sorry, the kickoff event, my apologies, coming up here in just a few days, September 30th. I’m assuming, you know, you’re going to have students from, is it all over the United States? And, then would they be paired in teams across the United States, so all this work will be done virtually, I guess, for the Fall period of 2020?
Jamie Semple: Yeah. So, teams can be from the same school, different schools. We really have opened it up to formal and informal U.S. educational organizations. So, that really means across the nation, but could potentially mean internationally, if it’s like a military base overseas, a school that wants to participate. Science centers can participate. So, you can actually form a team with students from different schools. And, the team is registered by a lead teacher. It has to be a certified and practicing K through 12 educator. But, once the teams are formed, then they can go ahead and obviously start working on developing their app. It’s going to be interesting to see how they do that. This challenge is very well set up to be a virtual challenge. They can post their apps online, obviously, and share those from different resources. Most of the software that they’re going to use will be online. We don’t require them to have a specific operating system or use specific coding language. They determine all that. So, they can find out who has strengths in different areas, and they’d formulate their team that way. So, it’s really an open ended and, in regards to what we require. But the main focus here is it’s all a student led challenge. And, as students begin to navigate how to build that app, we’ll provide those resources and suggestions and different presentations during those live virtual connections. So, we’re looking forward to see, you know, obviously how this second year of the challenge goes. We’re very excited it ties directly into Artemis. And, more specifically, these students are going to contribute to future mission planning. So that, these apps could actually help the SCaN team train new staff members on, you know, what’s the best route for exploration on the Moon. But the main thing is when our astronauts get to the South Pole of the Moon, they need to be safe, they need to be able to communicate with Earth. And, this app brings all those things into play. They will visualize the Moon South Pole region. But they also have to do two additional things. They actually have to plot a path for explorations. So, the astronauts are not always going to land in the place that they’re going to explore. So, there’s a landing site and we have a destination site. And, they have to plot that path for exploration. And, then the last thing they have to do is they have, actually have to identify ten communication link checkpoints, so places that we can maintain that communication with Earth. So, a very exciting challenge. We’re looking forward to getting things rolling on September 30th.
Host: Maps, adventures, communication, what a cool way to participate in returning humans to the Moon. Very, very cool. We’ll make sure to put this information about the kickoff event at the very top. For those who are listening and thinking “oh man this is really cool,” we’ll have some links and some information in our show notes here where you can go and explore these. So that’s just one example of the many things going on in STEM Engagement. This is the App Development Challenge. Mike, I know you’re the lead for something called NASA WEAR, the NASA WEAR Challenge. Can you, can you talk a little bit more about that?
Mike McGlone: Yeah. I’d love to. NASA WEAR and believe it or not, that’s not an acronym, even though the word NASA is, this one is not an acronym.
Host: Gasp. [Laughter]
Mike McGlone: But we have a challenge very similar in set up to the App Development Challenge that Jamie just talked about. But we have a totally different focus in what we’re working on. When our astronauts go into deep space, and we define deep space as anything, really beyond low-Earth orbit, which is where the International Space Station is at. As you go beyond, as you go beyond that low-Earth orbit, you leave Earth’s atmosphere, you get beyond or into the much weaker parts of Earth’s, magnetosphere. So, we don’t get protection from radiation, especially the radiation that’s coming from our, from the sun, what we call solar particle events. It’s constantly coming, but there’s also these larger, makes the explosions, radiation from the sun. You know, you hear about solar flares or coronal mass ejections. That’s what one of the outcomes of that is, a lot more radiation from space. And, the human body is very much susceptible to that. And, it’s, and it’s not good. So that’s one of the key hazards that astronauts face going on deep missions back to the Moon or on to Mars. And, in spacecraft design, you know, they did their best to harden the spacecraft to protect the astronauts. But, these larger events, they need more protection. So, we partnered with a group here at Johnson Space Center, the RadWorks Team, who also has team members at Glenn Research Center, in Cleveland, Ohio and Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Virginia, that look at wearable technology that the astronauts could dawn during these large events to provide more protection. Then that’s where we got the name NASA WEAR. So, what we were asking students to do, and again, we’re focused on middle and high school teams. So basically, grades 5 through 12, is asking them to design garments and or headgear that the astronauts could put on inside their spacecraft, to give them added protection. And, of course to do that, they have to understand what kind of materials are good for protecting against radiation. You know, while it might be nice to have a lead suit, you really can’t put that on a spacecraft. It weighs too much. So, what are some lightweight materials that protect you well. They have to, you know, learn about some material science, you have to learn about radiation. And, then they have to get into design process to what would be the best design to protect the human body? And, we’re looking at the upper torso, basically the blood forming organs in the upper torso and the head, that’s where the headgear comes in with the brain and especially the eyes. So, that’s what we challenge students to do. We give them several weeks to learn about that. We work with our RadWorks partners that are at Langley that are a group of material scientists and space scientists there, space physicists that we share with the students. You know, what they’re working against in terms of the radiation, talk about human factors. You know, you may put this thing on, but you still got to fly that spacecraft, you still got to do all the things that you got to do to remain safe, keep everything operational. So, you got to be able to move. You got to be able to do all those kinds of things, you know, we talk about protecting the eyes. But you still got to have vision to look at the dials, so to find switches, find things in the spacecraft. So, finding the best materials and how to put that together. And, then we allow them to submit their design process. We select those, ask them to build a low fidelity prototype, low fidelity in that we know they’re not going to have all the materials available, you know, in that middle school or high school or even find at home that would be the real thing that we’d use on a mission. But they get to use a good facsimile of the material to design what their prototype will look like. And, then we put it in front of that team from RadWorks and other NASA scientists and engineers and we have them actually present their findings. You know, this is what our, this is why we did this design, this is how it works. And the folks at RadWorks have actually taken some of those design ideas and put them into some of the new prototypes that they’re working on. So, the students, in our first go around is, we’re in our second year now, but our first go around actually, some of the ideas, like I said, the team has used. They did 3D printing, they did, they used water, these, all sorts of things that the team had not thought of or even some things they had thought of but hadn’t had time to investigate. They love the ideas that the students came up with. So, that’s the gist of what we’re working on is wearable technologies.
Host: Yeah. Like, very fancy space fashion, almost, wearing, you know, headgear and I’m thinking like plated armor. But, I’m sure, I’m sure the students came up with some really, really unique ideas there.
Mike McGlone: They really did. The first year we really focused on just the garment. And, we had students that did biomimicry, they used ideas from nature to come up with one. We had one that did a, the name has skipped me, but basically, it’s an African aardvark that’s got these, like you said, plates, almost look like armor, they mimicked that. We had those that used ancient, I mean like medieval armor ideas, chain mail, but they did printing 3D using polyethylene, you know, plastic that were interchangeable to actually provide that kind of protection that we’re looking for. So, they really came up with some great ideas. And, we did it again this year, the activity and this is the year that we added the headgear. And, I’m looking forward to seeing what they do. Because we’re still in the middle of wrapping it up for this year. We just earlier, just selected our final teams for our Culminating Event.
Host: Oh wow, that’s a big deal. Yeah, you’re going to see some really cool ideas hopefully there. That’s amazing. Another example of coming up with unique, unique ways of solving these challenges. I love the 3D printed chain mail idea. That’s so cool, instead of shipping something up, you just print it one piece at a time and maybe come up with something, something that can help you out. Very, very cool.
Mike McGlone: Yeah. That was actually something that hadn’t been discussed. You know, they had limits on what they could, how much weight of course, that they could use. They gave them a 50-pound maximum for the, for what they could send up. But yeah, the 3D printing, that was one of the first things that the RadWorks folks said is, “hey this is, it’s fixable.” You know, either you could print new, new scales if you need them or, it’s there because we do have 3D printing capabilities in space. So at least we have hopefully when we go on future missions. So yeah there’s so many things that go into this. And, the human factors, it’s amazing to me. This is, in a way kind of a set crowd sourcing, using the design process, using students as the idea generators. And, it’s really the amazing, different ways that they think and all the different ways that they come up with to address a problem. It’s really amazing to watch.
Host: Very cool. And, you say this Culminating Event is coming up very soon. And, I’m assuming that’s virtual Culminating Event. What are we, what are we looking at doing for some of the winners here?
Mike McGlone: Yeah. Most definitely. Yeah. COVID definitely had an impact on us. We were originally going to do some of what you heard the App Development Challenge did and we were able to do our first year, which was to take our top teams and have them present live at Langley Research Center to the team, the RadWorks team that works there. Unfortunately, this year, circumstances are not allowing that. So, we are going to a virtual, what we’re calling a virtual student symposium, where they’re still going to get to hear from NASA experts. And those are what I consider the most important part, their opportunity to present their ideas and findings to our panel of NASA experts and get that review and questions asked and really get that feedback from the experts about their designs.
Host: Very, very cool. You know, I think one of the things that really jumps out to me listening to some of these challenges is, well, the first thing that comes to mind is. Man, where were these things when I was in school? And, maybe it was just my own failure of just not looking in the right places. But, there’s so many, so many different opportunities for people to participate in real space challenges and maybe get more exposure to science and engineering than they would in the typical classroom. I think one of the best things about the education field, something you guys both get to participate in, is working with students, you’ve got to find, have some memories of times where these students are going through these challenges and there’s just something in their face, there’s something in the way they say something that you can tell that this activity or process has changed them in a way that maybe they weren’t considering a STEM field before, but they sure as heck are now. Jamie, I’m sure you have something that comes to mind that, just a memory of a student or maybe just an event where you saw a measurable change in someone’s behavior and possibly their career path.
Jamie Semple: Yes certainly, yeah. For the Ascent Abort-2 App Challenge, we had the opportunity to actually set up before the flight test launch at one of the viewing areas. And, so the student teams actually brought their laptops, set them up. So, as everyone from NASA was coming in, these people that had worked on the projects, you know, for months and years. They’re coming in, they’re actually getting a chance to see, you know, what’s about to happen with the flight test. And, it was just a great opportunity for us to sit back and watch students realize that these are some of the people or the careers that they want to be a part of as they, as they go throughout, you know, their continuing education and obviously and choosing their career. So just watching the engagement and how impressed the folks were that were actually talking to students and just seeing the students light up in terms of, you know, this is, this is what they’re interested in doing. And, these people are doing the exact same thing. So, that was just an awesome opportunity for both the students, and it is for us to see kind of everything come to a fruition when it comes to, you know, how we design these challenges, and the impact that we hope they have.
Host: Very cool. Now Mike, what are some of the things that we can look forward to? I’m sure, you know, we’re going to keep this episode up here for a while. And, we have these challenges coming up in the very near future. So, we hope people tune in and get a chance to participate in some of those, in the near term. But Mike, some of those things coming up, coming up in the future that maybe, if they don’t, if they miss this opportunity, they’ll have some more, sometime down the road.
Mike McGlone: Yeah. Thank you for the question about what’s coming up next. First off, NASA WEAR, we’re getting ready to put together a new iteration of it for the 2020-2021 school year. So, you’ll be hearing more about that soon. Keep an eye, Jamie mentioned earlier the NASA Express, which is a weekly newsletter about opportunities. So, look for that specifically. But other things that are coming up, there are lots of them. Like we mentioned earlier, there are lots of different things that are coming out. There’s a new opportunity for undergraduates at the university level called SPOCS [Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science] that actually put experiments on the International Space Station. There are, there’ll be new career opportunities around the upcoming crew launch in October. There are all sorts of things. And, even in the future there are things that are planned. Can’t say too much about them yet. But always looking for those opportunities to connect to a mission and bring that excitement to the students. And, as mentioned, the best way to keep up with that is check our NASA STEM website quite often and or sign up for that NASA Express Newsletter, which will give you a weekly update of what’s out there.
Host: There you go. Have the opportunities come right, right to you. Perfect. Jamie and Mike, thank you so much for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast today. What exciting challenges that we have coming up here in the near future. A lot of ways that people can engage in STEM activities even from home, depending on where you are. All these opportunities are available to people and there’s a lot more coming up. We’ve listed a ton of resources here. So, if you didn’t catch them all or you don’t have a pen and paper next to you to write them all down, don’t worry, we’ll have all these links and notes in our, in our episode show notes. So, that’s for our listeners. Jamie and Mike, thanks again for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast.
Jamie Semple: Thank you so much, Gary.
Mike McGlone: Thanks, Gary.
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Host: Hey, thanks for sticking around. Really hope you enjoyed this conversation with Jamie and Mike. For the students and teachers, I hope you listened to the whole thing. There were a lot of things that we talked about today. I’m just going to make this easy on everyone. And, just go to our episode, our podcast webpage. It’s NASA.gov/johnson/HWHAP, as in Houston We Have a Podcast, and you can find this Episode, 163. And, we’re going to list all the links that we mentioned today here for you. Of course, right at the top, if you’re listening to this, right when it comes out, September 25th, you are lucky enough to be just a few days ahead of the seminar that Jamie mentioned a few times. And, we’ll put a link up at the top where you can go check that out. That’s again, on September 30th. Otherwise you can check out some of the other podcasts that we have across NASA at NASA.gov/podcast. If you’d like to talk to us at Houston We Have a Podcast, we’re at the Johnson Space Center pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Just use that hashtag #AskNASA on your favorite platform to submit an idea for the show and make sure to mention it’s for us, at Houston We Have a Podcast. This episode was recorded on September 3rd, 2020. Thanks to Alex Perryman, Pat Ryan, Norah Moran, Belinda Pulido, Jennifer Hernandez, and Dynae Fullwood. Thanks again to Jamie Semple and Mike McGlone for taking the time to come on the show. Give us a rating and feedback on whatever platform you’re listening to us on and tell us what you think of the show. We’ll be back next week.
NASA Next Gen STEM: www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem
NASA Next Gen STEM Moon to Mars: www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/moon_to_mars/index.html
NASA at Home: www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome