View a 30 minute film on Microgravity from OSU Marci Whittaker, a senior in nuclear engineering at Oregon State University, has set her sights on Mars. First, she has to design a nuclear reactor that will work in space so that we can reach the red planet. It has been five years of hard work, but finally, her prototype is ready to be tested aboard NASA’s C-9 microgravity plane.

Then stay with us for a 30 minute presentation on Microgravity research from PSU What is surface tension and why does it matter? What is phase separation? What does our experiment do? We are a group of undergraduate students at Portland State University who will be building, testing, and fl ying our experiment on NASA’s C-9 aircraft in Houston in April. Come see what it’s like to experience low-gravity like astronauts do, learn how cool the science is, and bring questions!

3 sessions: 9am, 10am, 11am (1 hour each) - Limited space available. Reservations required: call 503.434.4005 FREE with regular museum admission

Join us for two, free Web Seminars featuring scientists and education specialists from NASA who will discuss the challenges of providing energy for life and work in space. How does NASA provide energy to the International Space Station? How will NASA provide energy for research habitats on the Moon and Mars? The presenters will focus on the concepts of energy, power, electrical circuits, and solar panels. These Web Seminars are designed for grade 4–9 educators.

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters announces a new aeronautics competition for high school and college students for the 2006-2007 academic year. High School students are challenged to put themselves 50 years into the future to imagine how air transportation systems have evolved with vehicles flying at all speeds, including the possibility of very high speed vehicles. High School entries are due in mid-March. College students are invited to propose solutions for complex technical problems in hypersonic and supersonic flight, subsonic fixed and rotary wing transport, or Mars entry, descent, and landing.

Information technologies are integral to both the workplace and everyday activities of most Americans. They are part of how people learn, how they interact with each other and information, and how they represent and understand their world. Attaining a basic understanding of these technologies and mastery of essential technical skills is a requirement for anyone to benefit from innovation in the modern world. The technological growth of the nation depends on a technologically literate citizenry. ITEST is designed to increase the opportunities for students and teachers to learn about, experience, and use information technologies within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including Information Technology (IT) courses. It is in direct response to the concern about shortages of information technology workers in the United States. Supported projects are intended to provide opportunities for middle and high school children and teachers to build the skills and knowledge needed to advance their study, and to function and to contribute in a technologically rich society. Additionally, exposure to engaging applications of IT is a means to stimulate student interest in the field and an important precursor to the academic preparation needed to pursue IT careers. The ITEST program seeks projects that demonstrate innovative and creative applications of IT in school and non-school contexts and is committed to preparing learners to benefit from and contribute to the growing national cyberinfrastructure.

ITEST has four components: (a) youth-based projects with strong emphases on career and educational pathways (b) comprehensive projects for students and teachers (c) renewals of existing projects (d) and an ITEST Resource Center.

This Call for Payloads, jointly issued by the LSU HASP team and the Balloon Program Office (BPO), solicits student groups to apply for a "seat" on the 2007 HASP flight (~ 1 September 2007). To apply, student groups will need to develop a proposal describing their payload, including science justification, principle of operation, team structure and management, as well as full payload specifications of weight, size, power consumption, mechanical interface, data requirements, orientation preference and drawings.

Centennial Challenges is NASA's program of prize contests to stimulate innovation and competition in solar system exploration and ongoing NASA mission areas. By making awards based on actual achievements, instead of proposals, Centennial Challenges seeks novel solutions to NASA's mission challenges from non-traditional sources of innovation in academia, industry and the public.