NASA Announces Georgia Aeronautics Research Award

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate has awarded $390,766 to Georgia Institute of Technology of Atlanta for work described in its NASA research announcement proposal entitled "Development of Methodologies for Coupling Ice Accretion Models with Rotary Wing Aeromechanics."

Lakshmi Sankar is the principal investigator.

The award, made by the directorate's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, will foster close collaboration with and facilitate the exchange of ideas and information among researchers at NASA, industry, academia, and other government agencies to benefit the nation's aeronautics community.

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program has the principal objective of overcoming today's national challenges in air transportation. The program develops focused technological capabilities, starting with the most basic knowledge of underlying phenomena through validation and verification of advanced concepts and technologies at the component and systems level.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Georgia Tech Alumni to Man Next Space Shuttle Mission

When the space shuttle Endeavour blasts into orbit on Nov. 14, nearly half the crew will boast Georgia Tech pedigree.

Alumni Eric A. Boe, 44, Robert Shane Kimbrough, 42 and Sandra H. Magnus, 44 are among the seven astronauts scheduled for the 15-day mission to the International Space Station.

All three astronauts earned their post-graduate degrees at Georgia Tech during the 1990s. Boe earned a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1997, Kimbrough a master of science degree in operations research in 1998 and Magnus a doctorate from the School of Material Science and Engineering in 1996.

The mission focuses on delivering equipment and supplies designed to double the crew size of the station from three to six in May 2009. The station’s two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints will also be serviced by the crew.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Delta’s ‘Dream Flight’ Carries Aviation Students to Johnson Space Center

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) today (July 23, 2008) celebrate the ninth annual ‘Dream Flight’ carrying more than 150 students to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Delta co-sponsors OBAP’s Aviation Career Education (ACE) camp – two, week-long summer programs for youth, ages 14 - 18, who have an interest in pursuing careers in aviation. During the camp, held primarily at Delta’s world headquarters in Atlanta, qualified flight instructors teach students aviation history, aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation and flight simulator orientation. Select graduates from ACE Camp are invited back the following year to participate in Flight Line, an intensive tutorial focused specifically on pilot training, including allowing students to perform solo flights during their week-long training.

As part of the final week of training, all camp students participate in a day-long field trip to an aviation facility in the United States. Past trips include visits to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., and most recently the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

"We are proud to continue Delta's tradition of educating future professionals," said Stephen Dickson, Delta’s senior vice president - Flight Operations. "Regardless of whether these teens become pilots, flight attendants or something else, we know that their time at camp has given them a bigger platform to pursue their educational and employment dreams."

Delta donated a charter flight to carry the aviation students, many of whom are taking their first commercial flight. After arriving in Houston on Flight 9997, operated by Delta using a Boeing 757, students will enjoy a guided tour of the historic space center, complete with briefings from active NASA astronauts.

In the brief ACE camp/Flight Line history, Delta and OBAP have exposed more than 1000 students to careers in aviation. Currently, six former ACE camp attendees are studying aviation at the U.S. Air Force and Naval Academies, and four other camp alumni are commercial pilots.
On Friday, July 25, all three camps will take part of the 2008 graduation ceremonies held in the Delta Training Center.

NASA Sends Georgia Teacher Jo Cook Back To School

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jo Cook, elementary school teacher at Park Creek Elementary School in Dalton, Ga., spent a week of challenge and discovery at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

The content workshop was designed to provide NASA Explorer School educators an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the work NASA accomplishes and how to implement that knowledge within their classroom.

"This is an exciting time at Goddard," says Trena Ferrell, coordinator for the workshop. "Currently Goddard is working a number of science missions and we definitely want to inform and excite educators from across the country. It is most important to inspire our next generation to continue the ongoing work of discovery that NASA has been committed to for almost fifty years."

The week of activity included multiple opportunities for educators to talk directly to NASA scientists and engineers. Themes related to the work being accomplished at Goddard included the Hubble Servicing Mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Mission (LRO), studies of the Sun and Earth, and Lunar Geology. NASA Education and Public Outreach personnel provided additional educational support presenting hands-on activities for participants to take back to the classroom.

"I chose Goddard to gain knowledge of and inspiration for our country's space program," says Cook. "It has been so exciting to meet scientists and to be on the inside track. Getting a tour of the space center and actually see first hand the amazing technology has been fascinating."

Cook is one of 19 teachers attending from a NASA Explorer School (NES). The NES program is a three-year partnership with NASA providing investigation opportunities and professional development to spark innovative science and mathematics instruction directed specifically at students in grades four through nine.

"Participants of the Goddard Content Workshop will leave Goddard with a greater knowledge of NASA's research initiatives and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a NASA Explorer School," says Ferrell.