Scholastic Competition Asks Students to Explore Gravity...And
The Lack Thereof
NASA is hosting two national science
competitions that challenge student teams to develop and prepare a
microgravity experiment. Proposals are due November 1.
"Dropping In a Microgravity Environment," or DIME, is the
competition for high school student teams. "What If No Gravity?" or
WING, is the competition for student teams in sixth through ninth
grades.
Both competitions are open to student teams across the United
States and Puerto Rico. Teams may be formed from any type of
organization or club, such as a science class, a group of friends,
a scout troop or a youth group. Each team must have an adult
advisor, such as a teacher, parent or technical consultant.
A panel of NASA scientists and engineers will evaluate and
select the top-ranked proposals by December 1. The winning teams
then will design and build the experiments that will be conducted
in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower at NASA's Glenn Research Center in
Cleveland. When an experiment is “dropped” into the
79-foot tower, it experiences weightlessness, or microgravity, for
2.2 seconds. Researchers from around the world use this tower to
study the effects of microgravity on physical phenomena such as
combustion and fluid dynamics, and to develop new technology for
future space missions.
The top four DIME teams will receive an all-expenses-paid trip
in March to conduct their experiments, review the results with NASA
personnel and tour Glenn's facilities. All DIME participants
visiting NASA must be U.S. citizens.
ANN's Jim Campbell
Taking Pix in Zero-G
Four additional DIME teams and up to 30 WING teams will be
selected to build their experiments and ship them to Glenn to be
drop-tested by NASA. These experiments and the resulting data will
be returned to the teams so they can prepare reports about their
findings.
DIME and WING competitions involve students in the areas of
science, technology, engineering and research. Students also may
acquire skills in analytical thinking, teamwork and English
composition -- skills that can be applied toward future engineering
or scientific careers. These competitions and similar educational
programs help NASA attract and retain students in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, which are disciplines
critical to the agency's future missions.
NASA's student drop experiment competitions are sponsored by the
Teaching From Space Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston. The office manages educational opportunities that use the
unique environment of microgravity and human spaceflight
pursuits.