Student STEM Challenges

May 12, 2018 | 12-4 p.m.
NASA Goddard’s Visitor Center
Click here for driving directions

Forty lucky students will be selected to participate in a NASA science, technology, engineering, art and math challenge: a valuable professional development and NASA mentoring opportunity! The prize? A photo downlink from the International Space Station at a later date (to be determined).

Come prepared to work on a cross-functional team to create an outreach activity using innovative technologies to engage middle school students in learning about optical communications. You will produce a comprehensive presentation that demonstrates your idea; the cost, schedule and materials; and the impact it will have on middle school education.

The outcome of your day will:

• Ignite passion and drive to help build the future of space communications
• Encourage students to enter STEAM careers

Application requirements:

The application period opens on April 12, 2018. Submit your name, grade, school and answer to the following prompt to GSFC-SCaN-Engagement@mail.nasa.gov by May 1.

• Write a paragraph telling us why space communications is important for NASA and make a prediction for the following scenario. All of NASA’s emerging technologies work out and we are able to live on the moon and operate a space communications network there. How do you imagine that would impact the human race? What would the cultures of the world look like?
• Be able to bring a laptop that can connect to Wi-fi to the innovation challenge.

Here are some links for further information on space communications:

• About NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program
• SCaN’s Benefit to Society
• SCaN History
• Space Network and Morse Code
• Laser Communications and Orion
• Near Earth Network Advancements
• Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS)

Sponsored by Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) and Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS).