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Experiments in Reduced
Gravity: Team Reports 1
Presented by teams from: New York,
North Carolina, Missouri, and Delaware
December 7, 2010
Experiments in Reduced Gravity: Team Reports #1
I. Reduced‐Gravity Opportunity: A Collaborative Effort
– NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Oklahoma State University, Teaching from Space Program – NASA JSC Reduced‐Gravity Office – National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
II. Participant Process where Teachers…
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Propose, design, and fabricate RG investigation with their students
Fly the experiment/conduct research in a microgravity environment
Evaluate the investigation
Share findings with students, other teachers, and greater education arena. III. Competitive Application Process administered by NSTA
IV. Reduced Gravity Education Flight Week: July 29‐August 6, 2010
Matthew Keil
Teaching From Space Office
NASA Johnson Space Center
• Participation
• Unique Opportunities
• Get Involved:
¾ NASA Express Mail Listserv
www.nasa.gov/education/express
¾Teaching From Space Website
www.nasa.gov/education/tfs
Teachers participated in PD with
NSTA and NASA
• Four Pre-flight web seminars
• NASA mentor
• Learning Center FREE Access to resources
and tools
• Private Discussion Forum
• Flight Week PD Experiences in Houston
ƒ Meeting NASA scientists, engineers, ed
specialists, astronauts, tours of
facilities, flight training
ƒ RG flight and post-flight presentation
• Post-flight web seminars (Dec. 7, 9, & 14)
Effect of Reduced Gravity on
Electrochemical Cells
Fairport, New York
Students at work…
Experiment Conditions
• 2 Copper/Zinc Electrochemical Cells
• 2 Copper/Aluminum Electrochemical Cells
Experiencing Weightlessness
What will happen to
voltage during flight?
A.Increases during
microgravity
Results at 1 G
Zn/Cu & Al/Cu Cells
B.Decreases during
microgravity
D.Decreases during
hypergravity
E.No change
Voltage (volts)
C.Increases during
hypergravity
1.2
1
A1
0.8
A2
0.6
B1
0.4
B2
0.2
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
Time (hours)
2
2.5
Flight Day Results
Voltage Production at Varying Gravity Conditions
• Flight Day – Houston, TX
1.2
Voltage (volts)
1
0.8
A1
A2
0.6
B1
B2
0.4
0.2
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
Time (hr)
0.8
1
1.2
Next experiment…
• Try a dry cell battery to determine if the
gravity effect is a result of a concentration
gradient
• Test different types of volt meters to
determine if the gravity effect is a result of
the equipment
• Experiment with different metal/salt
solution combinations
Presentations to Our
Community
• Rotary Groups
• Rochester Academy of Sciences –
Astronomy Section
• STANYS – Science Teachers Association
of New York State
• Algebra Classes at Fairport HS
• Fifth Grade Classes in Fairport that are
involved with the Challenger Project
• Local College Students and Faculty
Let’s pause for questions
from the audience
Jeff Regester
Chris Bernhardt
Physics
Chemistry
Jason Cheek
Melinda Graham
Mathematics
Mathematics
Tim Martin
Earth Science
Eric Shilling
Mathematics
Greensboro Day School
Hooke’s Law Orbital Motion
Reduced-Gravity Flight Experiment
Hooke’s Law
describes the force exerted by a spring
F=k·x
F = force
x = stretch of the spring
k = spring constant
stiffer springs have bigger k’s
Normal orbits caused by gravity lead to
elliptical orbits. If gravity is replaced by a
spring, what will the orbits look like?
Hooke’s Law Orbits
Two masses, connected by a spring, are set spinning by a turntable apparatus.
HYPOTHESIS: When released in 0g, the masses will oscillate in and out as
they also orbit the system center of mass.
Detailed numerical model predictions are to be compared with high-speed video footage.
Construction & Testing
Ellington Field
Fiona, our wonderful NASA mentor!
Test Readiness Review (TRR)
Day One
Flight!
Flight ground track
A video frame.
Video was shot at 300 frames per second.
Twenty-six successful runs, testing a variety of
parameters (spring constant, masses, initial
RPM and axis location) were completed.
Flight 2 Run 16
Numerical
model
prediction
For more info...
Go to the HLOM project website for
– photos and video
– raw and analyzed data
– numerical models
– articles, papers and classroom activities as
they are written
http://academic.greensboroday.org/
~regesterj/data/rgo-HLOM/
MANY THANKS TO: Fiona Turett, our NASA/JSC mentor,
Flavio Mendez & Marie Wiggins at NSTA
the RGO and TFS teams at NASA, and
GDS for the financial support!
Let’s pause for questions
from the audience
Bubble Jeopardy
Fulton High School
Flight Team: Chip McCann, Louis Schnoebelen, Julie Gastler, Stephanie Smith
Student Team: John Barden, Corri Hamilton, Jessie Jennings, Jalen Mahaney,
Jesse McDow, Ben Menke, Jaena Smith, Taylor Woodall.
The Experiment: What do you
want to know about zero-g?
• What the students did:
– Brainstorm
– Develop the procedure
– Design an apparatus
• The end result:
– Bubble Jeopardy: How
will gravity affect the
rate of an acid base
reaction?
Hypotheses
What do you think?
A. The reaction will proceed at a slower rate
at lower acceleration due to gravity.
B. The reaction will proceed at a faster rate
at lower acceleration due to gravity.
C. The reaction will be unaffected by
acceleration due to gravity.
The Apparatus
• Student
designed
– Very LARGE
Thank you to
Sammie Potts of
the Physics
Machine Shop
at University of
Missouri.
• Size concerns
Summer Work
• Changes
– Materials
– Extra efforts to separate
materials
– Data collected
• Students ran 1-g trials.
• Fundraising
– BBQ/Carwash
– Parking Spot Raffles
– Support Request Letters
Houston
• Meetings
• Loading
– Problems with humidity
• Flight Day 1
– Problems with humidity and
camera
• Flight Day 2
– Problems with camera
• Tours
Back home
• Data Analysis
Volume After 5 Seconds
– No video data
– Few data points
– Results
40
35
• Inconclusive
• Presentations
– Rotary Club, School
Board
• Classroom Use
Volume, mL
– Data Comparison
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
Acceleration, g
2
2.5
Credits
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Moser’s
Westlakes ACE Hardware
Tractor Supply
Wal-Mart
Ameren UE
Fastlane
Lacrosse Lumber
MU Physics Machine Shop
Fulton High School Alumni
And many many others
Let’s pause for questions
from the audience
NASA Reduced
Gravity Flight
Education Week
DELAWARE AGRISCIENCE
TEACHERS – TEAM #1
Sarah Bell
Cathy DiBenedetto
Scott Haldeman
Kellie Michaud
“Capturing Carbon from Fossil
Fuels and Biofuels: Does Gravity
Matter?”
Does gravity have an impact on
the amount of carbon released
in simple burning of a wick
saturated in kerosene and a
wick saturated in ethanol?
Method
•
•
•
•
On Ground Research
– We each completed our experiment with
students in the Spring of 2010
Experiment Set-Up
– We altered our experiment so that we burned
kerosene and ethanol while in flight
– We brought with us 30 150 mL bottles to
collect emissions
– We completed titrations on the ground
Hypothesis
– Our students hypothesized that gravity would
make a difference
Student/Classroom Results
– In class, our results indicated that kerosene
and ethanol both emit the same amount of
Carbon Dioxide
– We also completed burn trials while on the
plane in a 1 G environment and the data was
the same
Flight Week
•
Preparation
– Securing our Experiment on the
plane
•
Zero G Results
– Kerosene burned well in Zero G
– Ethanol difficulties
•
2 G Results
– Kerosene flame size was twice as
great
– Ethanol flame size was twice as
great
•
Flight Week Modifications
– During the first flight on Thursday
of flight week we had trouble
lighting flames
– Made adjustments to wick size as
well as collection capabilities
– We were able to collect data better
during the second flight and much
more efficiently due to these
modifications
Discussion
•
Challenges
– Securing all components of the
experiment in the box during
flight.
– Collecting all the data is the short
amount of time given during each
parabola
– Anticipating what the flight will be
like in order to plan for variables
and setbacks.
– TEDP/Test Readiness Review
(TRR)
– Getting on the plane and flying in
Zero Gravity!
•
Successes
– Modifying the experiment the
second time around
– Carrying out a relative, current,
and successful experiment
– Collecting all the data points on
the second trial
– Growing closer to the team and
enjoying the experience!
Conclusions
•
Results
– Less carbon was emitted at zero gravity
than 1G and more carbon was emitted
at 2G than at 1G
– There was no significant difference in
the amount of CO2 emitted from the
ethanol or kerosene flames
•
Analysis
– Carbon emission is directly related to
size of flame
– Size of flame is directly related to
amount of gravity
– Flames became smaller in size in
decreased gravity and thus less carbon
was emitted
– Flames were greater in size in
increased gravity and more carbon was
emitted
•
Future Modifications
– Organize trials better and decrease
number of burns
– Try other types of fuels (ie. Biodiesel)
Acknowledgements
• NASA
• Reduced Gravity Education
Office
• Reduced Gravity Flight
Crews
• Dr. Thomas Leimkuehler
• Ernie Bell
• NSTA
• The DuPont Company
• Pioneer
• Delaware Association of
Agricultural Educators
• Lab-Aids
• Vernier Equipment
Let’s pause for questions
from the audience
• December 9, 2010
NASA: Experiments in Reduced Gravity:
Team Reports 2
• December 14, 2010
NASA: Experiments in Reduced Gravity:
Team Reports 3
Thank you to the sponsor of
tonight's Web Seminar:
http://learningcenter.nsta.org
http://www.elluminate.com
National Science Teachers Association
Dr. Francis Q. Eberle, Executive Director
Zipporah Miller, Associate Executive Director
Conferences and Programs
Al Byers, Assistant Executive Director e-Learning
NSTA Web Seminars
Paul Tingler, Director
Jeff Layman, Technical Coordinator
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