1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 So far, we've learned about a few of the parts that actually make up the International Space Station. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,000 That's right, and you've been given the opportunity to put together your own model of a space station. 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,000 You know, I wonder how difficult it is for the astronauts to actually dock the shuttle to the space station. 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Technology is the key. Let's connect to Shelley Kenwright and learn more. 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:25,000 NASA Connect traveled northeast to Chicago, Illinois, for this program's web-based activity. 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,000 You're right, Jennifer. Technology can and will transform the way we train and educate. 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,000 And that's why I've brought you here to Chicago, Illinois, 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,000 to introduce you to NASA Connect's museum partner, the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:44,000 and to tempt you to apply your hands and your minds to an online spaceflight experience. 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:51,000 As you can see, Adler offers the public many different ways to learn about and to explore science and astronomy. 11 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,000 We're now here in the Solar System Gallery, 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:03,000 where students from Bright Elementary School and the AIAA student branch of the Illinois Institute of Technology 13 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,000 have gathered and are waiting for you to introduce you to a new website created especially for NASA Connect 14 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:13,000 by the NASA Classroom of the Future, which is located in Wheeling, West Virginia. 15 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Our friends at the Classroom of the Future have put together a unique experience 16 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:22,000 that combines Internet-based simulations, hands-on activities, and orbital mechanics. 17 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Orbital mechanics? 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,000 No, no, it's not about fixing things in space, 19 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:32,000 but it's how things like motion, acceleration, and force affect objects in space, 20 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:38,000 like the planets, the moon, the stars, the U.S. space shuttle, and the International Space Station. 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,000 So how about it, gang? Do you have the right stuff for this program's online challenge? 22 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,000 From Norbert's lab on the NASA Connect website, click on the Activity button. 23 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,000 Here you'll find the first hands-on experiment designed to get you ready to use the web-based orbital simulator. 24 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:59,000 Using a plastic ruler, two glass or metal balls, a few cans, masking tape, and a stopwatch, 25 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,000 you'll be able to define the difference between steady motion and acceleration. 26 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:09,000 This simulator gives you the opportunity to view two objects orbiting a planet or star. 27 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000 By adjusting the orbital radius of one of the objects, 28 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000 you can begin to explore how radius, speed, and orbital period are all connected. 29 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,000 After using the simulator, you'll begin to understand how to answer this question. 30 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:27,000 How can we use our knowledge of orbits to help the shuttle rendezvous with the International Space Station? 31 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:33,000 The Shuttle ISS Orbital Simulator will get you ready for the actual docking activity you will do with your classmates. 32 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:40,000 On this website, you will start with the shuttle and ISS orbiting the Earth at the same altitude and 90 degrees apart. 33 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 The challenge is to determine the most efficient way to position the two objects 34 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,000 so that they are traveling at the same speed and close enough to each other to perform the visual docking maneuvers. 35 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Now, let's start an activity that deals directly with the International Space Station. 36 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 I'm Don Watson. I'm with NASA's Classroom of the Future 37 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,000 and part of their International Space Station Challenge website activity. 38 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Today, we're doing a docking simulation. 39 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000 We're going to do that by actually building a docking simulator using an office chair on wheels, 40 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:14,000 tripod, video camera, a docking grid mounted in front, and a TV. 41 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,000 We're also going to do command and control with two-way radios. 42 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 We're having thrusters that are using ropes for control. 43 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000 And command and control is from Mission Control. 44 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Mission Control's only reference is the video image that they see on the screen. 45 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,000 They give movement commands to the pilot. 46 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 The pilot relays that information to the thrusters. 47 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000 The thrusters move, and hopefully we successfully rendezvous and dock to the space station. 48 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,000 All additional information about how to construct the docking challenge 49 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000 and the chair and all activity-related material is at NASA's Connect website. 50 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Bringing to you the power of digital learning, I'm Shelley Canright for NASA Connect Online. 51 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,000 Bye!