University Faculty and Students to 'RockOn!' With NASA

June 12, 2008

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander@xxxxxxxx

Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler@xxxxxxxx
RELEASE: 08-146

UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND STUDENTS TO 'ROCKON!' WITH NASA

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- University faculty and students from across
the
country will RockOn! with NASA during a workshop June 22 - 27 at
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. During
RockOn!, they will learn the basics of building experiments for
flight on suborbital rockets.

RockOn! teams will build the experiments from kits developed by
students from the Colorado Space Grant Consortium and learn about the
steps and procedures for creating payloads for flight. Each
experiment package will include a Geiger counter and sensors for
measuring temperature, acceleration and pressure. The experiments
then will be integrated into payload cans for launch.

The week will culminate with the launching of the experiments early
in
the morning June 27 aboard a NASA Orion sounding rocket. The 20-foot
tall, single-stage rocket is expected to fly to an altitude of 41
miles. After launch and payload recovery, participants will do
preliminary data analysis and discuss their results.

"The NASA Sounding Program historically has been a program for
scientists, engineers and technicians to develop the skills necessary
for developing and building advanced satellites and other
spacecraft," said Phil Eberspeaker, chief of the NASA Sounding
Program office at Wallops.

Almost 60 people from universities in 22 states and Puerto Rico are
participating in RockOn!. Eighty-percent of the participants are
faculty members.

"This workshop will equip faculty with the skills and knowledge to
start their own student-led sounding rocket payload programs at their
university or college," said Chris Koehler, director of the Colorado
Space Grant Consortium in Boulder. "This workshop adds a new level of
hands-on programs for higher education students. It is expected that
many of the participants will have students come to Wallops to fly
their own sounding rocket payloads in the coming years."

NASA's Space Grant program sponsors university-based consortia that
focus on developing our nation's future scientist and engineers, as
well as improving science, engineering and technology education.
Using the lessons learned through RockOn!, participants will work to
make flight experiments a part of the educational process at their
home institutions.

"The workshop builds on NASA's interest in reaching out to
universities for engagement with sounding rocket payload research and
educational experiences," said Mary Sandy, director of the Virginia
Space Grant Consortium in Hampton, Va. "It taps into the National
Space Grant College and Fellowship Program interest in having
students and faculty participate in space experimentation and real
space missions."

For more information on NASA education programs on the Internet,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education


-end-
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