Relevancy of the Educator Astronaut to the Space Program

Stuf4 wrote:

From stmx3:
Craig Fink wrote:
[snip]
PROS:
snip
-Space provide a unique environment to conduct various demonstrations
(especially Newtonian physics) that can't be done on earth.


Duh! The most obvious one. Thanks.

Previous shuttle astronauts have performed some excellent educational
demos, particularly the "Toys in Space" series.



I agree, and they are some of the most interesting space videos to watch.
"Toys in Space", hammer and feather, and just plain ordianry things like
water or food. Can a teacher add more to what generic astronauts can do.
Probably, just like sending a geologist to the moon, instead of teaching a
generic astronaut some geology.

Craig Fink

Rand Simberg wrote:

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 16:09:21 GMT, in a place far, far away, stmx3
made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Rand Simberg wrote:
[snip]

Do you really think that EAs are going to go to the head of the line
when many non-EA astronauts have never flown?

I'm tempted to say that cutting in line at NASA isn't unheard of.

Of course not, but not for that reason (well, for Glenn, but there
were very powerful political reasons for that)

But I
don't have specific examples at hand. If they're hiring EAs for PR,
then EAs may leapfrog the line, for PR.

Unlikely since, as I said, they can get adequate PR without flying
anyone.


Adequate PR without flying an EA, but far more superior PR by flying her. A
teacher that can tour this countries schools with video and personal
experiances in hand so to speak. If NASA selects people who were
exceptional teachers in the classroom, they will be exceptional public
relation spokespersons after they fly.

Andm, it wouldn't hurt the future space tourist industry either.

Craig Fink

From Craig Fink:
Stuf4 wrote:

Previous shuttle astronauts have performed some excellent educational
demos, particularly the "Toys in Space" series.



I agree, and they are some of the most interesting space videos to watch.
"Toys in Space", hammer and feather, and just plain ordianry things like
water or food. Can a teacher add more to what generic astronauts can do.
Probably, just like sending a geologist to the moon, instead of teaching a
generic astronaut some geology.

What the teacher adds is a person that kids can relate to.

I don't see it as any special expertise, such as the geologist on the
Moon. When kids see a teacher, it's not like a test pilot or someone
with a PhD or a politician. It's someone who is not so far removed
from the desks they are sitting at. From there, it's not so far
removed for them to think, "I can do that."

So the biggest benefit of flying a teacher, as I see it, is to provide
inspiration to youth.

The sad part is that it works both ways. When Christa died, the
tragedy was felt deeply by young kids and I don't know any way to
measure how many were *turned off* from science/engineering by that.


~ CT

Stuf4 wrote:
[snip]

Previous shuttle astronauts have performed some excellent educational
demos, particularly the "Toys in Space" series.


~ CT

Not to mention the
1) Liquid Globule Retrieval via Oral Cavity experiments
2) M&M Free Dispersion (and Subsequent Retrieval via Oral Cavity)
experiments
3) Verification of Classical Physics with a Slinky experiment
etc.

However, there are some decent experiments planned with onboard
materials under a new program. Data collection methods, however, will
limit their usefulness, although the fact that they are being done may
help in the detailed planning stages of follow-on experiments, when the
big bucks will be spent. For more info, see
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...htm?list683223

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 21:58:45 GMT, Joann Evans
wrote:

Christopher wrote:

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 14:32:39 GMT, h (Rand
Simberg) wrote:

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 13:05:24 GMT, in a place far, far away, stmx3
made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

The EA (Educator Astronaut) website says that Ms. Morgan will definitely
fly. I can't imagine other EA's not flying if NASA is specifically
recruiting them.

You don't have much of an imagination, then. NASA has recruited many
astronauts who may never fly. NASA has too many astronauts, and too
little ambition to actually fly them.

Why does NASA keep recruiting them then?


My best guess would be to always have whatever they consider an
adequate pool to choose from at any given time, as existing ones retire,
pass away (hopefully not *during* a mission), or go on to other careers
after either:

Getting one or more mission assignments, or;

Giving up on ever being on *any* mission.

A pretty depressing outlook for any would be astronauts then, I
remember the American guy who was the first one to fly the jet pack
thing the shuttle crews used to take out there-what ever happened to
the jet packs as you never see shuttle crews use them anymore? But,
he had to wait close to 20 years to get his change to go into space,
his reward though for his long wait was to be the first human to fly
unconnected to any spacecraft while in orbit.

And as the shuttle fleet is now down to just 3 shuttles, most members
of the said 'pool' of astronauts are in for a long wait for their turn
to go into space. IF *I* was an American, and was qualified enough to
join NASA as an trainee astronaut, and got to be selected to the pool,
I'd have have chosen that career path to go into space, and not just
wait in a long que with my fellow astronauts on the off chance I'd be
picked for a flight. Its like being an aircraft pilot, who never gets
to fly.




Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Kites rise highest against
the wind - not with it."
Winston Churchill

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 11:07:08 GMT, Craig Fink
wrote:

Rand Simberg wrote:

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 16:09:21 GMT, in a place far, far away, stmx3
made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Rand Simberg wrote:
[snip]

Do you really think that EAs are going to go to the head of the line
when many non-EA astronauts have never flown?

I'm tempted to say that cutting in line at NASA isn't unheard of.

Of course not, but not for that reason (well, for Glenn, but there
were very powerful political reasons for that)

But I
don't have specific examples at hand. If they're hiring EAs for PR,
then EAs may leapfrog the line, for PR.

Unlikely since, as I said, they can get adequate PR without flying
anyone.


Adequate PR without flying an EA, but far more superior PR by flying her. A
teacher that can tour this countries schools with video and personal
experiances in hand so to speak. If NASA selects people who were
exceptional teachers in the classroom, they will be exceptional public
relation spokespersons after they fly.

And, it wouldn't hurt the future space tourist industry either.

Unless of course the first one goes the way Christa McAuliffe's did.



Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Kites rise highest against
the wind - not with it."
Winston Churchill

Craig Fink wrote:
[snip]

I agree, and they are some of the most interesting space videos to watch.
"Toys in Space", hammer and feather, and just plain ordianry things like
water or food. Can a teacher add more to what generic astronauts can do.
Probably, just like sending a geologist to the moon, instead of teaching a
generic astronaut some geology.

Craig Fink


What did a geologist on the moon add to the science of rock collecting,
other than being an individual who might have a deeper appreciation for
what he was seeing? (This question meant to demonstrate my ignorance
rather than incite old debates)

I think "PRO" for having a Teacher in space is that he/she will have a
better relationship with the intended audience.

A "CON" is that the Teacher may only be a slightly better presenter of
materials than your avg. Joe Astronaut. I have seen videos of teachers
and astronauts presenting material with the driest of personalities.
For kids raised on TV, I say send Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

In article ,
Christopher wrote:
I remember the American guy who was the first one to fly the jet pack
thing the shuttle crews used to take out there-what ever happened to
the jet packs as you never see shuttle crews use them anymore?

They don't show up any more because the main requirement for them turned
out to be superfluous. The idea was that the orbiter was too clumsy to
link up direct with something like a satellite that needed repairing, so a
guy would go out with one of the MMUs -- as Nelson did on the Solar Max
repair flight -- and bring the bird in. Trouble was, it turned out that
if you did things right, the orbiter and its arm *could* be maneuvered
delicately enough to link up direct.

he had to wait close to 20 years to get his change to go into space...

However, that time there was a real reason. :-) He, like a number of
others at the time, got taken on to build up the astronaut corps for
the ambitious post-Apollo programs... which evaporated in the budget
disaster of summer 1967.
--
MOST launched 1015 EDT 30 June, separated 1046, | Henry Spencer
first ground-station pass 1651, all nominal! |

In article ,
stmx3 wrote:
What did a geologist on the moon add to the science of rock collecting,
other than being an individual who might have a deeper appreciation for
what he was seeing? (This question meant to demonstrate my ignorance
rather than incite old debates)

Having an appreciation for what he was seeing changed the crew's sampling
priorities. He was able to make fairly good guesses about the site's
geological structure on the fly, which led to sampling of specific
materials because they were likely to represent structures that otherwise
were out of reach.
--
MOST launched 1015 EDT 30 June, separated 1046, | Henry Spencer
first ground-station pass 1651, all nominal! |

On 30 Sep 2003 18:01:08 -0700, (Stuf4)
wrote:

Previous shuttle astronauts have performed some excellent educational
demos, particularly the "Toys in Space" series.

big booming voice Tooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyysssss
innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! bbv

Hehe. Anyhow, I have to ask...Where can I get copies?

That just sounds cool.:-)

John Penta
penta j 2 at scranton dot edu