Category: Hot Topics: Science in the News

Space Shuttle Endeavour Given to LA Museum

 

When the Space Shuttle Endeavour was retired in May, nobody knew where it would end up. Would NASA sell it to SpaceX to help with commercial space flight? Would they keep it around but in mothballs in case they needed it for something? As it turns out, NASA must need a multi-billion-dollar tax write-off, because the various Space Shuttle pieces are being donated to charities. For example, Endeavour is being donated to the California Science Center, where its new mission will soon begin.

“NASA is pleased to share this wonderful orbiter with the California Science Center to help inspire a new generation of explorers,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. ”The next chapter in space exploration begins now, and we’re standing on the shoulders of the men and women of the shuttle program to reach farther into the solar system.”

Joining the CSC as the final resting place of the various space shuttles are NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Udvar-Hazy Center, and the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum. Endeavour has traveled 115 million miles over 25 missions and has carried 139 people into space. Now, it makes one last trip to Exposition Park through the streets of Los Angeles before it finds a new mission: teaching kids about science

9-year-old’s Science Experiment Saves Water, Money & Teachers in Reno

 

What does baseball and water conservation have in common? The answer is nine-year-old Mason Perez.

Mason hit a homerun with his science project that has helped save water, money and even, the teachers jobs across Reno, NV .  It all started when Mason wanted to wash his hands at the Aces baseball stadium but couldn’t. The water pressure was so high it hurt his skin. When he told his mom, she reached over next to the sink and turned down the water intake valve.

 

Mason’s idea: Why doesn’t everybody do that?

It’s such a simple solution, it seems obvious. And yet, when Mason tested three local facilities, he found they could save between 6 and 25 percent of the water they were using, just by turning down the pressure. Mason and his mom met with Rick Parr, general manager of the Reno Aces, who then went down to the bathroom to test the theory. “You could tell right away that it worked,” Parr told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Parr instituted Mason’s idea of turning down the valves along with some other water-saving measures, and in 2010 the Aces stadium reduced its water use by 20 percent.

This doesn’t just work for stadiums and schools though: You can do it in your house. Just turn down the valve next to the sinks and spigots, and you’re saving water.

Mason also talked to the school district about his idea.

“You know how teachers have kind of been losing their jobs? If we turned down every valve at every school we have in the Washoe County School District, with all that money we can save, we can save at least one teacher’s job.”

 

 

NASA Corn Mazes…Awesome Crop Circles For Science!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Imagine looking out your airplane window (or alien spacecraft portal) and seeing a giant Mars Exploration Rover or an astronaut a half-kilometer long etched in …. a corn field? That’s exactly what is happening this fall, as seven farms across the US are participating in a special collaboration with NASA called Space Farm 7 to celebrate the space agency’s achievements and progress in space, as well as providing education and activities about agriculture. The farmers have created some absolutely amazing and intricate crop-circle-like formations that double as corn mazes, giving kids and families the chance to get lost — if you will — in space.

 

Read More on this story here and learn how you can win a chance to tour Kennedy Space Center by voting for your favorite maze!