I haven't written in a while!

Hello from Johnson Space Center.

Another week has come and quickly passed, and thus begins week 7. 

This past week was highlighted by an INSPIRE workday on presentations. Each intern (pre-collegiate and residential) gave their exit presentation over their project and internship to our entire group. It was very beneficial to practice and see the other presentations as we prepare to present our exit presentation next week to our mentors and colleagues. The girls also attended a meeting that taught them how to better communicate with people. This also was very helpful as the majority of conflicts trace their roots back to misunderstandings.

Tuesday we celebrated Kelsey's 17^th Birthday. It started that morning with Shelby and Hollie secretly filling Kelsey's room with balloons. During the day, 2 cheesecakes specially shipped from New York arrived to surprise the birthday girl.  A special thanks goes out to her parents for sending the cheesecake as it was extremely delicious and enjoyed on multiple nights. Following the festivities we worked on our presentations and concluded the evening with a balloon war. 

On Thursday, we had our weekly INSPIRE Meeting that featured an USRP intern, Mike Lotto, that inspired us to do well in school as it will lead to great success in the future. Thursday night found us participating in the online chat where we learned about Ames and Langley. Additionally we have spent the past week working on our technical papers, as we do not procrastinate here in Houston.

 Following is our weekly update of each project and the progress we have made.

Although their colleague Cynthia Ochoa was away for the latter part of the week to attend a conference at Glenn Research Center as part of her program, MUST scholars, the week for Kevin and Brian was relatively productive. Kevin and Brian have been working with their heavy lift mass estimation tool that they built, running trade studies and analysis on the proposed Jupiter 246 for the most efficient delta v splits: essentially the different fuel splits between the core stage, upper stage, and boosters. Studies were ran keeping the mass of the boosters the same, as they were configured as four segment SRBs, whose masses should not really fluctuate. Optimal minimum masses found by the model were not so far off from the actual projected gross lift off weight (GLOW) of the Jupiter 246 by Direct: the estimations were less than 1% off for all cases run. Additionally, they checked their Ideal Delta V finder tool with a printout of the shuttle's trajectory specifications. The numbers were very close, again confirming the liability of the tool they created. Delta V loss numbers were just taken from the specifications of the shuttle: these are Delta V losses due to gravity, drag, and atmospheric back pressure on the engine nozzle.

Shelby and Kelsey had a very interesting and productive week. They gave to a presentation the Office Automation Systems panel (OAS) over myJSC. It was also recorded live via a teleconference for the rest of MOD, and was posted on the MOD homepage. It was nerve-wracking, but they did their best and gave a successful presentation.  Shelby and Kelsey also attended a note worthy CO2 washout lecture given by Philip Augustine. He provided insight into the conflicting requirements of NASA's Constellation Program (CxP) design for the new manned space suit. A part from these exciting adventures, Shelby and Kelsey worked diligently all week on their exit presentation and their technical papers. They also finished transferring their survey for the MOD printer audit and uploaded it to MODnet.

In the past week, Hollie and Christopher have made substantial progress on their project. They received materials for the final build project, completed export control forms, formatted exit pitches and attended several meetings. During their weekly student meetings, they improved their resume and interview skills and learned about different branches in the divisions. When their materials arrived, they took inventory of the supplies and measured the plywood and boards to ensure a seamless fit. Hollie worked on the foam board cutting and contouring while Christopher worked on calculating the lighting. He has started calculating the albedo of the rapid prototype surface, thanks to Brian's knowledge and input. While Christopher did that, Hollie worked on drawing the contours on all 192 two footsegments. All in all, we have taken another step toward completing our project.

In addition to our daily work schedule we also have had an eventful activity schedule this week. Some activities enjoyed by all include cards, board games, Wii and a trip back to the park. Hollie won poker, again. Some of us think she is the next rain man. Others that are jealous, aka Joline, think she is cheating. However, this is a false accusation as she is just that awesome! 

We also played Scrabble and Clue and was luckily joined by a pre-collegiate, Jon. For Wii, we not only played Wii Sports and Karaoke, but also Air-Hockey, Cow Racing and Target Shooting. While at the park, we flew kites, played tennis and soccer, and took a trip down the slide. 

Even though Houston is very urban, we found a kayaking tour in the nation's largest nature preserve, Armand Bayou. It was quite an adventure as we saw an alligator in the water. It was exhilarating to be within feet of such an impressive creature. We were also treated to a variety of beautiful birds, jumping fish, and an amazing sunset.

However, the best part of the whole weekend was the beach. We took the ferry to the island and an amazing beach where we tanned, jumped waves, touched jellyfish and caught hermit crabs. While on the ferry we spotted numerous dolphins playing in the waterway. We love our time on the beach, as all of reside in land-lock states.

We concluded the evening with dinner at a Hibachi Grill. Our chef was straight up hilarious. While tossing our appetizers at us he managed to miss Shelby's mouth and hit Hollie in the hair with a rice ball. After this, we took an adventure to find the source of the mysterious spotlights flashing in the sky. Before returning home we made one last stop to acquire an order of canollis to satisfy Kevin's craving.

Sunday was a leisurely day of rest and time spent working on our technical papers as we prepare for another busy week.  We are still excited to report, as of right now, "Houston, we do NOT have a problem."

Week 4 blog

Hello from Johnson Space Center.

And thus begins week five. 

This past week was a short four-day work week. Some of the highlights of our week include an awesome holiday, a Professional Development Workshop and hearing about Neuroscience. On Monday, NASA observed the July 4^thholiday so we given the day off. After our very busy weekend it was nice to stay home for the day and just rest and relax.

On Thursday morning we attended a professional development workshop for all JSC interns. We learned how to write our technical paper, create our PowerPoint presentation for our exit pitch and write an eye-popping resume. Then at the conclusion of our workday, we partook in our weekly INSPIRE meeting. This week a student intern presented about her neuroscience lab that tests the effects of focusing on a single point while moving. Then, our Education Specialist, Ms. Alissa Keil, taught us the value of taking chances in order to reap giant benefits.

Following is our weekly update of each project and the progress we have made.

For Brian and Kevin, the mass estimation model continued its progress and is coming together; from the program finding the total change in velocity required to calculating the total mass of the rocket. Although their mentor was on break this week, they managed to accomplish some major tasks. Now they can organize and integrate the program parts, as well as start analyzing different hypothetical rockets in order to assess the effectiveness of changes in material, engine, and fuel types, among others.

Shelby and Kelsey are enjoying their jobs and working hard. Shelby had the pleasure of arriving early to work every day this week to make up the five hours she missed last Friday. She and Kelsey had the opportunity to rename a worker's computer and run a scan on another's computer. They attended many meetings and were able to talk to some very knowledgeable people, who aided them in their SharePoint project. They were also assigned more work; they are now responsible for locating and marking every printer in MOD and creating a survey for the users of those printers. Also, they finalized the dates for their myJSC presentation and their exit presentation.

 

Christopher and Hollie had a big week as they presented their Project Build Approval. This included re-designing the presentation and build plan, again. This is not bad, but expected as this happens to engineers all the time. Their revised plan is actually better than the previous one because they have less cost and less mass. These changes made it easier for our superiors to give us the "go" sign.  Besides creating a virtual cross section of the model, we were also finally given an office. The reason for this is that in our branch, there are 9 interns with only enough desks for 5 people. However, from now on, they will be working in the lab building their mode, leaving us room in the office to work.

In addition to our daily work schedule we also stay busy each evening.  Tuesday and Thursday are our weekly project nights.  We spent this time working on several projects including our DLN presentation, vodcast, and finished working on our glog, which will soon be completed for everyone to view.  The other evenings we partake in non-work activities to reenergize ourselves.  On Monday, we spent time catching up on our errands. Wednesday we played some card games like the local favorite, Texas Hold-Em. On Thursday, after polishing our OLC Chat Presentation and actively participated in the Online Chat where Stennis and Dryden were showcased.

Friday night we went to Galveston to the beach in order to star-gaze. While our star-gazing expedition may have fallen short of the goal due to clouds and light pollution, we still had a rave. We did many things: handstands, chest bumps, wading, soccer and meditating among many other things. Shelby and Hollie went on an adventure and found a turtle which growled at them. The awesome thing about the turtle is that it is magical and disappeared when the girls took the rest of the group back to show them the horrible growling monster. It was a great night on the beach!

Our intent for Saturday was to go to the Houston Tunnels. Alas, we figured out that the website we used when we researched the open times was a conspiracy website as they are closed during the weekends. Since we were downtown, we democratically voted to go to the Holocaust Museum. Needless to say, this was a somber event but we learned a lot about our history. Following this, we went to the Galleria where Hollie, Shelby and Malorie got pedicures! Whoop whoop! Meanwhile, the boys shopped. They hit up the candy shop and American Eagle. Our main event came next: the Astro Baseball Game. This was a historic game as the Astros beat the high-rated Cardinals. The ninth inning was the best, as 2 foul balls hit by Albert Pujols made their way up and were almost caught by Malorie.

Sunday, as we sit writing our blog, we reminisce about our past week. Today we watched as Spain demolished Netherlands which made part of our group ecstatic. This was expected though as Spain is a better team. After a little rest, we are headed out to a local favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, Abode.  Please tune in Thursday for our on-line chat.

We are rested and looking forward to another exciting week at Johnson Space Center. As of right now, "Houston, we do NOT have a problem."

Hello from Johnson Space Center,

"In Nebraska, I look outside and say 'Whoa! It's a hurricane out there.' However in Texas, it actually is a hurricane. " And thus begins week four. Across the continent, televisions were tuned into Hurricane Alex. However, due to our Education Specialist's careful planning, we were prepared for anything the storm could throw at us. We prepared an evacuation plan, as safety is key in every aspect of our life: work and play. Fortunately, Alex hit further south so we were able to continue as regularly scheduled.

We are all super excited this week as we picked up our official badges. Some of the highlights of our week included guest speakers, badging appointments, and meetings. We were lucky enough to sit front row for Gene Kranz's 'Failure Is Not an Option' lecture. He is a captivating speaker and fully explained the entire Apollo 13 incident. After this, he opened the floor to pictures and signatures. Then, we were privileged to go to a Storytelling Event that featured an astronaut speaking on the ISS. Also, we attend our weekly INSPIRE meeting that showcases bright students that inspire us with advice. The first guest was an experienced co-op from USRP for Project M. The second speaker was Zaida who interns with the education office. They not only speak to us about advice for our internship but also advice for college.

Following is a weekly update of each project and the progress our interns have made.

For Brian and Kevin, work continued on the Mass Estimation Model, as the actual program began to be written. Equations were studied, altered, and combined with others to get a complete sense of the direction we have to go in order to complete it. The ultimate vision of completion of the program is within reach, but the end of our project still looms in the distance, as once the program is complete we have to size and design an actual rocket and test it with the trajectory program that we have access to. Based on an ideal velocity change required by the rocket, we can now find the amount of propellant and approximate total mass of the vehicle. Now we can go into detail and outline the basic parts of the launch vehicle, adding engine masses and thrust structures. Our project continues to get more and more exciting, and we fully understand our end goal and vision.

Shelby and Kelsey are putting their finishing touches on the research part of our first project. In the next two weeks we will give a presentation to promote myJSC, a JSC website that acts as a homepage for oneself, to the OAS panel. We have also been working on our larger SharePoint project. This week we started on our SharePoint development site. We tailored the site to serve as a collaboration place for the other INSPIRE interns. All of the interns can post documents, participate in discussions, and complete surveys. In this next week, we will continue to develop the site and encourage the other interns to use it to its full potential. This past week we also completed our first solo IT job. We hope to complete more solo computer fixes in the coming week.

Christopher and Hollie visited the Mission Control Center and were able to have a behind the scenes tour. This was awesome and they enjoyed it thoroughly. The main thing they worked on this week was revising their Project Build Approval as they had to re-do all of it. The thing about it is that their original idea was not very good. However, thanks to the collaboration with their mentor and supervisor, they attained true innovation and a new idea of how to build the Apollo 17 Lunar Landing Site. The new idea includes wire mesh, less clay, contoured foam board, and a lot of in-genius thinking. Hollie's favorite point of the week is the meeting she attended put on by her supervisor. The meeting was very intriguing and captivating as well as extremely education.

In addition to our daily work schedule we also stay busy in the evenings.  Tuesday and Thursday are our weekly project nights.  We spent this time working on several projects including our DLN presentation, vodcast, and began working on our glog.  The other evenings we partake in non-work activities to reenergize ourselves.  On Monday, we were tired and decided to stay at our hotel for the night. Some of us slept, while others watched The Blind Side. This was an amazing movie with a very inspirational story.  Everyone loved it and highly recommends it if you haven't seen it. On Wednesday, we participated in Wednesday Wii night with Stan the Man. We all had an awesome time with karaoke as well as playing Wii Sports again. 

Friday night we went to the movies as several of us anxiously awaited to release of the new Twilight movie. Half of us saw Eclipse, and the other half saw the Karate Kid. Eclipse was even better than what was expected. After the movies we went back to the hotel and played cards and the game of Life until midnight.

 

Saturday we left at nine o'clock in the morning to spend the day at downtown Houston. We went to the Downtown Aquarium to see the many exhibits including thousands of fish, shark tank, and white tigers. In addition, the aquarium also has a petting zoo.  If you haven't heard, the aquarium also has several rides outside. While on the Farris Wheel, we had an awesome view of the city and the skyline.

  

After riding all the rides we headed to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. The Hard Rock Café is an experience like no other as it literally ROCKS! In the afternoon, we walked around the Galleria, which is a giant mall that includes many high fashion brands. At the end of our shopping trip, we went ice-skating in the huge rink housed in the mall. We are democratic and the Cheesecake Factory won the dinner vote.

Sunday we headed back to downtown to celebrate the 4^th of July.  Before heading to the holiday festivities we toured Rice University. Kevin plans to attend Rice after graduation and was a great tour guide.  He not only showed us some of the highlights, but also shared a lot about the university's history.  It is a beautiful campus and has three intriguing statues on display in the inner quad.  The statues are entitled 45, 90, and 180 degrees.

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We grabbed a bite at California Pizza and headed to Eleanor Tinsley Park for Freedom Over Texas. Freedom Over Texas is an outdoor festival that consists of games, food, and four stages of live music.  All afternoon we listened to a variety bands and ate great food in preparation for the fireworks.  The final act was Little Bigtown and Pat Green. The fireworks started at 9:30 and were absolutely amazing, as they are the largest land-based fireworks show in all of America. Today we're resting up after our late night yesterday and we can't wait until our new week begins. As of right now, "Houston, we do NOT have a problem."

My good friend Gene Kranz

Hello from Johnson Space Center,

Still here, still learning, and thus begins week three.

Early Monday morning we met up with the pre-collegiate interns to board the shuttle bus that would take us around town to see the major sites of Johnson Space Center.  Our VIP tour began with a stop at Ellington Field, the airfield of JCS.  We began by viewing several reduced gravity projects developed by teams from various colleges around the nation, as they prepared to conduct experiments in the Weightless Wonder.  The Weightless Wonder is an airplane that flies in parabolas and simulates no gravity for periods of about 20 seconds.  The Reduced Gravity projects illustrated the possibilities that are abundant for us to utilize in our future.  Some of the teams spoke with us explaining their projects; from Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach's fuel slosh experiments to Purdue's tests on the energy released from boiling water in micro-gravity.  We were lucky enough to not only see the Weightless Wonder in person, but also able to go aboard and tour the magnificent plane.  Prior to leaving, we also saw the WB-57F, one of two "long winged" planes in the world.

The next stop on our journey was to the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, where astronauts spend hours training for their missions in space.  This pool, which is 4 stories high, is the closest simulation on Earth we can get to working in space.  The astronauts are neutrally buoyant and thus don't float or sink to the bottom.  We were fortunate enough to be taken on a tour of the entire building by two NBL divers.  While touring we were able to watch not just one, but TWO astronauts training for the STS-133 and the International Space Station.  To ensure the astronauts are well prepared for future tasks, they spend about ten hours training for every one hour they will spend working in space.  The divers also have to undergo rigorous training and testing in order to be able work in the NBL; if an astronaut depressurizes, he/she will start sinking, and the divers must come to the rescue.  Before leaving the NBL we toured the control room that monitored the astronauts' work and simulations.

      

As everyone can attest to, food is always very important.  Our next stop on our tour was the awesome Food Lab where a kind food scientist explained what problems scientist face in preparing food for space.  We learned about the meticulous planning, preparing, and packing required to feed our astronauts.  Several difficulties exist in preparing the food so it would last for a long time without spoiling, and being prepared and consumed in space.  Sodium is another challenge in packaging food, as scientists now believe that the abundance of sodium in an astronaut's diet can augment numerous health problems such as vision and muscle loss.  The food scientist concluded by discussing the ongoing research and development to improve current products as well as developing new entrees.  We can now tell Forrest Gump one more way of preparing shrimp: freeze-drying.  One interesting fact is that the most requested food in space is shrimp cocktail.  The most requested item upon return from space is fresh fruit.  Upon leaving the food lab we were able to view numerous food items and entrees.

Next we went to building 30, which houses the Mission Control Center.  First, our group toured the Shuttle Mission Control.  There weren't many people working because there is not a current shuttle mission.  However, they were preparing for a simulation so it started to hop close to the time we left.  Next we went to the mission control for the International Space Station.  We actually got to view a live feed of two astronauts working on the space station.  One awesome thing we saw was an astronaut drinking from a container we had just learned about at the Food Lab.  There was also a live video of Earth spinning under the space station.  Our last stop was Historic Mission Control, which was the actual control room that directed the first shuttle launching and all Apollo missions following our first trip to the moon.

The next stop on our tour was Building 9, the JSC mockup facility.  The first thing we viewed inside was Robonaut and Spidernaut.  Robonaut was created to perform humanoid tasks without risking human life.  Once perfected Robonaut will be able to complete repairs on the ISS as well as space walks and other functions to benefit the crew.  The reason Robonaut is humanoid is because the scientists don't want to make new tools but enable the robot to use existing tools.  Spidernaut is a robot designed to walk while carrying large loads.  Another project being manufactured by the robotic engineers is the CEV, Crew Exploration Vehicle.  The CEV is modular enabling it to be easily transported.  The CEV will serve as a RV for the astronauts in space.  Also housed in Building 9 are all the various mockups including the shuttle, ISS, and SOYUZ, the Russian crew module.  An engineer who works on the ISS took us on a tour and gave a lecture on all the individual components and tasks involved in creating and maintaining the ISS.

The final stop on our tour was the Saturn V and Rocket Park.  The Saturn V was built to be launched into space but was never used.  It was impressive to be able to view a real rocket up close, as no pictures can truly convey how extremely large it is in real life.  We were able to walk around and see all of the various stages up close.  Overall, our tour was extremely impressive and educational.  It was very enlightening to see an overview of all the integral parts of JSC and how they worked together to make a mission possible.

Following our tour we had a very busy week at work.  Here is an update on our internships and current projects.

Brian and Kevin continue to work on their Mass Estimation Program.  They are finishing up finding functions of the masses of the individual parts of a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle, and have started writing the model and program to bring everything together.  Using the type of orbit and final velocity required, the mass of the whole rocket and fuel needed can be found and calculated, which is what they are working on and building a computer model of.

Hollie and Christopher made much progress this week as they made and perfected their Project Approval Presentation for building the scale mock-up of the Apollo 17 Landing Site.  Although their idea going into the meeting was well thought out, their superiors had other ideas.  It was no-worries because this sort of changing is normal for all engineering presentations as change is key to innovation.  Thanks to their enlightening mentors, they have found a way to cut costs and weight, but yet include a higher detail.  The next step for them is first to rethink some aspects of the planning and design and then create a small-scale model of the large-scale mock-up.

Shelby and Kelsey were excited to finally meet their mentor, John Clack, on Tuesday.  They were ecstatic to finally be assigned a project.  They will be working on a project proposal that will implement new collaboration software throughout the Mission Operations Directorate.  They will be evaluating the previous use of Windows Sharepoint Services and the possible implementation of Microsoft Sharepoint Server.  They have been working diligently on research and have enjoyed attending new meetings all week long.  They are both looking forward to starting the new phase of their project this coming week.

As every human knows, all work and no play makes for a dull day.  Here is our weekly activity review.  Through the intersection and through the gate, to the park we went.  While there, some flew a kite although flying might be better replaced with kite crashing due to lack of wind.  Others aggressively played tennis and even managed to hit the ball boy, Christopher.  Before departing for the evening, most played soccer and accidently hit Shelby square in the face. 

 

On Wednesdays, we have the awesome weekly Wii Night!  Our favorite is the Karaoke Wii game because we all know how to really rock out.  According to our classy chaperone, Joline, you should "look for us on American Idol next season".  Like we said, we ROCK!  

On Friday night, we decided to participate in a basic pastime: bowling.  We took advantage of the price deal and bowled for two eventful hours.  During those hours, Kelsey managed to have her bowling ball rejected and roll back to her, halting halfway back and coming to a complete stop in the gutter.  Also, Shelby greatly improved and managed to triple her score from the first game to the third.  

Saturday we were able to travel to Galveston Island and attend the Flight Museum and Schlitterbahn Waterpark.  The Flight Museum was very interesting due to all the painstaking hours put in to restoring several models of antique warplanes.  After that, we walked to the water park, Schlitterbahn, to splish and splash until eight o'clock.  This was fabulous as we got our fill of slides, tubes, and sun.  Needless to say, we all are sporting a sweet tan line.  Also, Kevin got hit with a walkie-talkie falling from the sky, which was weird because he was standing 4 stories up underneath a canopy.  At the end of Saturday night, we found ourselves in heaven: Landry's Seafood.  The food was beyond words!  Following the delicious seafood entrees we all ordered and shared desserts, which included: Banana Foster, Crème Brule, Cheesecake and our favorite, Chocolate Sin.  

Today is Sunday and we find ourselves writing our riveting weekly blog.  Prior to blogging, the boys showed off their killer cooking skills for lunch.  The boys went shopping early this morning and picked up all the fixings for a cookout and prepared an awesome spread for lunch.  Kevin manned the grill and served some of the biggest burgers we have ever seen. 

Tonight, we are looking forward to going to the Fun House after the completion of all our errands and laundry.  While there we will be able to enjoy laser tag, rock climbing, bumper boats, putt-putt, and arcade.  Luckily, there aren't any evil clowns at the Fun House.  

   

We guess this is all for now.  Whoop whoop! And, frankly, "Houston, we do NOT have a problem."