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."