On Tuesday, June 3, students in Erich Landstrom’s science class at Seminole Ridge High School joined a teleconference with NASA scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.
The teleconference was held to discuss essays the students wrote regarding the Cassini spacecraft. Launched more than a decade ago, Cassini has been sending back never-before-seen views of Saturn, its rings and its moons for nearly four years. Part of the NASA Cassini team’s job is to pick which image targets will yield the best science results. High school students were asked to write a 500-word essay on why the image they chose would be the most scientifically rich for Cassini’s cameras to take. Essays were judged by a panel of Cassini scientists, mission planners and by an education and outreach team. Cassini’s cameras will take images of three designated targets on June 10.
State Rep. Shelley Vana also visited the class in her capacity with the School District of Palm Beach County and also as a legislator. The students included 2008 graduating senior Amanda Canete, junior Justin Bloom, junior Sarah Shields, freshman Edwin Keo, freshman Amanda Fenner and junior Sharon Summel.
