Monday, April 6, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Florida Spring 2009 Launch Schedule

Launch Time: April 28, 2009, 6:24 - 7:24 p.m. EDT
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Pad 37-B
Mission: GOES-O
Description: NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multi-mission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science.

Launch time: May 12, 2009, 1:11 p.m. EDT
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A
Mission: STS-125
Description: Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory's capabilities.

Launch Time: May 21, 2009, 5:32 - 6:32 p.m. EDT
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 41
Mission: LRO/LCROSS
Description: LRO will launch with the objectives to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology. The Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, mission is seeking a definitive answer about the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon's North or South Pole.

Launch time: June 13, 2009, 7:25 a.m. EDT
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Mission: STS-127
Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver the exposed facility of Japan's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

Launch Time: July 11 +
Launch Vehicle: Ares I-X
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39B
Mission: Ares I-X Flight Test
Description: The Ares I-X flight test is NASA's first test for the Agency's new Constellation launch vehicle -- Ares I. The Ares I-X flight will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.

Launch time: August 6, 2009, ~ 9:25 a.m. EDT
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Mission: STS-128
Description: Space shuttle Discovery will use a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to carry experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.

Last updated Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Schedule subject to change. For updates, check online at
NASA Launch Manifest
Spaceflight Now

Saturday, March 7, 2009

NIGHT HUNTERS!

WILD WEDNESDAY EVENING SPEAKER SERIES
AT FOLKE PETERSON WILDLIFE CENTER
10948 ACME ROAD, WELLINGTON

SECOND IN A SERIES OF EDUCATIONAL TALKS ABOUT OUR NATIVE FLORIDA WILDLIFE, ECOLOGY, CONSERVATION

NIGHT HUNTERS
An exploration of the night sky and
wildlife who hunt by moonlight.

Lecture and TELESCOPE VIEWING presented by
ERICH LANDSTROM
NASA/JPL Solar System Educator
&
VERED NOGRAD, CVT
Folke Peterson Wildlife Center’s Wildlife Care Manager

WEDNESDAY MARCH 18th at 7:00 pm
FREE ADMISSION/LIGHT REFRESHMENTS
561-793-2473 FOR INFORMATION

Monday, March 2, 2009

Shuttle and Rocket Missions in March

Launch Time: Window 1: 10:49-10:52 p.m. EST, Window 2: 11:13-11:16 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 6
Mission: Kepler
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - Launch Complex 17 - Pad 17-B
Description: The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size around the habitable zone (and thousands of Jupiter-sized planets outside it).


Launch Time: 8:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 12
Mission: STS-119 • ISS 15A
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Description: STS-119 will be the 28th U.S. mission to the International Space Station. Space shuttle Discovery will deliver the Starboard 6 truss segment, giving the station its fourth and final set of power-generating solar wings.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

SECME members on a mission to build robots

SECME members on a mission to build robots
By JASON PARSLEY | Forum Publishing Group
November 26, 2008

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/royal_palm/sfl-flrpfrobot1126rpfnov26,0,4093472.story

Seminole Ridge High School seniors Madelyn Gapko and Nadia Beni both like hands-on projects, and that is why they decided to join the newly formed Science, Engineering, Communications and Mathematics club at the school, 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, in Loxahatchee.

The SECME Club allows students to apply what they learn in classes like physics to the real world. So far it has attracted about 60 members.

"It's a good way for me to learn," Gapko said.

While Beni added, "[The hands-on] is mostly what we do, but it's the best part."

The club recently had a movie afternoon to raise funds to purchase at least one Vex Robotics Design System kit so students will have the opportunity to build actual robots.

"This isn't here's a Lego kit, lets see if we can build something," said Erich Landstrom, SECME school coordinator and physics teacher. Over the summer he was introduced to the starter kit and said, "We literally went from a box of parts to two hours later we had built a radio-controlled robot."

Landstrom said he is excited to add the robotics component to the club.

"This is definitely something I want the Seminole Hawks to do," he said.

But first the club needs to raise the money to purchase the $700 kit. The club's next fundraiser will be another movie afternoon in January.

With the kit Landstom said he hopes that his students will be able to enter a robotics competition next year. This year's competition will ask students to build a robot that is able to travel up a ramp and be able to operate independently and by user control.

"My hope, my goal would be to go to the national competition," he said.

So far the club has designed and launched a film-canister model rocket, and constructed a spaghetti bridge from pasta and mini marshmallows.

Call 561-422-2600 for more information.