Cynthia Vaskis

SLM521 Spring 2004

Virtual Field Trip

4/24/04

Virtual Field Trip

What do People do in Space and Who is Watching?

The STS-114 crew includes, from left, Mission Specialist

Stephen Robinson, Pilot James Kelly, Mission Specialists

Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charles Camarda,

Commander Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi.

Flight Crew and Mission Specialist astronauts to fly March 2005.

Introduction

This Virtual Field Trip takes the student to several NASA Mission Control sites (Kennedy Space Center and Houston Space Center at Johnson Space Flight Center), to the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, to Space Camp and to the Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) site. You will first learn how people live and work in space by viewing them on video clips from the International Space Station (ISS) and by learning what astronauts do from visiting the Space Camp training program. You will see how astronauts live and work in space. The Educator Astronaut program was created to permit K-12 teachers the chance to go into space and relay their experiences to their students.

Find out what NASA does on the ground in Mission Control while the astronauts are in space. See who is watching the astronauts back on Earth in Mission Control. We will visit the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida which is Mission Control for the Space Shuttle launches. Then we will visit Houston Mission Control at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas where they monitor the manned space flights after the space vehicle is in orbit. The people at Houston Mission Control monitor the astronauts’ health and activities as well as monitor all of the data (telemetry) that comes back from the Space Shuttle and Space Station any time there are people in space. The JPL Mission Control takes over control of the space vehicle when it reaches orbit for unmanned vehicles like the Mission to Mars with the rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

1. Let’s visit Space Camp to find out what astronauts do in Everything space... all in one place! Space camp article See the week long process by selecting Space Camp and then Tour Space Camp Programs.

2. Next, go see this learning in a whole new light web site which has everything a kid would want to know about living in space. Select “Meet the Astronauts” and “A Day in the Life” to learn how to put on a space suit and more.

3. See how the Astronauts enjoy Living in Space through video clips demonstrating some of the equipment on the Space Station.

See what the current experiments are on the International Space Station.

(07/20/2001) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The STS-105 and Expedition Three crews exit the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Pad 39A and a simulated launch countdown. From front to back, the crew members are Pilot Rick Sturckow (left) and Commander Scott Horowitz (right); Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester (left) and Dan Barry (right); cosmonaut Vladimir Nikolaevich Dezhurov (left), Commander Frank Culbertson (center) and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin (right). Both crews are at Kennedy Space Center participating in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a dress rehearsal for launch.

4. Learn about the Astronaut training experience (ATX) and the Educator Astronaut program.

	(12 July 2001) --- Astronaut Peggy A. Whitson, Expedition Five flight engineer, and cosmonauts Sergei Y. Treschev (left) and Valery G. Korzun, flight engineer and mission commander, respectively, assisted by Johnson Engineering diver Marquis Gibbs, float in life rafts during an emergency bailout training session.
	(17 April 2001) --- Cosmonauts Mikhail Tyurin (seated left) and Vladimir N. Dezhurov, both Expedition Three flight engineers; and astronaut Frank L. Culbertson, Jr., Expedition Three mission commander, are photographed during mission training in the Systems Integration Facility at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Dezhurov and...
	JSC2000-05373 (7 June 2000) --- Astronaut William Shepherd, mission commander for ISS Expedition One, participates in an underwater spacewalk simulation in the Hydrolab facility at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. JPEG Graphics Format
	KSC-99PP-0673 (12 June 1999) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – After landing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility, the "Super Guppy" transport aircraft opens to reveal its cargo, a S0 (S Zero) truss segment, from Boeing in Huntington Beach, Calif. The truss segment, which will become the... JPEG Graphics Format

Don’t forget to visit the Space Shuttle below and see what people are doing there. The Space Shuttle sometimes takes things and people to the International Space Station to use and work there.

5. Table of Information on Kennedy Space Center with links to the Space Shuttle and Space Station web sites also

What is at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida? Try some links below to launch a Space Shuttle, view the inside of the Columbia and tour the International Space Station (ISS).

Activity	Top Links to Site	Extra Links	Description of what you will see there.	Photos/Videos/Audio
Tour Kennedy Space Center (map of site)	Kennedy Space Center Visit Kennedy Space Center Guest Tour or Media Tour	KSC Tours top page Kennedy Space Center Science and Technology Page KSC Tour Map Media sites	Visit in Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida where all launches are made for the Space Shuttle (manned missions) and for all other rocket launches.
KSC-99PP-0504 (7 May 1999) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), work continues on the U.S. Lab module, Destiny, which is scheduled to be launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour in early 2000. It will become the centerpiece of scientific research... JPEG Graphics Format	Space Shuttle (top page)	Space Shuttle Robotic Arm	Read about the different parts of the Shuttle and what happens to it (launch) and its cargo bay robotic arm.
Experience a Launch Sequence (kid demo)	Space Shuttle Launch Sequence (kids)	Launch Sequence	Experience the roar of the engines as you prepare to launch into space.
See inside the Columbia Space Shuttle (cam recorder video with text explanations)	Space shuttle virtual tour		Visit different parts of the Space Shuttle and read about parts by clicking over them when the mouse when it turns into a red circle and on the MORE button for a text pop-up explanation window.	(01/30/2003) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Atlantis is seen after attachment of the orange external tank and solid rocket boosters. Space Shuttle Atlantis will be flying on mission STS-114, a Utilization Logistics Flight-1 to the International Space Station. Along with a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Atlantis will also transport the next resident ISS crew, Expedition 7. The Shuttle is scheduled to launch March 1, 2003, on the 12-day STS-114 mission.
Space Shuttle Program images	Space Shuttle Images		NASA’s gallery of photos on the Space Shuttle program vehicles and people.	Space Shuttle preparation for move to launch pad.
Space Station Tours	Space Station home page	Micro Gravity Gallery (Mission Video, Audio, Images) Robot Helper Design Challenge	Space Shuttle to deliver robot arm to Alpha	KSC-99PP-0504 (7 May 1999) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), work continues on the U.S. Lab module, Destiny, which is scheduled to be launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour in early 2000. It will become the centerpiece of scientific research... JPEG Graphics Format
Mad Mission to Mars	Mad Mission to Mars	NASA Educational page	Mars Mission web site for kids and anyone who likes to explore outer space.
Pick a NASA site	Pick a NASA site to Tour		A complete list of NASA sites.

More photographs from the International Space Station are below and the astronauts’ daily activities (jogging), sleeping, group photos, and being very busy with experiments.

ISS006-E-13965 (2 January 2003) --- Astronaut Donald R. Pettit,

Expedition Six NASA ISS science officer, exercises on

the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS)

in the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS).

	ISS003-E-5218 (17 August 2001) --- Astronauts Patrick G. Forrester (left) and Daniel T. Barry, both STS-105 mission specialists, pause from their daily activities to pose for this photo taken in the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS). This image was taken with a digital... JPEG Graphics Format
	ISS002-E-7172 (26 April 2001) --- The Expedition Two and STS-100 crew members get together for a group portrait in the emptied Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). Clockwise from the 12 o'clock point in the circle are Kent V. Rominger, Yuri V. Lonchakov, Yury V. Usachev, Umberto...
	ISS003-E-5557 (9 September 2001) --- Cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov of Rosaviakosmos, Expedition Three flight engineer, pokes his head out of the Temporary Sleep Station (TSS) in the U.S. Laboratory. JPEG Graphics Format
	ISS002-E-7031 (22 April 2001) --- Astronaut Chris A. Hadfield, STS-100 mission specialist, gives the Expedition Two crewmembers the "thumbs up" signal during the first extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-100 mission. This picture was taken through the nadir window of the Destiny Laboratory by an Expedition... JPEG Graphics Format
	ISS003-E-6547 (10 October 2001) --- Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition Three flight engineer representing Rosaviakosmos, works with Japan’s National Space Development Agency (NASDA) hardware for the Micro-Particles Capturer (MPAC) and Space Environment Exposure Device (SEED) experiment in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS).... JPEG Graphics Format
	ISS002-E-5478 (30 March 2001) --- Astronaut Susan J. Helms, Expedition Two flight engineer, works at a laptop computer in the U.S. Laboratory / Destiny module of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) control panel is visible to Helms' right. This... JPEG Graphics Format
	ISS002-E-5488 (31 March 2001) --- The Expedition Two crewmembers -- astronaut Susan J. Helms (left), cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev and astronaut James S. Voss -- pose for a photograph in the U.S. Laboratory / Destiny module of the International Space Station (ISS). This image was recorded... JPEG Graphics Format

ISS005-E-17235 (13 October 2002) --- The Space Shuttle Atlantis’

payload bay and vertical stabilizer are backdropped against a blue

and white Earth. Atlantis was docked with the International Space

Station (ISS) at the time. JPEG Graphics Format

Who is watching the Astronauts in space?

Now we will see who is watching all of those people up in space. The main manned mission control center is at Houston Mission Control in Houston, TX. The Mission Controllers watch everything happening on the Space Shuttle and Space Station as long as there are people in space.

The Johnson Space Center (JSC) is at the Mission Control site in Houston, TX and houses the main training center for the astronauts preparing for space flight. The largest swimming pool in the world is there where astronauts train in spacesuits under water to maneuver around a mockup of the Space Shuttle’s exterior (all under water about 30 to 40 feet). Remember, the spacesuits are real and have to be airtight. Some astronauts are Flight Crew that can fly the Shuttle and others are Mission Specialists who ride the Space Shuttle into space and operate the special experiments and payloads (what the Space Shuttle carries into space in its cargo bay). Visit the JSC web site and look for what the astronauts do to be trained for space flight. Here is a picture of the center from the air.

There is also a tourist center called Space Center Houston right next to the JSC and Mission Control with a tour that lets you watch Mission Control on TV monitors from an auditorium. It also has an IMAX theatre, a full mock-up of the front of the Space Shuttle, a Moon rock and past space capsules exhibit, an astronauts and their spacesuits exhibit, a children’s play area, a cafeteria, a book/gift shop, and offers tram tours to the JSC to see the actual astronaut training facilities with the large swimming pool.

JPL, or the Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena, CA, is the main Mission Control site for unmanned missions such as the Mars rovers.

Now you have learned many things about each site and can explain what astronauts do in space. Let’s review the following topics and then head back to Earth.

Discuss these questions in your class:

1. What is the Educator Astronaut program and who is next to fly on a Space Shuttle? (see learning in a whole new light web site)

2. What is done with the water on the Space Station? Watch the video on “You Gotta Go” from learning in a whole new light web site.

3. What are some of the current experiments on the Space Station? (name three of them)

4. If you were able to become an astronaut, what subjects would you like to study so that you could be useful to the Space Shuttle’s crew?

5. If men were able to live in space for a very long time, what do you think they would miss about Earth the most?