Archive | April, 2011

CRITICAL UPDATE to STS-134 Launch Planning Page

The clock is ticking (backwards). The excitement is palpable (yes?) Student researchers (researchers in every sense of the word) are getting ready for the flight of their experiments on Endeavour. Thousands of students, teachers, administrators, and family members across each community are cheering them on, like giddy fans of a local baseball team. SSEP Community […]

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TIME CRITICAL UPDATE: Significant Modification to Mini-Lab Operation for SSEP on STS-135

The Mini-Laboratory used for STS-135 is the same as used for STS-134—the Materials Dispersion Apparatus (MDA). However, there was to be one essential operational difference. For STS-135 student teams were to be able to add a third experiment sample (a fluid and/or solid) before the shuttle leaves orbit. This would have provided a team the […]

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TIME CRITICAL UPDATE FOR SSEP ON STS-134: New Harvesting of Experiment Samples Page

NCESSE, in concert with ITA and NanoRacks, has very carefully defined the milestones and specifications for the harvesting of experiment samples and their return to your SSEP Student Team. The detailed Critical Timeline for Harvesting flows directly from the detailed Critical Timeline for Sample Submission on the STS-134 Submission of Experiment Samples for Flight page. […]

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Additional Day Added to STS-134 Mission

To SSEP Student Flight Experiment Teams from Latest Shuttle News at nasa.gov — Additional Day Added to STS-134 Mission Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:50:49 AM EDT Shuttle managers have officially added an additional day to space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission making it a 15-day flight. With launch targeted on April 29, landing at Kennedy’s Space Shuttle […]

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URGENT: NEW LAUNCH VIEWING PLANS

The launch slip of STS-134 from April 19 to April 29 has prompted a significant re-examination of travel planning for the 300 SSEP students, teachers, administrators, and family members that were heading to Kennedy Space Center for the launch. The key issue is that rescheduling of travel for 3 communities is not an option either […]

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NOW OPERATIONAL: STS-135 Flight Experiment FAQ

The STS-135 Flight Experiment FAQ is now fully operational for all students and teachers engaged in the SSEP opportunity on STS-135. It is accessed through the “Resources” link in the navigation banner at the top of any SSEP web page. As a starting point for the new FAQ, we have culled all relevant questions from […]

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Updates to STS-134 Launch Critical Timeline for SSEP

Based on the STS-134 launch slip to April 29, 2011, NCESSE has formally revised the milestone dates for student team submission of flight samples (fluids and solids) for their SSEP experiments. All SSEP Community Program Directors, Teacher Facilitators, and Student Team members are urged to review changes on the following two SSEP pages: STS-134 Submission […]

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The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.