Eighteen middle school and high school U.S. science teachers will soon depart for Alaska for a Mars exploration and polar science research experience.
The teachers, selected from more than 500 applicants to join the June 23 Phoenix Mars Mission team, will perform scientific investigations in the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's permafrost tunnel and at University of Alaska-Fairbanks research labs.
Their goal is to explore new ways of bringing current polar research into their classrooms, NASA officials said. The teachers will receive training for classroom activities relating to Mars and polar sciences that they can share with students, other teachers and their local communities.
They will learn about frozen ground, polar processes, climate change, glaciers, polar ice, astrobiology and arctic environments both on Earth and Mars from prominent scientists in those fields, said Peter Smith, the Phoenix Mission principal investigator and senior research scientist at the University of Alaska's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
The first in NASA's "Scout" program, the Phoenix Mars Lander will launch in August 2007 for a May 2008 landing on a mission to search for clues about the history of water and potential for habitat to support life on Mars.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Chris Van Allsburg Talks About Sci-Fi, Art And Education
NASA is part of a partnership that provides educational materials based on the book and movie "Zathura" to help teachers get students excited about space and learning. Recently, NASA talked with Chris Van Allsburg, the author and illustrator of 15 books, including "Zathura," "Jumanji" and "The Polar Express." Van Allsburg talked about the creative process, the importance of imagination and learning and what he hopes students and teachers will take away from his work.
Mars polar cap mystery solved
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are now able to better explain why Mars’s residual southern ice cap is misplaced, thanks to data from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft - the martian weather system is to blame. And so is the largest impact crater on Mars – even though it is nowhere near the south pole.
Phoenix Microscope Takes First Image of Martian Dust Particle
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first-ever image of a single particle of Mars' ubiquitous dust, using its atomic force microscope.
Antarctic fossils paint a picture of a much warmer continent
National Science Foundation-funded scientists working in an ice-free region of Antarctica have discovered the last traces of tundra--in the form of fossilized plants and insects--on the interior of the southernmost continent before temperatures began a relentless drop millions of years ago.
Swiss nano-microscope delivers first images recorded on Mars
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time ever, nanostructures have been measured on another planet. On July 9, the NASA "Phoenix" Mars Probe recorded images with nanometer resolution (one nanometer roughly corresponds to 0.00000004 inch) using its onboard Swiss-made atomic force microscope, and successfully transmitted these images back to Earth.
Moon water discovered: Dampens Moon-formation theory
Using new techniques, scientists have discovered for the first time that tiny beads of volcanic glasses collected from two Apollo missions to the Moon contain water. The researchers found that, contrary to previous thought, water was not entirely vaporized in the violent events that formed the Moon. The new study suggests that the water came from the Moon's interior and was delivered to the surface via volcanic eruptions over 3 billion years ago. The finding calls into question some critical aspects of the "giant impact" theory of the Moon's formation and may have implications for the origin of possible water reservoirs at the Moon's poles. The research is published in the July 10, 2008, issue of
Nature.
How intense will storms get? New model helps answer question
A new mathematical model indicates that dust devils, water spouts, tornadoes, hurricanes and cyclones are all born of the same mechanism and will intensify as climate change warms the Earth's surface.
Phoenix Scrapes 'Almost Perfect' Icy Soil for Analysis
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander enlarged the "Snow White" trench and scraped up little piles of icy soil on Saturday, June 28, the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists say that the scrapings are ideal for the lander's analytical instruments.