Ames Astrobiology Academy

June 24, 1998
The sunlight gently smiled on the airfields, greeting the 15 students here to start the summer of their lives. This summer Ames is very pleased to host its second NASA Astrobiology Academy. After a successful start last summer, Ames management asked that we expand the program to add 4 more students. As the Academy and indeed Astrobiology itself continue to grow, we hope that this unique opportunity will inspire and connect the next generation of space scientists and leaders. Already 7 out of 11 alumni from our first year are working within the space industry and 2 of those are in civil service positions right here at Ames.

The focus on Astrobiology lends a special flavor to this Academy. This theme winds through a strong lecture series with experts like Dave Morrison, Chris McKay, and Muriel Ross talking about various areas within this new field. The students are placed around the Space Science Directorate working with projects that range from Earth science, to space science, to life science. Projects such as the Search for Habitats using Spacecraft Images (focusing on a survey of images from Europa), Characterization of the Largest Carbon Bearing Molecules in Space, Adaptation to Simulated Martian Gravity, and a Study on Bone Density and Structure being worked on in the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory. In the future other Directorates at the center may also join the Academy.

We are also very excited about our travel schedule this summer. We will be able to visit our sister Academy at Dryden Flight Research Center, the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the X-33 project at the Lockheed Skunkworks, the Global Star Control Center during a satellite launch from Kazakhstan, Lawrence Livermore Labs, and possibly Lick Observatory. In addition we will be driving out to Yosemite to camp one weekend with the Dryden Academy in Tualome meadows and near Mono Lake- we hope it will be a good opportunity for the two Academies to share experiences as well as create new ones together.

The students are also starting to talk about their group project for the summer. So far they have tossed around a number of interesting ideas such as a study on microgravity insect flight, or a microbiology experiment aimed at the chemistry surrounding the origins of life. The hope is to come up with a viable plan for a KC-135 flight or a small ISS payload (in response to a call for a small student microbiology experiment that would have low power, weight, and crew time demands). However, since the students are still in their first week of the Academy we are still evaluating a variety of options.

The commute from Stanford continues to be well worth the benefit of a large house for us all to share, where we can bring our ideas home with us and continue discussions late into the night. The community here is strong and its already clear that we have all the ingredients for a great summer.

We hope to see the Academy program grow, and to stay in communication with the other Academies, our home states, and the larger community to work together in promoting the dream of Space Exploration. And should we ever require home cooking, our director Doug is always ready with a BBQ at his place.

Read the weekly reports from the Ames Academy

Brad Bailey
Rose-Hulman Instituteof Technology
Nisha Bhatia
University of New Hampshire
Alexander Bradley
Harvard University
Wendy Davis
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Kermit Fox, III
Abilene Christian University
Stephanie Gliege
Rocky Mountain College
Ashley Graham
University of Virginia
Tyson Harty
Michigan State University
Jennifer Heldmann
Colgate University
Stephen King
University of California - Irvine
Jessica Marquez
Princeton University
Daniel Potts
University of Washington
Erin Robinson
Utah State University
Margaret Turnbull
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Jake Vachon
University of Kansas

Staff: Doug O'Handley, Director, Libby Varty, Loretta Hidalgo, Joe Mueller, A. Joseph Tamer (ARC'97)

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