In June 2024, NC Space Education Ambassadors (NCSEA) from Crew 4 wrapped up a year of NASA mission-based professional development with a special trip to NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Several NCSEA from Crews 1-3 also participated.
During their time at Langley, NCSEA had the opportunity to make real-world connections between the curriculum-based content they had discovered over the past year and the research being done at Langley to support NASA’s mission.
Professional Development
NCSEA participated in Earth Science professional development facilitated by the education team at NASA Langley’s Science Directorate.
The My NASA Data team provided tools for NCSEA that can be used to integrate NASA Earth science mission data into their classroom lessons via visualization activities to explore various Earth systems.
The NASA GLOBE Clouds team introduced NCSEA to this engaging citizen science program. NCSEA participated in a cloud dance, explored the research-based Atmosphere-Clouds protocol, and utilized the GLOBE Observer tool to track clouds in the sky and input data real time. NCSEA received certification in the Atmosphere-Clouds protocol.
Research Facility Tours
In addition to professional development, NCSEA had a chance to visit several research facilities at NASA Langley including the Aerospace Composite and Models Development Section, Larkworks MakerSpace Lab, 14×22’ wind tunnel, and the ISAAC (Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites) robot.
Sam James, senior technician in the Aerospace Composite and Models Development Section, provided NCSEA with a tour of the “model shop” at NASA Langley. This dynamic space is where a team of technical experts develop and fabricate composite aerospace models in preparation for instrumentation and testing.
NCSEA had the opportunity to explore NASA Langley’s MakerSpace lab, which is a place for the NASA workforce to be creative, develop new ideas, and bring these ideas to life with 3-D printing and other tools.
The 14’ x 22’ Subsonic Tunnel has been an aeronautics research powerhouse at Langley for over 50 years and serves NASA, as well as the Department of Defense, aerospace industries and even NASCAR! NCSEA were unable to go into the wind tunnel due to testing, but were able to learn about its capabilities behind-the-scenes and in the control room.
NASA Langley is constructing a new wind tunnel, called the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, that will support future space exploration efforts to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
NCSEA toured the ISAAC robot and how this advanced manufacturing machine is being used to develop lighter and stronger composites for aerospace applications.
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