"They can't just show up with a Tupperware box and couple of magnets and call it a proposal," said Douglas Goforth, the program manager. With a budget of about $1 million for this year, NASA plans to fly more than 50 teams of students through Microgravity University. The program stems from a European Space Agency initiative that NASA adopted in 1997. Participants must be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, enrolled in a university or college and be able to pass a modified FAA physical. NASA hopes to get some good ideas out of the program, but its long-term goal is to build skills and ignite passion among young people who likely will become this country's next generation of engineers and scientists. Among the students arriving today for orientation in Houston is a group from Boise State University in Idaho. They have devised different types of wheels to test which ones provide the best traction on the moon. "They started off with something very complex and then they simplified," said team advisor Barbara Morgan, a teacher who trained and flew as a NASA astronaut. "It's been really fun to watch how they build their team and how they work." Related Links: |
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