Field Trip!

One of the best parts of my job is getting to take students to fascinating places. Today was one of those days! The high school Special Interest (gifted) Class traveled to Greenbelt, MD, to visit the Goddard Space Flight Center.

We began our tour in the Visitor Center where we saw "Science on a Sphere." A large globe-shaped sphere hung from three wires and served as a screen for four projectors which created the earth in front of us. The screen provided a compilation of data from satelites. We watched weather patterns from the last year and a half in fast-motion cross the globe. We saw today's weather around the world. We saw polar ice caps thaw and re-freeze. We saw what the earth would look like if the sea level were to rise 1 meter. (We would lose part of Florida, entire islands in the Pacific and some of our borders.) Fascinating stuff.

Next we visited the world's largest "Clean Room" where scientists in "bunny suits" were working on the actual parts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope to send on the next space shuttle mission. Our tour guide took a liking to our group and decided to take us behind the scenes. We went downstairs to the testing area where we were able to see huge machines that test for the effects of extreme cold, extreme heat, high velocity, high noise, and vibrations. One large room held the world's largest speaker system with a woofer that was at least 12 feet in diameter. A person in the room when the test was being done would die from the volume! Tests are monitored from a room that is a safe distance away.

We saw robotic arms that are used for astronaut training, a machine 20 feet tall that measured the effects of heat on objects, nitrogen tanks to measure the effects of cold, and a balancing machine that spins objects that are packed for space to make sure they can withstand being turned every which way on their way to their destination.

A large model of the telescope was being covered with insulation as astronauts practiced covering up old insulation on the telescope. The material they used was light as a feather and could withstand radiation, extreme heat, and extreme cold. More fascinating stuff!

In the final room we entered was the largest centrifugal force machine I could ever imagine. The room was the size of large building. The machine looked like a giant amusement park ride – It could spin at incredible speeds to see how velocity would affect any object being prepared for space – even something as big as a lunar lander. The machine has mostly been replaced with computer simulations, but is still used to calibrate the computers. When they use the machine they have to notify the city of Greenbelt because of the amount of electricity it uses!

Sometimes I can't believe we are getting to see the stuff we get to see!