Hello Troops,
My student conversation of the day...... I'm outside Shelley Elementary supervising the pick up zone. It is 3:40 P.M. Most of the students are gone except for a quartet of two brothers and two sisters and another boy, waiting for their rides.
6th Grader. "Our neighbors lawn looks a lot worse than this lawn."
4th Grader. "He pays us to come pull weeds."
Kindergartner: "We pull weeds."
Me. "Well, if he had a lawn he'd probably pay you to cut it. A perfect summer job."
6th Grader. "I have a job cutting lawns."
The Unrelated 4th Grader. "I had to cut my lawn once with scissors."
Me. "You mean shears?"
The Unrelated 4th Grader. "They were scissors."
Me. "That would be the ultimate torture of all tortures. Imagine having to cur your lawn with scissors. There is nothing worse!"
4th Grader. "Yes there is. Doing the 4th grade dance for the dance festival is worse than that!"
Me. "You'd rather cut your lawn with a pair of scissors than dance in the dance festival?"
4th Grader. "Yes. That dance is torture."
The Endeavor at the Discovery Space Center
Long time Space Center staff and volunteers remember our Space Center Honor's Nights, where we recognized outstanding achievement and volunteer hours served. Honor's Nights died when the Space Center closed in August; and now, thanks to the Discovery Space Center, they're back!
All current and former Space Center staff, current Discovery Space Center staff, Farpoint Cadets and Space EdVentures Foundation volunteers are invited to the resurrected Honor's Night to be held this Saturday evening at the Discovery Space Center from 7:00 to 8:30 P.M. Parents are invited to attend as well. I'll be there to make a special, history making presentation, along with a few other special announcements from the Discovery management. It is something you'll not want to miss.
Farpoint Cadets, I'll also be answering your questions about volunteering at the Space Centers.
Mr. Williamson
Space and Science News
The super-active sunspot responsible for unleashing the three most powerful solar flares of 2013 within a 24-hour stretch this week is slowly rotating toward Earth and will likely be facing our planet by the weekend, experts say.
Active Region 1748, as the sunspot is known, unleashed three monster solar flares between Sunday and Monday (May 12 to 13). Every one of the solar storms registered as an X-class flare — the most powerful type — with each successive event stronger than the last, culminating in an X3.2 megablast Monday night.
These solar explosions did not affect Earth, since AR1748 was not facing our planet at the time. But the sunspot is now circling into view, so future flares and any associated eruptions of super-hot solar plasma — called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — could potentially target our planet, scientists say.
BREAKING NEWS: Planet-Hunting Kepler Spacecraft Suffers Major Failure, NASA Says
The planet-hunting days of NASA's prolific Kepler space telescope, which has discovered more than 2,700 potential alien worlds to date, may be over.
The second of Kepler's four reaction wheels — devices that allow the observatory to maintain its position in space — has failed, NASA officials announced Wednesday (May 15).
...
If one or both of those failed wheels cannot be brought back, the telescope likely cannot lock onto target stars precisely enough to detect orbiting planets, scientists have said.
The $600 million Kepler spacecraft spots exoplanets by flagging the tiny brightness dips caused when they pass in front of their host stars from the instrument's perspective. The mission's main goal is to determine how common Earth-like alien planets are throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
Kepler needs three functioning reaction wheels to stay locked onto its more than 150,000 target stars. The observatory had four wheels when it launched in March 2009 — three for immediate use, and one spare.
One wheel (known as number two) failed in July 2012, giving Kepler no margin for error. And now wheel number four has apparently given up the ghost as well, after showing signs of elevated friction for the past five months or so.
"This is something that we've been expecting for a while, unfortunately," NASA science chief John Grunsfeld told reporters today.
Here is Today.
Here is Today is a web site that puts your life in perspective. You are required to take a minute, visit the web site and gain an all new perspective on your time in the universal scheme of things. This is required. Do not proceed until you've done this activity. I'll know if you haven't. I'll find you and use all my teacher skills to making you feel guilty.
I'm not kidding.
Space Center Staff Spotted at the Opening of Star Trek Into Darkness.
Ben, Morgan, Jacqueline and Brayden.
They make Trekkie "COOL"
I'm proud of them.
9 Biggest Myths About the Apocalypse
We've all spent a little time obsessing about the end of the world (or maybe a lot of time). But are your apocalyptic thoughts based in reality, or fed by pop culture fantasies? Here are nine myths about how the apocalypse will happen. Read More
Australian scientists have found a way to print large but extremely lightweight and flexible solar panels like money.
World-leading scientists at the CSIRO said the A3-sized panels, which are created by laying a liquid photovoltaic ink onto thin, flexible plastic could soon mean everyone has the ability to print their own solar panels at home.Read more
Are there going to be more Honor's Nights?
ReplyDeleteI am a volunteer, but I am unable to make it Saturday due to other conflicts...
Will there be a recap on the blog?