STUDENTS VISIT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This summer, students participating in a research experience for Undergraduates (REU) program had special opportunity to explore NASA behind the scenes at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.
An REU is program conducted during the summer in which students create their own summer project to research.
Twelve REU students, four graduate students, and three professors made the two-day trip to Texas in June. The students visited the Museum of Natural Sciences where they saw various exhibits and attended a planetarium show. Also on the agenda was a stop at the Johnson Space Center. The students got a first-hand taste of "space politics" in action as they attended a weekly meeting of a committee that discusses the future of NASA space programs and missions.
While at the Johnson Space Center the students visited different research labs. The labs included such research as dating meteorite samples and another researching the effects of impacts by space debris on spacecraft. The students also saw the lunar rock samples brought back by the Apollo missions in the late 60’s.
On the public tour of the Space Center the students visited astronaut-training facilities, viewed mock-ups of the International Space Station and the Saturn 5 rocket displayed at Rocket Park.
Student comments, such as that from undergraduate student Sonya Barner, indicate they thought the trip was worthwhile, interesting, and fun. "I liked the opportunity to actually observe work at JCS first-hand," Barner said.
"Much better than a textbook," Adam Rowland added.
UA Professor Derek Sears along with Dr. Dick Marston and Dr. Steve McKeever, both professors with Oklahoma State University, served as advisors to the students on the trip.
Students attending included:
Adam Rowland works on the OSU campus and is a student at Texas A&M University.
Three grad students--Chris Neel, Ramona Gaza, and Brandi White are OSU students, and Shawn Nichols attends the U of A.
Undergraudates:
Tahirih Motazedien: Corvallis, Oregon
Katherine McKeever: Stillwater, Oklahoma
Isra Sunhachawi: Merritt Island, Florida
Jay Wright: Springdale, AR
Adam Rowland: Lake Jackson, Texas
Spencer Riley: Farminton, Utah
Sonya Barner: Jackson Mississippi
Nik Hagedorn: Memphis, Tennessee
Thomas Dougan: Coffeyville, Kansas
Justin Thompson: Hot Springs, AR
Jennifer McGee: Conway, AR
Contacts
Jennifer McGee jamcgee@uark.edu or,Derek Sears, University of Arkansas Chemistry Dept., (479) 575-5204, dsears@uark.edu
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