A rocket must carry the fuel it expels in order to accelerate its structure and payload. The rocket equation relates the change in speed to the fuel mass expelled. To launch a spacecraft into Earth orbit requires a multi-stage rocket, since otherwise the mass of fuel required would be prohibitive. While the details vary among historical and…

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration--European Space Agency collaborative mission to test the feasibility of defending Earth from a catastrophic asteroid impact by using a spacecraft to deflect the asteroid away from the planet. Launched on Nov. 23, 2021, the DART spacecraft will intercept…

This article describes the NASA-Funded Space Grant Project BOREALIS: "Balloon Outreach, Research, Exploration, and Landscape Imaging System." BOREALIS conducts high-altitude balloon flights to the "edge of space" with flights typically reaching 100,000 feet and a current record flight in the summer of 2020 that reached 126,000…

Space science education is an area of emerging importance in the 21st Century. Missions sponsored by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and programs facilitated through the NASA Space Science Education Consortium (NSSEC) offer unique opportunities to foster learner interest in space science as well as the broader field…

Despite the advanced technology and engineering that has gone onto the International Space Station and other space programmes, the measurement of the force experienced in the spacecraft is tested using a method that is well over 350 years old. The time of oscillation of a simple pendulum, as often investigated in school physics, provides the basis…

While the satellite industry is characterized by dynamic innovation, it has steadily matured into a healthy, market-driven model of customers, value generators, and supporting suppliers. Even while the satellite market remains strong, satellite employers are caught squarely in the aerospace talent management paradigm. When a product line is…

Moonshot is the redesign of NASA's High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS), which traditionally engaged Texas high school juniors in a 16-week online course for credit and an intense week-long onsite experience working in teams with experts at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our challenge was to design,…

The authors describe successful STEM teacher recruiting and training practices developed through the Talented Teachers in Training for Texas (T4) program. They discuss implementing three distinctive recruiting experiences--a STEM Master Teacher Job Shadow, a STEM Day, and a NASA Aerospace Teachers Program--along with a multiyear scholarship and…

Sense-making has been described as working on and with ideas--both students' ideas and authoritative ideas in texts--to build coherent storylines, models, and/or explanations. This article describes the process for developing storyline units to support students' making sense of and explaining a rocket launch. The storyline approach, which aligns…

Mathematics teachers are constantly looking for real-world applications of mathematics. Aerospace education provides an incredible context for teaching and learning important STEM concepts, inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Teaching mathematics within the context of aerospace generates…

The authors developed The Paper Plane Challenge as one of a three-part response to The Aerospace Engineering Challenge. The Aerospace Engineering Challenge was the second of three multi-part activities that they had developed with the teachers during the year. Their aim was to introduce students to the exciting world of engineering, where they…

The aviation industry is exceptionally dynamic. Advances in technology have enabled the industry to change drastically in a short period of time. The transition to jet propulsion advances in aerodynamics, avionics improvements, and introduction of revolutionary navigation systems have all occurred within the past 60 years. These advances have…

This article features Scott D. Tingle, a former career and technical education (CTE) student who always aimed high. November 4, 2011 marked the official culmination of a cherished, virtually lifelong dream of his--becoming an astronaut. It was a goal he had in mind even when he was a high school student in the 1980s at Blue Hills Regional…

The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored professional development of educators in the NASA Summer of Innovation (SOI) program. The Idaho, Montana, and Utah (IMU-SOI) program worked with educators and students from thirteen Native American communities. The summer sessions were focused on problem based learning and…

This paper presents a method to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education through participation in a reduced gravity program with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Microgravity programs with NASA provide students with a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research with innovative and…