http://www.wff.nasa.gov/webcast
This web page says the launch has been pushed back to 7:55 a.m. this
morning	

Mark Riccobono
Manager, Education Programs
Jernigan Institute
National Federation of the Blind
410-659-9314, ext. 2368
[log in to unmask]

NASA is partnering with the National Federation of the Blind to
provide 12
blind high school students a unique exploration experience during a
rocket
science camp August 15 through 21.

During the week, NASA engineers and National Federation of Blind
Jernigan
Institute blind instructors, will present workshops at the Institute
on the
history of rocketry, basic rocket physics, and basic electronics.

In addition, the students will learn basic rocket trajectory planning,
build
electronic circuits for the sensors they will fly, and practice pad
operations for the rocket they will launch August 19 from NASA's
Wallops
Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.

Al Diaz, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Science, said,
"NASA's
partnership with the Federation of the Blind is providing students a
unique
opportunity to learn about rocketry. This camp is showing all
students,
regardless of their physical abilities, that they can be part of the
nation'
s Vision for Space Exploration."

"We look forward to the possibility that one day these students will
join
NASA as scientists and engineers," Diaz said.

"What we are doing at the National Federation of Blind Jernigan
Institute is
pretty revolutionary," said Mark Riccobono, manager of education
programs
for the Institute in Baltimore. "For the first time, we are bringing
together blind students, blind teachers and NASA scientists and
engineers,
blind and sighted, to develop the tools and techniques that will get
more
blind kids excited about science."

While at Wallops on August 18, the students will participate in a
launch
review with NASA personnel, integrate their experiments with NASA
support
systems, and conduct a practice countdown.

Reporting for duty at 5 a.m., August 19, the students will begin the
countdown procedures towards a 7 a.m. launch of the 10 and a half foot
rocket. The launch window is 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The backup launch day is
August 20.

Through audible signals, the students will be able to determine the
readiness of their experiments and the rocket. The student-built
electrical
circuits will allow them to measure light, temperature, acceleration
and
pressure during the rocket's flight, which is estimated to reach 6,000
feet.

Later that afternoon back at the Jernigan Institute, the students will
begin
analyzing the data collected from the four sensors during the flight.
They
will present their preliminary results during presentations on August
20 at
the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The launch will be web cast live on the internet beginning at 6:15
a.m. at:
http://www.wff.nasa.gov/webcast

For more information on NASA education programs, visit the internet
at:
http://education.nasa.govim Antonacci Mark your calendar for August

Mark Senk | 412-386-6513 | [log in to unmask] 


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