After a short night’s rest, the VESSS Summer Academy scholars were back to work! This morning, the halls at Langley Research’ Center’s Integrated Engineering Services Building were abuzz with students confirming last minute revisions to their missions. Yet as two o’clock ticked closer, a calm fell over the students’ meeting rooms. As the students quietly filed into the Reid Auditorium, the tension of students and teachers alike was almost palpable. A panel of NASA scientists and engineers, industry experts, and VSGC staff waited to hear the results of the students' week of hard work.
The first mission to present was Learning Effects of Atmospheric Pollution over the Pacific (LEAPP), created by the atmosphere team. Their mission goal was to study and track pollution in the atmosphere above the Pacific. By studying this, they would be able to backtrack the pollution’s origins with the intention of preventing future emissions. |
The Biosphere Research on Drought Environments (BiRDE) mission created by the biosphere team was presented second. BiRDE aimed to study a severe drought in the Eastern Mediterranean to better understand how drought affects the biosphere. BiRDE gave specific attention to changes in the coloring of vegetation, so that their results could be applied to other ecosystems. |
The hydrosphere team’s Melting Ice and Cryogenic Anomalies Analysis (MICAA) mission proposed to study changes in the terrain topography of the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets through altimetry. Through analysis of these ice sheets, the mission aimed to better understand sea level rise and any effects freshwater influx might have on ocean currents. |
The last mission presented was the Volcanic Eruption and Surface Deformation Analysis (VESDA) by the lithosphere team. The goal of this mission was to study surface deformations caused by magma flow in the Earth's crust, as well as analyze seawater chemistry with hopes of predicting volcanic activity on a global scale. |
This evening, the scholars again had the opportunity to listen to NASA Contamination Control Specialists Elaine Seasly and Gugu Rutherford speak on effective resumes and get some college application tips from the VSGC administrators.
The students learned a lot, met many talented and fantastic colleagues, developed their expertise as team players, and emerged from their experience as more skilled scientists. We at VESSS cannot wait to see where they go in the future.
The students learned a lot, met many talented and fantastic colleagues, developed their expertise as team players, and emerged from their experience as more skilled scientists. We at VESSS cannot wait to see where they go in the future.