Parke Heritage Middle School science students had the opportunity to listen to National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel on Monday.
Diedre Adams, an eighth grade science teacher in Vigo County and former educational consultant for NASA, and Cindy Breslin a retired biology teacher from Jacksonville, FL presented information about the space program to the science classes.
Adams is an Albert Einstein Distinguished Fellow. During her time at NASA, she worked in the education department at the headquarters in Washington, D.C. She headed up speakers and presentations, reviewed museum exhibits and organized the media for launches.
During the presentation, the students were able to see some samples of space items. These included priceless lunar moon samples, meteor samples, space shuttle tiles, U.S. flag patches from the astronaut’s space suits and space bags.
The space suits that astronauts wear are around 300 pounds on Earth, but they are weightless in space. The patches of U.S. flags alone cost $2,000.
The space stations only go 250 miles away from the Earth and they travel eight hours to get to their destination in space. When the astronauts traveled to the Moon, it took them four days and they had to go 250,000 miles.
The presentation also discussed the many uses of everyday items that have been developed by NASA research. These include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, TV, cell phones, under armour thermal clothing, heating and cooling techniques, X-ray techniques, food storage and more.
