Document text
SUNNY Temp: 51 °F Wind: WSW at 3 mph Thursday, October 2, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 28, 2003 St. Mary�s science and math teacher Holly Bensel helps sixth-graders, from left, Vanessa Gorski, Cameron Tooker, Susan Wagner and Joe O�Sullivan examining radio telescope data collected on Mars. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Sixth-graders take Mars readings Scientists in California help them maneuver a NASA telescope, using St. Mary’s computers By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune Mars may be more than 40 million miles away, but sixth-graders at St. Mary’s School in Medford closed that gap Friday with a few clicks of a mouse. Using school computers and guided by scientists from Lewis Center in Apple Valley, Calif., over the phone, 24 local students took turns maneuvering a NASA telescope and recording temperature readings on the Gusev Crater on Mars. "It was kind of nerve-racking at first, but it got better," admitted sixth-grader Joe O’Sullivan. "Mars is one of my favorite planets. That was really fun." "I thought we were going to mess up, but it was really cool," said sixth-grader Susan Wagner. Advertisement For five years, St. Mary’s students have taken part in the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope Program (GAVRT), a nationwide space exploration partnership that allows students across the United States to operate a 34-meter telescope via computer. Students can also log onto another computer and watch the telescope’s movement replayed live from a camera at the Southern California facility. The program is a partnership that includes NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Lewis Center for Educational Research. According to Holly Bensel, a math and science teacher at St. Mary’s, students have only taken readings from Jupiter when working with GAVRT in the past. The class typically spends several weeks preparing for the event and studying astronomy. But Friday’s exploration of the red planet came as a surprise, albeit a welcome one. "It’s a special project. It really is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," she said. Students worked together Friday evening in small teams, taking directions from scientists via phone, entering detailed calibrations into the computer and recording the results. During the computer down-time, students chatted with scientists about everything from school subjects to snack foods to pets. "I was excited about getting to talk on the telephone," added sixth-grader Vanessa Gorski. "The lady was really nice." After entering the readings into spreadsheet software, the students initially pegged the temperature on Mars at 3,804.1 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Celsius is water’s boiling point, zero is the freezing point). "That’s a little too high," noted Bensel, who added that several adjustments were needed before an accurate count could be made. "Way to go guys!" Typical temperatures on Mars range from highs of about -6 degrees Celsius (20 degrees Fahrenheit) to lows of -129 degrees Celsius, (-200 Fahrenheit. St. Mary’s High School students Derek Roemer and Ben Carr were on hand to troubleshoot if the class experienced any computer difficulty Friday. The pair remembered their fear and excitement when they took part in GAVRT a few years earlier. "It’s cool, just exploring what’s out there," said Roemer. Carr recalled the fears he and fellow students had operating the radio telescope, which was formerly used by NASA's Deep Space Network to track robotic planetary missions such as the Mariner missions, Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, and other spacecraft exploring the solar system, according to the telescope program’s site at deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/gavrt/ on the Web. "We’re only sixth-graders and we’re controlling this humongous telescope," said Carr. "What would happen if we broke it? Would they have to take it out of our allowance?" Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times