1999 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synoposis |
| STARSHINE DISCO BALL ROCKS IN SPACE | G99-036 | 05/04/99 | 00:14:17 | Starshine is an international, educational satellite slated to be launched from the the Space Shuttle Discovery during upcoming STS-96 mission. This twinkling spacecraft will be visible to the naked eye during morning and evening twilight periods, giving students around the world an opportunity to make measurements and perform experiments by tracking the satellite. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): STARSHINE ANIMATION- The Starshine student spacecraft is mounted and spring-deployed from a Get Away Special (GAS) canister with a Hitchhiker ejection system onboard the STS-96 Space Shuttle. Starshine will be sent into a highly inclined, low earth orbit. The mirrors on the Starshine spacecraft reflect flashes of sunlight to student observers on the earth during its mission.
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| ITEM (2): ANIMATION OF STUDENTS OBSERVING STARSHINE - While in space, student observers around the world between the latitudes of 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south will measure the satellite's rise and set in the sky. They will track the satellite by making measurements of longitude, latitude, and altitude from their observing sites, posting their observations through the project's web site. Their international data will allow computation of the classical elements of the satellite's orbit.
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| ITEM (3): TIME IS GETTING SHORT - From day to day, the period of the satellite's orbit will grow shorter due to aerodynamic drag. After approximately six months, the satellite will descend to a sufficiently low altitude where aerodynamic heating will cause it to become a spectacular meteor falling in the sky and will vaporize completely. Through their calculations, the students around the world will attempt to photograph the shining event. |
| ITEM (4): DISCO BALL ROCKS IN SPACE - This small "disco ball" is a student spacecraft called "Starshine." It was built by the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. for deployment into space at a low earth orbit from a Hitchhiker canister on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-96). Students of all ages from around the world worked on nearly 900 of the tiny mirrors in their classrooms and then sent them back to the project, where they were placed on the spacecraft.
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| ITEM (5): A WORLD CLASS PROJECT - 878 tiny aluminum mirrors have been voluntarily machined, sanded, polished, and inspected by students of all ages from around the world. These students are from Edgar Allen Poe Middle School. The mirrors were soon mounted on the surface of the Starshine spacecraft to reflect flashes of sunlight to observers on the Earth during its mission. This twinkling satellite will be visible to the naked eye during morning and evening twilight periods.
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| ITEM (6): STUDENTS KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE ON "STARSHINE" - Students from St. Michael the Arc Angel School in Baltimore, Maryland don bunny suits and enter a NASA clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Here they inspect their satellite and learn more about the ejection system that will send "Starshine" into space. Other classmates watch from outside the room to wait for their turn to enter the clean room.
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| ITEM (7): INTEGRATION OF "STARSHINE" - "Starshine" is placed into its canister before being shipped to Kennedy Space Center. Close inspection reveals the ejection system that will send "Starshine" into space.
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| ITEM(8): INTERVIEW WITH GIL MOORE, DIRECTOR, PROJECT STARSHINE
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