Post date: Apr 17, 2017 1:33:55 PM
Our week participating in the Microgravity University for Educators finally came to an end today. In true NASAMgUE fashion, our final half day was packed full! We spent the first part of the morning touring the Nanoracks office and the second part was spent giving final presentations.
Nanoracks
Our tour was lead by their Chief Technology Officer
Nanoracks is a commercial company that gives private entities access to space. They began by launching small satellites into space that could be used to collect data or perform experiments. They then expanded to having an external exposure lab on the ISS. Surprisingly, it is cheaper to send an exposure experiment to space, than it is to use a vacuum chamber on Earth. (Think radiation testing.)
Nanoracks current project is working on building an airlock for the ISS, that will open more doors for experiments and data collection. Their long term goal is create their own space station.
Currently they have the only direct communication link to the ISS outside of NASA. It was fascinating to learn about the partnerships that are forming between NASA and commercial companies.
Presentations
Our final hours of the workshop were spent giving final presentations about our experience to a panel of NASA employees. There were representatives from other parts of the education arm of NASA as well as employees from technology and engineering sides.
It was so neat to hear about how the teams from other states included their schools and communities in this project and to hear about the plans they have for the future to expand on this project and what we’ve learned from this workshop.