Illumi-Nation

NASA Reduced Gravity Team

Experiment & STEM Outreach Programs

California - Connecticut - Illinois - Oklahoma - Maryland - New Jersey - New Mexico

Research Team*

Who we Are
Team Illumi-Nation is one of fourteen teams participating in NASAs 2012 Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. Our teams sponsoring institution is Santa Ana College in California, but our team members are from seven states: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The majority of the team members met through NASAs National Community College Aerospace Scholars Program, which is a program centered on developing a fictional robotics mission to Mars.

NASAs Reduced Gravity Program

This highly competitive program provides a unique academic experience for undergraduate students to successfully propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment of their choice over the course of four-six months. The overall experience includes scientific research, hands-on experimental design, test operations and educational/public outreach activities. Our team will fly its experiment in June, 2012.

Our Experiment
Nanostructured Metallic Foams Created through Self-Propagating High Temperature Synthesis (SHS) When conducting self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) experiments under the influence of gravity, the process is disrupted. It is theorized that gravity has an adverse effect on each of the four zones. The creation of nanostructured metallic foams through SHS in microgravity conditions has yielded foams far superior than those created from ground based creation. We will be creating foams using aluminum and silver oxide as our reagents. Previous foams made from these reagents have proven to have antimicrobial properties. This is significant because the foams may be used in biomedical implants and could potentially promote re-growth of tissue. Through this experiment, we will be comparing many properties of aluminum/silver oxide foam created in microgravity versus ground based creation, including surface area, density, ignition time, ignition temperature, porosity, permeability, structural elongation, and burn rate. Antimicrobial properties will also be tested by exposing the foams to bacteria and comparing the results.

*One Team Member not pictured.

To learn more visit us at: http://www.illumi-nation.net

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Illuminate the Mind STEM Outreach Programs

The Illuminate the Mind programs were designed to inspire students to develop interests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields by exposing them to interesting and interactive lesson plans and activities. The ultimate goal of the program is the show students that STEM fields are accessible to them. Upon completion of the initial phase of either program, students will be inducted into the Illuminate the Mind Club.

Illuminate: School
This program was designed for elementary school students but can be tailored to any age group from K-12. The program is broken down into six visits, which are briefly described below: First Visit: This visit serves as an introduction of the team member, NASA programs, our teams experiment and mascot. It includes a scientific demonstration/experiment involving foam. Second Visit: The focus of this visit will be on gravity and the effects it has on objects and our experiment. It will include a candle flame in microgravity activity, which will show students how a candle flame is influenced by gravity. A naming competition for our experiment apparatus will also be introduced. Third Visit: This visit will feature a Teachers Choice theme in which we will tailor the entire visit to meet the requests and needs of the teacher. We may give the presentation ourselves or in combination with a local scientist or student majoring in a STEM field. The students will also present their name idea for the experiment apparatus. Fourth Visit: This visit will focus on the antimicrobial properties of the foams we will yield in our teams experiments. Students will learn the important of control and experiment groups and participate in a bacteria experiment. Fifth Visit: This visit will provide an opportunity for students to build water/soap rockets and then watch them launch into the sky. They will learn about the basic properties of rockets and the International Space Station. Students will receive a Certificate of induction and membership card at the conclusion of this visit. Sixth Visit: This visit will occur after our teams flight. The students will look at pictures taken before and during the flight, and will learn more about the process of scientific experiments after watching a video tape of our entire flight.

Illuminate: After-School
This program was designed for K-12 students and will be implemented within after-school programs including the Boys and Girls Club of America and the Girl Scouts of America. Through Legos Robotic Engineering initiative, students will design and build models of Zero-G planes and rockets. The first visit serves as an introduction of the team member, NASA programs, our teams experiment and mascot. It includes a scientific demonstration/experiment involving foam. The building and design workshop will begin at the second visit. In addition to assisting the students with their designs, we will help the students to develop a possible Zero-G research project. The students will be responsible for a written component which will be introduced on the third visit. The students will include a description of their proposed research project and what they hope to accomplish. Through the visits, we will explain our experiment and the reasons for microgravity research. When the projects have been completed, they will be critiqued with prizes awarded to the winners for the best projects. All students who participate will be given a certificate of induction and membership card. In addition, this program has been designed so that Girl Scouts can earn their Science and Technology badge upon completion of our program.

Team Illumi-Nation Needs Your Help!

Team Illumi-Nation needs all the help it can get to reach our goal before June, 2012. We are seeking funding for the following: 1) Supplies and giveaways for outreach events, which benefit underserved K-12 students across the country, 2) Materials to build our experiment, and 3) Travel expenses for 11 people x 10 days.

Items Needed
PARTS Nichrome wire Door interlock switch Led Led optic Battery Led driver Junction box Junction box while in use cover Toggle switch (x2) Extension cord Transformer Other Parts Sub Total TRAVEL Car Rental Hotel Sub Total OUTREACH Materials Sub Total

Funds Needed

Where to purchase

75.00

mcmaster.com - Item # 65665K13

4.00 20.00 15.00 16.00 330.00 4000.00 4460.00 mcmaster.com - Item # 71695K13 mcmaster.com - Item # 70025K65 mcmaster.com - Item # 7030K35 homedepot.com Item # 188327
multimeterwarehouse.com Model # HY3020E

600.00 4250.00 4850.00

4500.00 4500.00

GRAND TOTAL

$13,810

How Do I Make a Contribution?

We accept tangible donations (please see Pages 3 and 4 for a list of items we need) and monetary support from individuals, businesses, corporations, organizations, etc. You can send us your contribution via the web at http://illumi-nation.net/sponsors For our Business/Corporation/Organization sponsors, please take note of the levels of sponsorship below. Each will earn you varying degrees of advertisement exposure. To support our team, choose an amount under Support Team Illumi-Nation. You will then be directed to a form on PayPal.com To take advantage of one our advertisement packages, you must fill out the advertisement form after you have sent us money via PayPal.

Advertisement Packages:

Earth Sponsor: $100 and up (Text link to your website on our Sponsors page.) Moon Sponsor: $250 and up (125 x 125 pixel Square Button on bottom of main page and link to your website on our Sponsors page) Solar System Sponsor: $500 and up (125 x 125 pixel Square Button on bottom of every page, link to your website on our Sponsors page, your logo on Team t-shirt, and name mentioned in one press release) Milky Way Galaxy Sponsor: $1000 and up (234 x 60 pixel Half Banner at the bottom of every page, link to your website on our Sponsors page, your logo on Team t-shirt, name mentioned in all press releases, and link to your website published in one post on our Facebook page) Local Galactic Group Sponsor: $5000 and up (234 x 60 pixel Half Banner at the top of every page, link to your website on our Sponsors page, your logo on Team t-shirt, name mentioned in all press releases, and link to your website published permanently on our Facebook page) Virgo Super Cluster Sponsor: $10K and up (468 x 60 pixel Full Banner at the top and bottom of every page, link to your website on our Sponsors page, your logo on Team t-shirt, your logo on Team experiment, name mentioned in all press releases, and link to your website posted permanently on our Facebook and Twitter pages)

Illumi-Nations :
Nation

Illuminate the Mind Outreach Programs Sparking a STEM Interest in Students across the

Website: http://www.illumi-nation.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/team.illumination Twitter: http://twitter.com/illuminationx