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| Front row, from left, Randi Neff (STEM Collaborative Project Coordinator) is pictured with Sophia Thach of Fayetteville, Madison Hogan (Brevard) and Nickolas Grant (Spartanburg, SC). Back row, from left, Tim DeLisle (Field Study Manager for The Learning Center at PARI), Austin MacDonald (Greensboro), Brent Rawls (Asheville) and Dennis Cox (Sylva). |
Southwestern Community College held its first NASA “Space Apps” challenge from Oct. 18-20 on the Jackson Campus.
Space Apps introduces problem-solvers worldwide to NASA’s free and open data. NASA missions to Earth,
our Sun and solar system, and out into the universe – all gather data in pursuit of new knowledge, to expand understanding through new scientific discoveries, and to help improve life on Earth. By using NASA data to solve each year’s challenges, Space Apps teams create and apply open source materials to educate and inspire the public.
This year, SCC hosted two teams tasked with promoting awareness of NASA’s involvement with human travel to the moon as well as problems surrounding orbital debris.
Sophia Thach, Madison Hogan and Nicholas Grant participated in “The Art Side of the Moon,” which challenged them to create an artistic work to communicate, inform or inspire others about humanity’s return to the moon.
They created a website that lets users go on an adventure to the moon and the International Space Station or explore life on Earth. The goal was to immerse users in experiencing the moon. The group created a door leading to the moon that directs users to two colonies represented by a drawing of an astronaut. For each colony, an infographic was developed, and audio experiences were embedded along with NASA images. The rough draft of this adventure can be found online here: https://tinyurl.com/moon2024
The group associated a short audio story with snippets of people’s experiences watching the moon landing 50 years ago and an interview with Neil Armstrong.
Another team made up of Brent Rawls, Austin MacDonald, Timothy DeLisle and Dennis Cox participated in “Orbital Scrap Metal – The Video Game.”
Their challenge was to create an orbital debris collection videogame web app, building upon NASA’s Spacebirds and real data. The web game was programmed using JavaScript to simulate laws of physics so users could experience the difficulty of this challenge.
This browser-based game teaches players about the challenges of orbital debris, using realistic 2-D physics to show how mass and opposite forces impact a ship in space. Players must fly a ship in Earth's orbit to collect scrap, without creating more scrap than they remove. To try this difficult game, use this online link: http://campus.pari.edu/programs/spacecleanser/
Both teams will be advancing to the international level for further judging by NASA officials.
For information on results from each of the challenges, please visit: https://2019.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/sylva-nc
For more information on next year’s repeat of this event and activities related to The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative, please contact Randi Neff, STEM Collaborative Project Coordinator, at r_neff@southwesterncc.edu or 828.339.4357.
