Blast Off To Johnson Space Center With the 4-H NYSD Contest

The Texas 4-H Youth Development Program is excited to announce another exciting event during National 4-H Week.  This one includes an opportunity for 4-H youth and adults to visit the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas for a fun-filled day of educational experiences in the aerospace and rocketry project.  The Texas 4-H Program has partnered with NASA’s Summer of Innovation and the Texas A&M University Department of Geology to select up to 30 4-H members and adults to take an educational tour of Johnson Space Center on Wednesday, October 8, 2014.   

This event will coincide with the 4-H National Day of Science and the 2014 science project of “Rockets to the Rescue.”  Selected participants will be led on a guided tour beginning at Space Center Houston, then toured through a variety of areas of the NASA field center.  Throughout the day the participants may have the opportunity to meet with scientists and engineers working on NASA’s major projects and/or current and former astronaut crewmembers.  The end of the experience will include the youth and adults coming together into teams to build their own “Rocket’s to the Rescue” rocket and launch from the grounds of NASA Johnson Space Center.

The contest is open to all 4-H members in grades 6th to 12th, adult volunteers, and County Extension Agents in Texas.  To apply, applicants will complete three simple questions online at:  http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/rocketessay.  Each question is limited to 300 charters and the questions are:

1. The Orion Spacecraft is a new era in space travel for the United States.   It is a part of NASA’s new space launch system will allow people to travel beyond any limits we have been before to such places as Mars.  In your opinion, why are projects such as the Orion Project important to our country and world?
2. As a 4-H member/adult in Texas and having an interest in the areas of science, technology, and/or rocketry, how do you think 4-H can play a part in the Orion Project?
3. If you were an astronaut and selected to fly on a Orion, what type of experiment would you like to conduct in space and why would you choose that particular experiment?

Rules for the contest are:

1. Entries are now being accepted at: texas4-h.tamu.edu/rockets.
2. All entries must be submitted online.
3. Up to 30 youth and adults will be selected from across Texas in order to represent all geographic areas of Texas and 4-H membership.
4. Youth and adult selected are responsible for their own travel and expenses to and from the NASA Johnson Space Center.
5. Only those youth and adults selected can attend the NASA Johnson Space Center experiences.  Any parents, siblings, and/or spouses can visit Space Center Houston, Galveston Island, or other local venues during the time of the event.
6. You may be required to provide a photo id for the JSC tour.
7. Contest will close on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at midnight.
8. Winners will be notified via email on Friday, September 26th.

This is a great opportunity for our 4-H members to become highly engaged in the area of rocketry and aerospace, as well as an opportunity to recognize and train 4-H volunteers and agents in an exciting new project for either community clubs or SPIN 4-H Clubs.  We hope that you will join us in promoting and encouraging your 4-H members to consider this opportunity.