Friday evening, March 15th, DIIS hosted speaker Greg Clements, a 37 year employee of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Greg spoke to the community and students about NASA’s mission, upcoming solar events, projects NASA is currently involved in, and internship opportunities for high school and college students.
Did you know that one of the greatest challenges of the moon landing for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was the moon dust? Due to lack of erosive forces on the moon and in other parts of space, dust particles are sharp and uneven, like shards of broken glass. During the moon landing, dust coated the visors of the astronauts’ helmets making it difficult to see. When they wiped it off it would scratch the surfaces–imagine scratched up sunglasses. NASA engineers are working on ways to handle this challenge. One solution being developed is a magnetic force field that would repel the dust. How interesting is that?!
Highlighting many of the advancements in technology that were made possible by research done for space programs by NASA, Mr. Clements reminded the group that “NASA belongs to everyone.” “NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.”
Thank you to Mr. Clements for teaching and inspiring us and for answering all of our questions. We are so grateful to have a friend and mentor at NASA!
