Put to the Test

MISSION TO MARS: On Wednesday, midday, CJ and Annabelle went to The Museum of Flight for a special Mission to Mars event. 

There were a couple of different related activities. I'll have Annabelle tell you more about them. 

On April 24th, My brother and I attended a "Home School Day" event at The Museum of Flight. The event was held in the upper great gallery, and consisted of a few tables spaced around the floor with ample room for working. There were two activities at the event, and we were able to do both in the time allotted.

The first activity was creating a "space suit" for a marshmallow that would keep it from shrinking in the small vacuum chamber an attendant had for the demonstration. We were given latex gloves, plastic bags, tape, and a number of other things for use in the space suit. My brother and I wrapped the marshmallow in the glove, tied it tightly as possible, and put that into a plastic bag that had been taped shut. In both tests, our marshmallow survived with little to no harm or shrinkage. 

The second activity involved LEGO Mindstorms robotics, using the pre-built rovers to go through various commands such as picking up only certain rocks or pushing them to designated zones. It was interesting to play with the block coding system and find the different ways each mission could be completed, as there was no wrong or right answer - there was, however, much trial and error. Since I had used LEGO Mindstorms before, I had a bit more experience, though my brother was also very useful in suggesting how to solve certain issues or tweak the code.

Below is a conceptual design of the spacesuit exercise. 

 And here are a few of the process photos.

The kids were glad their marshmallow astronaut stood up to the vacuum test. 

The robotic test was super challenging, based on the many videos I viewed that CJ shared with me. I only shared these two out of about ten. 

SCIENCE SURVEY: Recently, in my online travels, I came across a story about a science knowledge quiz conducted by Pew Research Center. It's a short, 11-question, multiple choice quiz that Pew Research gave to 4,464 randomly selected U.S. adults in January of this year. 

If you like, you can take the quiz and see how you stack up vs. the average American.

A full analysis of the findings can be found here: 

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/03/28/what-americans-know-about-science/

I won't share any spoilers, but let's just say the kids (who each went 11-for-11) were mortified by the percentage of people who scored a 0 or 1 on the quiz. 

News-y

GROUNDED!: We finally got some great news today that is about a month in the making. CJ and Annabelle have both been accepted in Private Pilot Ground School via the Highline School District at The Museum of Flight this summer!

This program provides the opportunity for students who will be in grades 9-12 next fall "to explore the world of aviation while creating a base of aeronautical knowledge that pilots need to successfully pass the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) private pilot exam," per the program's website. 

To get them eligible to participate required a mountain of paperwork, visiting multiple different offices at multiple locations, a flurry of emails and a few phone calls. But the work paid off, fortunately. It's just such a great opportunity. The program only costs $35 out-of-pocket apiece, and the if they successfully complete the class, the kids will each earn 5 college credits for it. Sweet!

NASA NEWS: Today, we checked in on a couple of NASA missions we've been watching. 

First up was news from the Mars lander InSight. In the photo below, you can see InSight's wind and thermal shield, which covers the probe's seismometer, or Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS). 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/IPGP/Imperial College London

As you might recall, among other things, InSight's equipment is designed to record "marsquakes" on the Red Planet. On April 6, 2019, SEIS appears to have recorded trembling that appears to have come from underneath the planet surface, as opposed to being caused by forces above the surface, such as wind or the lander's moving parts. 

This video shows that event.  


NASA notes that audio from InSight's sensors have been sped up by a factor of 60 in the video as the actual vibrations on Mars would not have been audible to the human ear. More about the InSight mission can be found here: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight .
Meanwhile, asteroid Bennu continues to be studied by OSIRIS-REx, a spacecraft that arrived in the asteroid's area back in December.

Just released is this technicolor GIF. It's made from over 11 million measurements of the asteroid.
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oxkbEkiuSSUPo5odNKbDXf-970-80.gif
The space probe continues to orbit Bennu, and it's still scoping out the best spot for a sample collection from Bennu's rocky surface. 
Here's a cool photo of Bennu's south pole.

 After the sample is collected from Bennu, the probe is set to head back to Heart in March of 2021.

ACTIVE: This afternoon, our bees were as active as I've ever seen them. Dozens and dozens were buzzing about the hive, coming and going. Here's a short video. 

It's amazing how much noise they make. What you hear in the video is not traffic or wind, it's them. I could actually hear them from inside the house through a closed window today.

Sweet Sixteen

BIRTHDAY BOY: We were busy celebrating CJ this weekend.

On Friday, we did the traditional birthday breakfast at Easy Street, a record store in West Seattle that happens to have a little cafe in it.

CJ had a stack of "Blueberry Hill" pancakes, and selected a Slayer album as a birthday present. A nice way to start a day. ;)

Saturday, we went to an arcade in Ballard called The Ice Box. There, CJ spent handfuls of quarters on classic games, including a rare machine, F-Zero AX. Afterward, he chose to go to Yard House for dinner, as he's a big fan of their "Carnivore" pizza. He also got a special dessert. 

Overall, CJ got some cool gifts and had a good day. Happy #16, CJ!

CHECK UP: At the end of last week, we cracked open our beehive for the first time since setting it up a couple weeks prior.

 Annabelle donned a beekeeper's suit and helped with the check up.

In the photo below, you can see a few bees returning to their hive, a couple of them weighted down with lots of pollen.

 Inside, you can see they have been busy bees, making brood comb and honeycomb.

 Christian used a special tool to life one of the racks up and out.

 On one of the racks, we spied our queen bee. She's marked with a green dot in the photo.

You can see there are already eggs in some of the comb they've made!