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  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza MoonKAM operators: West Vigo Middle School eighth-graders Payton McCall and Douglas Wilkins display the photos they took with the MoonKAM system in Diedre Adams' classroom Friday at the school.

    MET 050412 MOON PHOTOS.jpg

  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Science in hand: West Vigo Middle School eighth-grader Douglas Wilkins, 14, displays some of the lunar samples sent to his science teacher, Diedre Adams, on Friday at the school.

    MET 050412 MOON WILKINS.jpg

  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Lunar focus: West Vigo Middle School eighth-grade science teacher Diedre Adams helps sixth-grader Jamie Cuffle take a photo of the moon's surface with the MoonKAM program on her computer Friday at the school.

    MET 050412 MOON ADAMS.jpg

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May 6, 2012

Focusing on the moon: NASA provides lunar lens to West Vigo science students

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — As part of a special NASA program, some West Vigo Middle School students are taking photos of the moon through their access to a lunar satellite equipped with cameras.

About 40 West Vigo students have been involved in the MoonKAM project, said Diedre Adams, a West Vigo Middle School science teacher.

NASA has two satellites orbiting the moon, called its Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, project. The mission’s purpose is to map the moon’s gravitational field to better understand what is going on beneath the moon’s surface.

But another mission goal is to inspire students to take more of an interest in science through MoonKAM  — Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students.

 Two lunar satellites (called Ebb and Flow) are each equipped with four cameras that for a limited time can be used by students in grades 5 through 8 to photograph (indirectly) the lunar surface.

Students don’t actually control the cameras on the satellite at that moment, Adams said. Instead, they input data, or coordinates, into a NASA computer, which then relays that information to the camera.

“It’s the first time NASA has done anything like this. It’s the first time they’ve had a satellite back at the moon since 1972,” Adams said.

The satellite connection is available to schools for a limited time, she said.

West Vigo Middle School science teachers applied to the program and the school was accepted, Adams said. Many other schools across the country also are involved with MoonKAM.

The West Vigo teachers gathered the names of all students who were interested, and Adams then drew about 40 names.

“NASA sent me some 50 codes and a satellite link, and I let my students get on my computer. They uploaded their code and the coordinates they’d like [to have] photographed, and the satellite accepts or rejects them,” she said.

The satellite would reject the photo if it was too close to the nighttime orbit and too dark to take.

When the pictures come back, Adams puts them on photographic paper and gives them to the students.

“Some students are selecting mountains or craters, others are choosing specific historical coordinates, such as the site of the first lunar landing or a favorite crater,” Adams said.

West Vigo eighth-grader Doug Wilkins was one who participated. “I thought it was really cool, especially because my little brother thought Transformers were actually on the moon,” student Wilkins said.

He was referring to the movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

Wilkins chose his photograph site because “I thought it was probably one of the coolest spots on the moon.”

While he’s not interested in science as a profession, he likes looking at the stars, especially when he goes hunting early in the morning. He likes to find “the guy with the bow and arrow [Orion]. … I feel like it’s good luck.”

Another West Vigo student to participate was eighth-grader Payton McCall. She chose a section of the moon that “had a lot of craters.”

When she received the picture, she looked at it and thought, “I chose this spot. It’s like my spot on the moon now. It’s pretty cool,” she said.

She enjoys science, especially labs.

Student Matt Edington wasn’t selected, but he was so eager to do MoonKAM, Adams let him take one of her practice photos.

Adams said MoonKAM is a way to get students interested in science.

She has much experience with NASA and space science. In 2008-09, she spent a school year in Washington, D.C., working in NASA’s Office of Education through a prestigious fellowship program. Also in 2009, she participated in a Northrop Grumman Foundation “zero gravity” flight in Detroit. She and 29 other teachers conducted science experiments during the flight.

At the end of April, she went to Washington, D.C., to provide feedback on science experiments to be done on the International Space Station. The experiments must involve K-12 and college students but also be relevant to NASA. She was part of a four-member panel.

She uses other space-related artifacts in her classroom, including a Space Shuttle tile that can withstand 3,000-degree heat, and six patches designed for space suits when astronauts do space walks.

For a limited time, she also has moon rocks that she took to school on Friday.

Reporter Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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