When NASA mission STS-99 blasted off into space on February 11, hundreds of kids were peering out the windows of the space shuttle Endeavour, taking in the wonders below. But they weren't wearing space suits or eating that weird dried ice cream. They never even set foot inside!
As part of a NASA-sponsored program, students in 80 schools from around the world got a bird's-eye view of Earth through a special camera that is mounted in the shuttle window.
EarthKAM, short for Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School students, gives kids complete control over the camera, allowing them to view Earth from high above, just as astronauts do. By sending signals to the camera through the Internet, students can position the lens, zoom in and take pictures.
"We get to see exactly how different landforms look from space," says Luci Ore, a fifth-grader at Pine Hall Elementary in North Carolina.
It's a great project, but the kids are really just along for the ride. The shuttle astronauts are taking their own pictures of Earth, using a powerful imaging-radar camera. Their images will help make a new map of the world--the most detailed and accurate topographical world map ever. The 3-D pictures will give mapmakers the exact elevation of different areas on Earth's surface.
Mission Control
Learning how to operate high-tech camera equipment is no easy task. Since the shuttle orbits Earth once every 90 minutes, the students need to give their camera precise targets. Just like the astronauts, the kids who participate in EarthKAM have to go through training to get "flight certified," and this can take months. They learn to use science, math and geography to pick their shots. Once they pass their training, the kids are set for lift-off!
"I learned that it's hard work to be an astronaut," said Kenny Gantz, 11, from Omaha, Nebraska.
"At first I was confused about my job responsibilities. But after a while, I learned to target the image," says Toan Dao, an eighth-grader from Charleston, South Carolina.
For a look at the students' work on their mini-mission, you can go to www.spacekids.com/earthKAM.