Dozens of middle school students from San Francisco to Gilroy, California, will compete in the Zero Robotics finals – the only national robotics competition that takes place with hardware in space. The teams have written computer code to direct volleyball-size flying robots aboard the International Space Station in a bid to “save the planet” from a scenario where a comet is on a collision course with Earth.
The competition seeks to build lifelong skills, interest and increased awareness of career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and will be held from 7 a.m. to noon PDT Friday, Aug. 15, in the ballroom of the NASA Ames Conference Center (Building 3) in the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field, California. The flying robots, called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES, are managed by Ames.
News media interested in attending should contact Rachel Hoover at rachel.hoover@nasa.gov or 650-604-0643
Middle school students from underserved schools, Ames engineers, and University of California (UC), Davis, School of Education staff will be available to discuss their experiences with the month-long summer learning opportunity. The program is coordinated by the California AfterSchool Network located at the UC Davis School of Education in the Center for Community School Partnerships (CCSP), which serves as the fiscal agent and convener for the network.
The first Zero Robotics competition was held in 2009 in a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Space System Laboratory, NASA and other organizations striving to encourage STEM education for middle school students. The first competitions were held in a few pilot cities. The competition has broadened to seven states and the District of Columbia. This is the second year California has engaged in the competition through Ames and UC Davis.
For more information about SPHERES, visit:
For more information about the Zero Robotics competition, visit:
For more information about the California AfterSchool Network, visit:
http://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/
