Local and international student winners of the NASA Space Settlement Contest will visit NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., on June 21, 2004, to present their visions of where and how people will live in the future.

The annual contest challenges students to design all aspects of an orbital space colony, from the colony’s structural design, atmosphere regulation and waste management, to how the colony will keep its inhabitants happy and healthy.

Media representative are invited to attend the student presentations and a tour of NASA Ames.

Date: June 21, 2004

Schedule:

  • 10:00 a.m. PDT Welcome by NASA Ames scientists and engineers
  • 11:00 a.m. PDT Student presentation: ‘LEDA,’ grand prize winners
  • 11:20 a.m. PDT Student presentation: ‘SEEDS’
  • 11:40 a.m. PDT Lunch and NASA Exploration Center tour
  • 12:55 a.m. PDT NASA Ames facility tour

Who: Student winners from California, Florida, India and Romania

Where: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

The 2004 grand prize was awarded to Flaviu Valentin Barsan, Andrei Dan Costea and Carmen Maria Sigovan from Constantza, Romania, for their submission ‘LEDA.’ United States entries were received from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Virginia. Other international entries were received from Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Romania. A total of 122 submissions was received from 444 students.

Founded in 1994, the contest is designed to spark a student’s interest in math and science and to develop the ideas and skills to make orbital colonies a reality. The contest also is a key component of NASA’s efforts to inspire the next generation of explorers. The contest is judged by scientists and engineers from NASA’s Fundamental Space Biology Program and is funded by NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research, which investigates fundamental biological processes through space flight and ground-based research.

To view the winning submissions and for more information about the Space Settlement Contest, visit:

http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/Contest/

For information about the Fundamental Space Biology Outreach Program, visit:

http://weboflife.nasa.gov

For information about NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research, go to:

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/