A quarterly publication of the NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program 

produced by the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI)

for the users of our information products and services

October 2003

A New Spin on Flight NASA and Non-NASA NASA's Spinoff 2003 celebrates the 

centennial of flight and features NASA's new Education Enterprise.

Finding ways to apply cutting-edge technologies to life on Earth is 

one of the most important by-products of aerospace exploration 

and research. Spinoff 2003, NASA's premier publication, features 

the Agency's latest innovations, such as a hand-held personal safety 

device that warns pilots of potentially dangerous cabin pressure 

altitude conditions, and the cochlear implant, which has restored 

hearing for thousands of individuals, and allowed thousands of 

others born deaf to perceive sound for the very first time. 

In addition to showcasing 53 commercialized products, Spinoff

2003 celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' 

historic first flight with a special section highlighting the vast 

aeronautical contributions made by NASA and its predecessor, the 

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Spinoff 2003 also welcomes NASA's newest enterprise 

dedicated to education with an entire section devoted to the Agency's educational efforts in 2002-

2003. Furthermore, the publication features a reference resource to NASA's technology transfer 

network for those interested in accessing, utilizing, and commercializing NASA technology. 

Since NASA's inception in 1958, technologies resulting from the Space Program have introduced 

hundreds of new or improved products and processes to the American consumer because of 

partnership successes between NASA and private industry. NASA was first in developing the 

technologies for many of today's conveniences. Spinoff describes the latest products incorporating 

space innovation in the areas of health and medicine, transportation, recreation, consumer 

products, public safety, computer and manufacturing technology, and environmental and resources 

management. 
Online versions of Spinoff, beginning with the 1996 issue, are available at 

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff.html. 

The Spinoff Web site also contains a searchable database of every technology featured over the 

past 28 years. Contact information for companies and consumers is available at 

spinoff@sti.nasa.gov. 

A free print copy of Spinoff 2003 may be obtained by going to: 

www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spin_order_form.html. Complimentary Spinoff 2003 interactive CDs, 

available in mid-November, may also be ordered at this site, or by calling the National Technology 

Transfer Center at 1-800-678-6882.

Additional information about the NASA Commercial Technology Network is available at: 

http://www.nctn.hq.nasa.gov.

In keeping with our focus on education in this issue, we 

thought you might enjoy taking a little quiz on the NTRSand maybe learn a little in the process. If you can 

answer all three questions, share your knowledge with 

others and send them to the NASA Technical Reports 

Server. 

What does the NTRS cover? 

The NTRS was launched in April 2003 for an integrated 

search of the NASA and National Advisory Committee for 

Aeronautics (NACA) collections. The NTRS content 

focuses primarily on the NASA and NACA scientific and 

technical report and journal literature. The current number of searchable citations in NTRS is 264K 

and growing. Users can expand their search to include information from organizations and agencies 

external to NASA by selecting non-NASA archives on the Advanced Search page. These non-NASA 

archives are comprised of both citation and links to full-text images. The NTRS harvests information 

from other NASA sources as well as non-NASA sources.

How are data "harvested" by NTRS? 

The NTRS retrieves, or harvests, metadata from sites using the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) 

Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). The OAI-PMH (http://www.openarchives.org/) is a lowbarrier protocol for data exchange for data repositories. NTRS harvests metadata from NASA 

centers, research projects, and affiliated institutes. It also harvests from non-NASA sources such as 

the Physics E-print Server, BioMed Central, the Energy Citation Database, and Aeronautical 

Research Committee reports from the MAGiC Project. The NASA STI Program Office is exploring new 
ways to expand the scope of aerospace-related information in an OAI environment. 

What enhancements can you anticipate? 

The future direction of NTRS is to enhance the search functionality to include more data fields to 

search, expand the number of fields that display to users, and provide users access to full-text 

document images for the NASA technical reports.
Students at Williams Technology Middle School in 

Huntsville, Alabama are featured in a new segment of 

NASA CONNECT, a video series aimed at improving math, 

science, and technology education. Here, students 

conduct demonstrations showing how Newton's laws of 

gravity relate to the development of the next-generation 

space transportation.

The early days of space exploration inspired an 

entire generation to embark on careers in 

science and mathematics. These days-with 

interest in math and science decreasing-NASA 

has institutionalized inspiration. This can be 

seen everywhere, from the mission statement (http://nasa.gov) to the new Education Enterprise 

http://education.nasa.gov)to the recruitment of Educator Astronauts, fully qualified members of 

NASA's Astronaut Corps (http://www1.edspace.nasa.gov/what/whatis.html) to the strong 

educational components that are essential parts of a range of NASA programs, projects, and 

missions.

In 2002 alone, NASA reached well over half a million educators, nearly two million students in 

kindergarten through the 12th grade, and almost 70,000 higher education students through 

direct, on-site activities and programs. In addition to those served by broad-based NASA 

education programs, the Agency also directly reached over 17,000 minority students through its 

minority-targeted academies, scholarships, and other initiatives.

The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program supports these efforts by providing 

publications and videos to those who are developing educational programs and materials. The 

following is a selection of 2003 publications and their Document IDs from the NASA Aeronautics 

and Space Database. All documents can be ordered from the NASA Center for AeroSpace 

Information (CASI) Help Desk (help@sti.nasa.gov). If you are a NASA or other Federal agency 

employee, prime contractor, or grantee, you can view and obtain them directly at 

http://www.NASAeronauticsSpaceDatabase.nasa.gov. Some references are also available 

through the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS).

Concepts

Robbins, Kay A. Changing the Paradigm: Preparing Students for the Computing Profession in the 

21st Century. Document ID (CASI): 20030022717. 
Topics, Tools, and Techniques

Doherty, Paul. Science Explorations with Simple Materials From the Exploratorium. Document ID 

(CASI): 20030062884. 

Ericsson, Aprille Joy. NASA Overview (K-12, Educators, and General Public). Document ID (CASI): 

20030053385. 

Han, Gina. Science Buddies. Document ID (CASI): 20030062873. 

Harris, Nikki; Wall, Curtiss E.; Jacobs, James A. MST-Online: The Updating of an Educational 

Internet Resource in Materials Science and Technology. Document ID (CASI): 20030062859. 

Lisensky, George. ABCs of Nanotechnology: Atoms, Bits, and Civilization. Document ID (CASI): 

20030062885.

Okuda, Roy K. Science Fairs as a Vehicle to Inspire the Next Generation of Scientists and 

Engineers. Document ID (CASI): 20030062881.

Prior, Edwin J.; Jacobs, James A.; Chung, W. Richard. National Educators' Workshop: Update 

2002 - Standard Experiments in Engineering, Materials Science, and Technology. Document ID 

(CASI) 20030062842.

Rusin, John M. Attention-Getting Materials Science Demonstrations. Document ID (CASI) 

20030062849.

Rusin, John M.; Stoebe, Thomas G. Status of Materials Science and Technology (MST) Curriculum. 

Document ID (CASI): 20030062882. 

Simoes, Ricardo. Computer Graphics Software For Teaching Crystallography. Document ID (CASI): 

20030062880. 

White, Nicholas E.; Lochner, James; Rohrbach, Gail; Cochrane, Kim. What is your Cosmic 

Connection to the Elements? Document ID (CASI): 20030057145. 

Projects, Programs, and Partnerships

Bagg, Thomas C., III; Brumfield, Mark D.; Jamison, Donald E.; Granata, Raymond L.; Casey, 

Carolyn A. Systems Engineering Education Development (SEED)Case Study. Document ID (CASI): 

20030025438.

Bannerot, Richard B.; Sickorez, Donn G. National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA)/American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program - 

2000. Document ID (CASI): 20030064055. 
Carlson, Barbara. The Institute on Climate and Planets (ICP): A Research Education Program; 

Final Report. Document ID (CASI): 20030022716. 

Chaudhury, S. Raj; Rodriguez, Waldo J. Scientific Visualization & Modeling for Earth Systems 

Science Education; Final Report. Document ID (CASI): 20030012606. 

Gans, Gary. University Program Management Information System: NASA's University Program 

Active Projects. Document ID (CASI): 20030019874. 

Hayes, Charles R. Educational Outreach Program Summary. Document ID (CASI): 20030062857. 

Kankam, M. David. Glenn's Strategic Partnerships With HBCUs and OMUs. Document ID (CASI): 

20030060675. 

Kundu, Nikhil K.; Leach, Sarah E. Swing Set Design: A Project In Stress Analysis. Document ID 

(CASI): 20030062843. 

Lumpp, Janet K. KEEP: Kentucky Electronics Education Project, Microelectronics as a Theme in 

Math and Science. Document ID (CASI): 20030062875.

Monroe, Joseph; Kelkar, Ajit. Integration of NASA Research into Undergraduate Education in 

Math, Science, Engineering and Technology at North Carolina A&T State University; Final Report. 

Document ID (CASI): 20030020929. 

Pascali, Raresh. Development and Engineering Design in Support of "Rover Ranch": A K-12 

Outreach Software Project; Final Report. Document ID (CASI): 20030064069. 

Rosendhal, Jeffrey; Gould, Roy R. NASA Education Forum at SAO on the Structure and Evolution 

of the Universe; Annual Report. Document ID (CASI): 20030052731.
This department is for you! We welcome your contributions and comments. Send them to us, and 

we will publish them in the next issue.

NASA Videos

Q. Where I can order some NASA footage of the Earth as seen in space. I would like to have a 

VHS and eventually a beta SP or digibeta tape. 

A. CASI distributes NASA video footage. All videos are formatted in VHS and Betacam SP and are 

distributed in the U.S. broadcast standard, NTSC. To receive videos in other formats or foreign 

broadcast standards (PAL or SECAM), please contact the STI Help Desk for increased pricing.

Option 1. You can search the Video Catalog yourself at 

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/Pubs/Videocat/videocat.pdf. The Catalog is produced in a searchable 

PDF document. Click on the binocular icon to search for keywords. The abstracts of 

approximately 2,000 videos are listed in the catalog. After you find a video of interest to you, 

note the document ID number and the title, then use the Secure Online Order Form bookmark 

link to make your purchase.

Option 2. You may wish to have us conduct the search for you. We charge $30 (for domestic 

users) or $60 (for international users) for one Quick Search, which identifies the best videos (by 

their abstracts) per your recommended subject. 

Option 3. Since you are searching for Earth views, we recommend contacting NASA Goddard 

Space Flight Center, which focuses on Earth science. They specifically have a mix of shuttle and 

satellite imagery of the Earth. 

New STI Website for Inside NASA Portal Coming Soon 

The STI Program is completing the effort to design a new Website to link to the Inside NASA 

portal. Extensive comments from users have been received and incorporated into the new 

design. Final technical and design implementation is currently being completed with the 

expected release date in late November.
Each year NASA produces new educational products, which are used by NASA education staff at 

NASA-sponsored workshops and events. The following are 2003 publications. Electronic versions 

of these products are available on NASA Spacelink and may be printed and copied as needed. 

Educational Briefs

Title Audience Grade 

Level

Wireless Drop Tower for Microgravity 

Demonstrations 

EB-2003-01-19-MSFC 

Educators & 

Students

9-12

Educator's Guides

Title Audience Grade 

Level

Exploring the Extreme Guide

A Teacher's Guide with Activities in 

Mathematics, Science and Technology

EG-2003-01-001-DFRC 

Educators K-8

Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers' 

Adventure

An Educator Guide with Activities in Aeronautics

EG-2003-02-007-GRC 

Educators &

Students 

6-9

Rockets

A Teacher's Guide with Activities in Science, 

Mathematics, and Technology EG-2003-01-108-

HQ 

Educators K-12

Science in a Box

An Educator Guide with NASA Glovebox Activities 

in Science, Mathematics, and Technology

EG-2003-01-009-GRC 

Educators &

Students 

9-12
Educational Programs

Title Audience Grade 

Level

NASA Aerospace Education Services Program 

(AESP) State Contacts 

EP-2003-03-396-HQ 

Educators &

Students All

NASA Digital Educational Resources Brochure 

EP-2003-07-412-HQ 

Educators &

Students 

K-Post 

Doctoral

NASA Explorer Schools Brochure

EP-2003-06-411-HQ Educators 4-9

Educational Wall Sheets

Title Audience Grade 

Level

Educator Astronaut Program Poster 

EW-2003-02-139-HQ Educators K-12

International Space Station CAD Wall Sheet 

EW-2003-06-141-HQ All 7-12

NASA Student Involvement Program Poster 

EW-2003-02-135-HQ All K-12

Night Lights Poster 

EW-2003-03-007-GSFC All 5-8

Program de Participation Estudiantil de la 

NASA

NSIP Poster-Spanish Version

EW-2003-03-140-HQ 

All K-12

Educational Videotapes

Title Audience Grade 

Level

Data Analysis and Measurement: Dancing in the 

Night Sky

NASA CONNECT Videotape Series

An educator guide for Mathmatics, Science, and 

Technology 

EG-2003-02-05-LARC 

Educators 6-8
New Publications 

Thinking About NASA History Folder. This folder contains materials aimed at familiarizing 

scientists and engineers with the manner and process in which NASA History materials are 

created. The materials also provide a good example of historical models and thought processes 

for historians not familiar with NASA. To request a free copy, call (202) 358-0384 or email 

histinfo@nasa.gov.

Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles by Roger E. 

Bilstein. This book, published by the University Press of Florida, is a reprint of the original NASA 

SP-4206. The entire text as well as illustrations and pictures are included in this publication. The 

publication may be ordered directly from the University Press of Florida's website. 

American X-Vehicles: An Inventory- X-1 to X-50 by Dennis Jenkins, Tony Landis, and Jay Miller 

is Monograph in Aerospace History 31 (NASA SP-2003-4531). This concise, but very informative 

monograph covers the various experimental aircraft in sequential order and also includes details 

about the lifting bodies and D-558. It also provides flight statistics for each X-Vehicle and 

background on each vehicle program. The publication may be obtained by sending a selfaddressed 9x12" envelope for each monograph with appropriate postage for 17 ounces (typically 

$3.95 within the U.S., $5.70 for Canada, and $12.15 for overseas - international customers are 

asked to purchase U.S. postage through an outlet such as www.stampsonline.com) to the NASA 

Headquarters Information Center, Code CI-4, Washington, DC 20546. 

Concept to Reality: Contributions of the NASA Langley Research Center to U.S. Civil Aircraft 

of the 1990s (SP-2003-4529) by Joseph R. Chambers. This substantial publication is a companion 

to the author's Partners in Freedom (monograph 19) which covers Langley's contributions to 

military aircraft. Concept to Reality is Monograph in Aerospace History #29. To request a copy of 

this monograph, please send a self-addressed 9x12" envelope for each monograph with 

appropriate postage for 17 ounces (typically $3.95 within the U.S., $5.70 for Canada, and $12.15 

for overseas. International customers are asked to purchase U.S. postage through an outlet such 

as www.stampsonline.com) to the NASA Headquarters Information Center, Code CI-4, 

Washington, DC 20546.

Voyager's Grand Tour: To the Outer Planets and Beyond by Henry C. Dethloff and Ronald A. 

Schorn has been published by the Smithsonian Institution Press. Every 176 years, Earth and the 

outer planets gather on one side of the sun, allowing close observation in a single flight, or 

Grand Tour. To exploit this alignment, the Voyager team developed the so-called gravity assist 

that essentially sling-shot Voyager I and II from planet to planet. Since their 1977 launch, the 

probes have discovered strange new worlds and transmitted streams of revolutionary data and 

eye-popping images that have exploded long-held theories and raised new questions about our 

solar system. In this book, readers are invited into Voyager's inner circle, conceiving, launching, 

and directing the craft as it discovers rings around Jupiter, geysers on Triton, and intriguing 

possibilities of extraterrestrial life. It is available for purchase from the Smithsonian Press web 

site.
On the Frontier: Experimental Flight at NASA Dryden by Richard P. Hallion and Michael H. 

Gorn has also been published by Smithsonian Press. Aviation enthusiasts will savor the most 

detailed account available of record-setting aircraft like the X-1 and X-15, flown by Chuck 

Yeager and other legends, as well as all the cutting-edge NASA and Defense Department 

programs that perfected the aeronautical concepts and technology used in U.S. military, space, 

and commercial craft. This is a significantly revised and updated version of a classic work and 

includes three new chapters, dozens of rare photographs, and a completely updated text. It is 

available from the Smithsonian Press Web site. 

New Electronic NASA History Resources

NASA's 45th Anniversary. NASA began operations on October 1, 1958. Learn more about its origins 

in the NACA and the reasons for its transformation. 

Apollo 16 Flight Journal by David Woods and Tim Brandt. This journal provides a comprehensive 

look at the Apollo 16 flight from launch to splashdown.

The Thinking About NASA History Folder. This folder contains materials aimed at familiarizing 

scientists and engineers with the manner and process in which NASA History materials are 

created. The materials also provide a good example of historical models and thought processes 

for historians not familiar with NASA.

Forecast of Upcoming Anniversaries. This site chronicles major anniversaries in aeronautics and 

astronautics for the upcoming months.

Flight Research at Ames, 1940-1997 (NASA SP-3300, 1998) by Paul F. Borchers, James A. 

Franklin, and Jay W. Fletcher. A richly illustrated, monograph-length publication, this is a very 

informative work on aeronautics research in general. A special thanks to Chris Gamble for 

formatting this book for the Web.

The Planetary Quarantine Program: Origins and Achievements, 1956-1973 (NASA SP-4902, 1974) 

by Charles R. Phillips. A thin, but significant, volume on a topic of considerable interest over the 

years. Thanks to Chris Gamble for scanning and formatting this book for the Web. 

Engineer in Charge: A History of the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory,1917-1958 (NASA SP-4305, 

1987) by James R. Hansen. A well-written, informative Center history of NASA Langley's 

aeronautical research roots. Special thanks to Chris Gamble for preparing this book for the Web. 

Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo (SP-4308, 1995) by 

James R. Hansen. This volume picks up where Engineer in Charge left off by addressing NASA's 

forays into spaceflight research. Special thanks to Chris Gamble for preparing this book for the 

Web.

Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the history of the U.S. Civil Space Program, 

Volume III: Using Space (NASA SP-4407). This is the third volume in an ongoing series of 

reference books that are useful for those interested in both space history and space policy. It 
consists of four chapters of documents with introductory essays. You may also want to see some 

of the other volumes in this series that are online in a similar format by clicking here. Thanks to 

Chris Gamble for scanning this resource for the Web. 

Click here for information on the STS-107(Columbia) accident. Much historical information is 

also available about the Apollo 1 and STS-51L (Challenger) accidents, as well as general Shuttle 

history.
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