{"id":262620,"date":"2015-03-16T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-344800"},"modified":"2023-09-29T16:18:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T20:18:45","slug":"mms-five-years-four-spacecraft-thousands-of-inspired-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/mms-five-years-four-spacecraft-thousands-of-inspired-students\/","title":{"rendered":"MMS: Five Years, Four Spacecraft, Thousands of Inspired Students"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"75\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpg?w=100\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"two men looking at a spacecraft behind security rope\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Full-size, Student-built model of one of four Magnetosphere Multiscale mission spacecraft on display at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">u003cstrongu003eu003cemu003eCredits: NASA\/Goddard\/Bill Hrybyku003c\/emu003eu003c\/strongu003e<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cMost kids\u2019 eyes light up when I say, \u2018your cell phone service could be interrupted because of solar activity,\u2019\u201d said Troy Cline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Space weather, such as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which are large outbursts on the sun, can affect Earth\u2019s magnetic field. A change in Earth\u2019s magnetic field may cause current surges in power lines that can lead to power failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cline, who is the education and public outreach mission lead for Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, and the NASA Goddard Education Office work with organizations such as the International Society of Technology and Education to schedule workshops and programs in different states and school districts. These workshops feature the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, components of the MMS mission, as well as heliophysics in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MMS mission uses four identical spacecraft and Earth\u2019s magnetosphere to study processes in space such as magnetic reconnection. To engage students in the mission, including processes they can\u2019t actually see, Cline simplifies concepts and uses keywords and analogies to capture their attention. He explains coronal mass ejections as solar explosions and compares the size of each MMS spacecraft to a small car. \u201cKids like to hear about rockets, jets and explosions,\u201d Cline said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research shows many middle school-aged kids lose interest in science and math. One of the education and public outreach goals is to maintain their interest in these subjects. \u201cIt\u2019s vital to instill passion in kids by talking about how NASA researches and explores the environment around us and in space,\u201d said Cline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Standard school visits and assemblies include looking at current images of the sun, sunspots and magnetic fields. Hands-on activities can include learning with magnaprobes or building scale paper models of MMS observatories and launch vehicles. Cline also stresses the importance of pursuing careers in STEM subjects. He includes the arts in his pitch, sharing how NASA hires people to create digital art and schematics, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After liaising with Cline, some educators choose to make MMS a larger part of their curriculum. For example, more than 60 students from the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, voluntarily completed STEM and art projects based on the MMS mission and magnetism. The students presented their projects at a community MMS pre-launch party that attracted more than 350 people, educating their parents and peers about the MMS mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jennifer Miller, Carroll Independent School District\u2019s instructional technologist and Ph.D. student at University of North Texas, created a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, or STEAM, camp. The camp incorporated a NASA MMS challenge curriculum. This challenge required students to choose a career and approach potential mission roadblocks from the perspective of that career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is exciting to see not only students but also teachers make connections on how topics surrounding NASA missions and careers connect to curriculum using real world events and scenarios,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carol Coryea, a science teacher at Paw Paw Schools in West Virginia, learned about the MMS mission in 2012 while taking a class at the NASA Educator Resource Center, ERC, in Fairmont, West Virginia. Coryea started using iPads to teach her seventh-grade students about solar weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coryea didn\u2019t stop there. She spent two years learning more about the MMS mission and teaching it to her students. Coryea visited NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, multiple times, both with and without her students. Coryea said she noticed the \u201cintriguing style\u201d of the MMS spacecraft and started thinking about making models in the classroom. Her initial popsicle-stick-and-glue assignment idea quickly evolved into a much larger project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coryea and her technology education counterpart, Chris Poniris, applied for and secured a grant to build a to scale model of one MMS satellite. Paw Paw, the second smallest school in West Virginia, set out to complete a large project. Seventh- through 12th-grade students worked on the project three days a week for eight months, fabricating materials and creating an exceptional final product. The model was on display last fall at Goddard. This spring the model will be on display at the Clay Center for Arts and Sciences in Charleston, West Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis project has made a lasting impression on many students,\u201d Coryea said. She believes her school has a great story to tell. Paw Paw, a K-12 school, has a high poverty rate and 100-percent free or reduced lunch program, meaning all of its students receive food subsidies while on campus. Coryea believes the project became a high point of the community. Simultaneously, she noticed her students begin to more seriously think about higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coryea said the project challenged her students and gave them a better idea about possibilities for their futures. One of Coryea\u2019s students who visited Goddard\u2019s robotics lab now talks about wanting a career in robotics. \u201cBefore last October, that wasn\u2019t the case,\u201d Coryea said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coryea has seen shy students become engaging speakers about the project and MMS mission. For Paw Paw, the project results are greater than just the model itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Miller and Coryea both traveled to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with groups of students to participate in a series of student led activities and watch MMS launch aboard an Atlas V rocket on March 12, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you ask scientists and engineers, \u2018what inspired you,\u2019 you\u2019ll often get answers that refer to an event in middle or high school. That event guided the trajectory of what they did with their lives,\u201d Cline said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping by talking passionately about the mission and NASA we encourage kids to pursue careers that capture their interests in middle school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"nasa-gb-align-full width-full maxw-full padding-x-3 padding-y-0 article_a hds-module hds-module-full wp-block-nasa-blocks-credits-and-details\">\n<section class=\"padding-x-0 padding-top-5 padding-bottom-2 desktop:padding-top-7 desktop:padding-bottom-9\">\n\t<div class=\"grid-row grid-container maxw-widescreen padding-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-2 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"heading-14\">Share<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"social-icons 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4.5h-5v16h5v-16zm7.982 0h-4.968v16h4.969v-8.399c0-4.67 6.029-5.052 6.029 0v8.399h4.988v-10.131c0-7.88-8.922-7.593-11.018-3.714v-2.155z\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"social-icon social-icon-rss\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"\/feed\/\" aria-label=\"Subscribe to RSS feed.\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 800 800\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M493 652H392c0-134-111-244-244-244V307c189 0 345 156 345 345zm71 0c0-228-188-416-416-416V132c285 0 520 235 520 520z\"\/><circle cx=\"219\" cy=\"581\" r=\"71\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"heading-14\">Details<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-row margin-bottom-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"subheading\">Last Updated<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-8\">Sep 29, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:grid-col-5 padding-right-4 margin-bottom-5 desktop:margin-bottom-0\"><div class=\"padding-top-3 border-top-1px border-color-carbon-black \"><div class=\"margin-bottom-2\"><h2 class=\"heading-14\">Related Terms<\/h2><\/div><ul class=\"article-tags\"><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/heliophysics\/space-weather\/coronal-mass-ejections\/\">Coronal Mass Ejections<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/goddard\/\">Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/mms\" rel=\"noopener\">Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/nasa-missions\/\">Missions<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Science & Research<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/heliophysics\/focus-areas\/space-weather\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Weather<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/technology\/\">Technology<\/a><\/li><li class=\"article-tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/technology\/\">Technology Research<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMost kids\u2019 eyes light up when I say, \u2018your cell phone service could be interrupted because of solar activity,\u2019\u201d said Troy Cline. Space weather, such as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which are large outbursts on the sun, can affect Earth\u2019s magnetic field. A change in Earth\u2019s magnetic field may cause current surges in power […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":274578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[10796,2857,2752,2655,2662,9480,2661,2841],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"MMS: Five Years, Four Spacecraft, Thousands of Inspired Students","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/mms-five-years-four-spacecraft-thousands-of-inspired-students\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/mms-five-years-four-spacecraft-thousands-of-inspired-students\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpeg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpeg"},"articleSection":"Science & Research","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Karl B. Hille"}],"creator":["Karl B. Hille"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Science & Research","Technology Research","Coronal Mass Ejections","Goddard Space Flight Center","Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)","Missions","Space Weather","Technology"],"dateCreated":"2015-03-16T15:31:00Z","datePublished":"2015-03-16T15:31:00Z","dateModified":"2023-09-29T20:18:45Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"MMS: Five Years, Four Spacecraft, Thousands of Inspired Students\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/mms-five-years-four-spacecraft-thousands-of-inspired-students\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpeg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2015-03-16T15:31:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Science & Research\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Science & Research,Technology Research,Coronal Mass Ejections,Goddard Space Flight Center,Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS),Missions,Space Weather,Technology\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Karl B. Hille\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":5,"time_ago":"9 years","featured_image":{"id":274578,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/mmsmodeltroyjohn.jpeg","title":"Full-size Student Built MMS model during Social Media and Media taking on-site tour of Magnetosphere Multiscale Mission (MMS) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.","alt":"","caption":"Full-size Student Built MMS model during Social Media and Media taking on-site tour of Magnetosphere Multiscale Mission (MMS) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA\/Goddard\/Bill Hrybyk NASA image use policy.\u00a0 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center\u00a0enables NASA\u2019s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA\u2019s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency\u2019s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274629,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262620\/revisions\/274629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262620"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=262620"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=262620"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=262620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}