********************************************************************** EPOXI Mission Outreach E-News #8 Oct 2009 ********************************************************************** MISSION • Lunar Hydration Data acquired by the Deep Impact spacecraft of Earth's Moon reveal that hydration and rehydration is a dynamic cycle that completes during daylight, exists over the entire lunar surface during at least some part of the day, and is consistent with a solar wind source. Evidence for OH/H2O on the surface of the Moon has been observed by infrared spectrometers flying on Chandrayaan-1, Cassini and Deep Impact spacecraft. http://epoxi.umd.edu/2science/hydratedmoon.shtml Lunar Hydration http://epoxi.umd.edu/7press/news.shtml In the News... ********************************************************************** BIOGRAPHIES So who works on EPOXI? We are continuing with our plan to feature some of the EPOCh scientists as they work hard analyzing their data and some of the many engineers and support personnel who helped make the EPOCh phase of the mission successful. http://epoxi.umd.edu/1mission/bios.shtml All biographies • Meet Vikki Meadows In another life she might be a landscape gardener or librarian, but fortunately she is one of the “scientists responsible for analysis of the EPOXI Earth data. Specifically, we are comparing a model of the distant appearance of the Earth.” http://epoxi.umd.edu/1mission/bios/meadows_v.shtml Vikki’s Up Close & Personal ********************************************************************** KIDS & FAMILIES • “Finish Me” Stories Follow Sam Finnigan and his pals as they prepare to take off in his homemade rocket ship. Then finish the story by creating your own version of Sam's cosmic adventure. http://epoxi.umd.edu/5kids/stories.shtml Stories • Puzzles Are you looking for something to do together? Learn more about NASA’s Deep Impact and EPOXI missions by trying some of the crossword and wordsearch puzzles. Some are print and do, some can be completed online, all are fun! http://epoxi.umd.edu/6outreach/puzzles.shtml Puzzles ********************************************************************** EDUCATION • Extreme Navigation Try out a new standards aligned activity appropriate for middle school. In Extreme Navigation students learn how mission planners design a mission to rendezvous with a comet. Some students role play solar system bodies (Sun, Earth, a Comet) while others role play mission controllers and a spacecraft. Students will learn about the need for a planned trajectory to assure a successful rendezvous between the spacecraft and target comet. Learn more at: http://epoxi.umd.edu/4education/index.shtml • STEMapalooza sows seeds for math, science careers Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) came together in Denver, Colorado on October 16-17, 2009 with more than 100 exhibits that featured "minds-on" interactive displays for a palooza - all out party and celebration of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields: STEMapalooza! NASA's EPOXI mission was there! McREL's Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team highlighted three Discovery missions (Dawn, EPOXI, and Stardust-NExT). We had a fun and exciting booth where participants had an opportunity to take part in a variety of hands-on, interactive activities including Comet on a Stick developed by EPOXI E/PO. Approximately 10,000 participants: students, educators, business leaders converged at STEMapalooza, a rousing initiation to the second annual event at the Colorado Convention Center, sponsored by the Center for Applied Science and Mathematics for Innovation and Competitiveness at the University of Colorado, Denver. http://epoxi.umd.edu/6outreach/reports.shtml#stemapalooza ********************************************************************** SHARING WEB SITE CONTENT Did you see an interesting page on the EPOXI website? Want to share it with your friends? It’s now easier to do that since we’ve added a Share Button on all of the pages. You can post a page to your Facebook, MySpace or other social network. You can also email, Digg, Twitter… Just look for the “Add This” button in the left column on any page. http://epoxi.umd.edu/ ********************************************************************** NEXT NEWSLETTER We plan on publishing the next EPOXI mission newsletter in June 2010 when we start ramping up our activities in preparation for the encounter with comet Hartley 2 in Nov 2010. ********************************************************************** SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Please forward this e-mail to others interested in NASA missions. New subscribers may join the EPOXI Mission e-news mailing list on our website at: http://epoxi.umd.edu/6outreach/newsletters/newsletter.shtml If you wish to unsubscribe, visit the same page. ********************************************************************** EPOXI E-News features information about the mission, its outreach web site, and products, services, and materials available from the EPOXI Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) team. The EPOXI mission combines two exciting science investigations in an entirely new mission that re-uses the Deep Impact spacecraft. The Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh) investigation observed stars that have known transiting giant planets. The Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) of comets observes comet 103P/Hartley 2 during a close flyby in November 2010. The EPOXI mission is a partnership among the University of Maryland (UMD), the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp (BATC), and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). EPOXI is a NASA Discovery mission of opportunity. See our website at epoxi.umd.edu.