|
NASA
JOINS THE VOLVO OCEAN ADVENTURE IN OCEANOGRAPHY EDUCATION
EVENTS IN CHESAPEAKE AREA
Click here for images
NASA's
oceanography program is coming to life in Baltimore and Annapolis,
Md., through a series of events planned to coincide with the
stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race April 17-28. NASA is teaming
with the Volvo Ocean Adventure, the educational component
of the yacht race, to teach schoolchildren and adults about
oceanography.
The
Volvo Ocean Adventure is a free, web-based environmental education
program for young people world-wide designed to educate, excite,
stimulate and motivate them have a positive impact on the
environment.
The
Chesapeake area events include:
- April 17: A special video file on NASA-TV. Dr. Eric Lindstrom
and Dr. Gene Feldman will discuss NASA's participation in
this event and the NASA Oceanography program. Air times are
scheduled for 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. EDT.
For more information, call Rachel Weintraub at 301-286-0918.
- April 18: NASA Oceanography programs will be the topic of
a discussion given by Dr. David Adamec of NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and Dr. Victor Zlotnicki of
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., during
an evening event at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.
This event is being hosted by Volvo Cars in collaboration
with National Geographic. Media are invited to attend this
event by contacting Jessica Nilsson at this international
number: 011-46-70-595-9595. Media may also contact: Christine
A. Rowett at #410-545-5980, crowett@MDSCI.org.
- April 19 and April 22-25: Youth Week at the Maryland Science
Center and the National Aquarium in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
NASA, National Geographic and Volvo will bring 1000 elementary
school children to the museums for a day-long ocean adventure
learning experience, including lectures by NASA scientists
and Volvo Ocean Race sailors, and a dolphin show.
- April 26-28: NASA oceanography exhibits including images
from the SeaWiFs instrument at the ocean race village at Annapolis
Harbor, Md.
- April 27-28: NASA oceanography exhibits including images
from various spacecraft at the ocean race village at Sandy
Point State Park, Annapolis, Md.
NASA
is participating in the Volvo Ocean Adventure by providing
satellite data of the ocean regions being traversed by the
racing yachts. The SeaWiFS (Sea-Viewing Wide Field Sensor)
global ocean color monitoring mission provides environmental
research content, images and near real-time maps of ocean
color of wherever the eight yachts are in the world's oceans
throughout the nine months of the race.
The
race consists of eight yachts sailing through some of the
most demanding ocean conditions as they travel 32,000 miles
to circle the globe over nine months. The race began in Southampton,
England, with stops in Cape Town, South Africa; Sydney, Australia;
Auckland, New Zealand; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Miami.
The yachts are scheduled to arrive in Baltimore Harbor on
April 17. On April26 they will head to the Annapolis City
Dock for their last U.S. stopover before departing for La
Rochelle, France, on April 28. The next stop is in Göteborg,
Sweden, and finally to Kiel in northern Germany where the
race will end in June.
The
Maryland Science Center is the largest provider of informal
science education in the state of Maryland, reaching close
to 300,000 students a year. The center is particularly interested
in the Volvo Ocean Adventure and the connection with NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center since the Science Center is developing
new informal education initiatives in the Earth science arena.
NASA
studies oceanography as part of the Agency's efforts to better
understand and protect our home planet. By studying the vital
role oceans play in global change we can better live on our
home planet.
Caption
for Images 1-3:
 |
|
| |
|
Image
1
|
| |
During
the Volvo Ocean Race events in Baltimore (April 17-26), this
marvelous 3-dimensional globe with its turquoise, gold, silver,
and shimmering rhinestones gloriously defining the masses
of land and water that make up our world will be displayed
at the Maryland Science Center, located at the Inner Harbor
in Baltimore. It was created by artist Larry Fuente for Ocean
Planet, a major traveling exhibition that was featured at
the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History
from April 22, 1995 to April 30, 1996.
The
artist has permanently loaned the work of art to WVSA Arts.
For this event, WVSA Arts has joined forces with the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center to present the Ocean Planet globe
and help illustrate Earth's varied systems, patterns, and
relationships which can only be visible from space, or in
this case, the mind of an artist.
The
52 inch diameter globe began with two Plexiglas sheets, which
were heated and blown like glass into two spheres, then joined
together.
Mr.
Fuente studied maps, charts, and other topographical and oceanographic
materials before sketching the shapes directly onto the spheres.
Placement of special stones and coins reflect hidden humor
and commentary by the artist. The final process involved coating
the entire globe with a clear epoxy which will protect its
beauty for generations. "The Colors of Life" is
a display that explains more about the globe, and will also
be displayed as part of the exhibit.
Caption
for Images 4-5:
|
|
| |
|
Image
4
|
| |
Larry
Fuente, the artist who created the OCEAN PLANET globe was
a recent artist-in-residence with the WVSA arts connection,
a unique and dynamic nonprofit organization serving the Washington,
DC-area children and young people with special needs for over
20 years. During that time, kids were able to talk with the
artist about his creation of the OCEAN PLANET globe. From
April 17-26, while the yachts from the Volvo Ocean Race are
docked in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, children and adults will
also get a look at the OCEAN PLANET globe at the Maryland
Science Center. The globe will be on display at the Maryland
Science Center through the summer months.
|
|
| |
|
Image
5
|
| |
NASA
TAKES ANNAPOLIS ON OCEAN ADVENTURE FROM SPACE
|
|
| |
|
Image
6
|
| |
NASA
brings oceanography from space to life with five Earth science
exhibits in Westfield Shoppingtown Annapolis Mall in Annapolis,
Md., from April 5-14, 2002. The exhibits are timed to precede
arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race to the Chesapeake Bay area
on April 17.
NASA
supports the Volvo Ocean Adventure, the educational component
of the Volvo Ocean Race, by providing satellite data of the
ocean regions being traversed by the racing yachts. The flagship
exhibit in the mall highlights NASA's SeaWiFS (Sea-Viewing
Wide Field Sensor) global ocean color monitoring mission.
SeaWiFS supports the Volvo Ocean Adventure by providing content,
images and near real-time maps of ocean color of wherever
the eight yachts are in the world's oceans throughout the
nine months of the race.
The
Volvo Ocean Adventure is a free educational website designed
to increase environmental awareness worldwide among tomorrow's
decision-makers. One of NASA's goals is to provide data and
information about the oceans to key decision-makers and the
general public. Oceanography is an important component of
NASA's Earth System Science research, and worldwide interest
in the race makes it an excellent teaching tool for oceanography.
The
exhibits consist of "The Blue Marble," a 16-foot
diameter inflatable globe that shows a composite of data sets
of the Earth as taken from space by NASA's Terra satellite.
This globe is located in the mall court area in front of the
Hecht's Department Store, and was previously displayed at
the Olympic Village for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
There
are also five exhibit panels on "Exploring the Earth
from Space," which cover the role of oceans in our climate
and include data from the satellites, including: SeaWiFS,
Jason-1, GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and
SeaWinds.
Each
of the race yachts is equipped with an instrument package
to measure sea surface temperature and ocean color, and these
measurements are transmitted back to the to Race Headquarters
and then to the Southampton Oceanography Centre in England
several times per day. As the race continues, SeaWiFS takes
readings of ocean color. By monitoring globally the color
of reflected light via satellite, scientists can estimate
how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing or growing
in the ocean.
SeaWiFS
is a unique mission in a number of aspects, including its
industry/government relationship with ORBIMAGE, NASA's industry
partner in this mission. ORBIMAGE is one of the Science Partners
for the Volvo Ocean Adventure.
The
exhibit titled "Measuring Ocean Surface Topography from
Space," highlights
the TOPEX/Poseidon mission, which revolutionized our knowledge
of ocean circulation and its effects on global climate change
and provided measurements that led to early prediction of
the El Nino phenomenon of 1997-98.
"Measuring
Earth's Gravity from Space, GRACE" highlights the Gravity
Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), an international
mission with Germany, that uses twin satellites to precisely
measure the Earth's gravity field to increase knowledge of
the motion of water on land and on the oceans.
Another
exhibit, "Measuring Ocean Winds SeaWinds on ADEOS - II,"
centers on how the SeaWinds scatterometer can acquire hundreds
of times more observations of surface wind speed and direction
each day than ships or buoys--measurements crucial to understanding
and predicting severe weather patterns and climate changes.
|
|
| |
|
Image
7
|
| |
The
exhibit titled the "Oceans' Role in Climate" demonstrates
that the oceans are the single most significant influence
on weather and climate.
The
Volvo Ocean Race is an around the world yacht race that began
in England in September 2001. Its 32,000-mile route takes
the crews and the 64-foot sailboats through some of the most
rough and remote regions of the world's oceans. The yachts
are currently in Miami and will arrive in the Chesapeake Bay
area on April 17 for an 11-day stopover. The race will finish
in Germany in June.
The
Volvo Ocean Adventure website contains a variety of environmental
topics and is a collaboration of 20 universities and scientific
institutions around the world, including NASA.
Back
to Top
|
