MSGC News & Events

2010 Fall Meeting of the National Council of Space Grant Directors

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:25:01

The Maine Space Grant Consortium is pleased to host the 2010 Fall meeting of the National Council of Space Grant Directors in beautiful downtown Portland Maine on October 14-16.

This meeting will be attended by about 200 representatives from all 52 space grant consortia including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, NASA personnel, students and guests.

Presentations will include student and faculty projects in aersopace research and education as well as current events and topics at NASA.

For more information on the meeting please go to www.msgc.org

NASA is Preparing for Liftoff!

Thu, 13 May 2010 12:42:21

The countdown is on for Friday's scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A continue preparations for the liftoff at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The rotating service structure will be moved away from the spacecraft at 5:30 p.m. today.

"We've had a very clean countdown so far and we're currently on schedule, and we're not working on any issues," NASA Test Director Jeremy Graeber said during a morning status briefing.

On the eve of their launch to the International Space Station, Atlantis’ astronauts will enjoy a quiet day after conducting an L-1 systems and weather briefing with the ascent team of flight controllers at the Mission Control Center in Houston.?

During the 12-day mission, Atlantis and the mission's six astronauts are delivering an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station.

Favorable weather is predicted for the rest of the week. According to STS-132 Weather Officer Todd McNamara, the primary launch weather concern is a low cloud ceiling. But the forecast is good overall, calling for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time.

For more information, visit NASA's website

Going Under! STS-132 Mission Specialist Mike Good, waves as he is submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near NASA's Johnson Space Center. SCUBA-equipped divers (out of frame) are in the water to assist Good in his rehearsal, intended to help prepare him for work on the exterior of the International Space Station.

Photo credit: NASA/JSC, September 30, 2009

The Challenger Learning Center of Maine offers Programs that Focus on Students and Teachers

Thu, 13 May 2010 12:26:10

The Challenger Learning Center of Maine located in Bangor, offers educational programs for students and families throughout Maine. Their mission is:

Through a diversity of programs we educate students and teachers in order to inspire an active lifelong passion for space and Earth science.

The State of Maine has a high proportion of middle school students that do not meet the state standards for educational attainment in mathematics and science and although it has a high percentage of students graduating from high school, too few go on to college. The Challenger Learning Center of Maine addressess these problems by conducting programs that are designed to:

Inspire our young students to achieve higher levels of education, particularly in the areas of mathematics and science;
Encourage students to choose careers more aligned with mathematics and science;
Motivate more of our local graduates to pursue technology-based opportunities within the State of Maine.

In addition to simulated space missions, the Challenger Center offers professional development opportunities for educators, science education camps during school year and summer vacations, and a variety of family events promoting scientific literacy in everyday life.

For more information on the Challenger Learning Center of Maine and its programs, visit their website

Maine Space Grant Consortium's/NASA Intern is Heading for a Successful Medical Career

Thu, 13 May 2010 11:18:52

Shawn Johnson participated in MSGC's Maine Aerospace Workforce Development program in the summer of 2006, interning at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The focus of his project was to aid in the development and utilization of advanced electrocardiographic techniques that will more immediately identify cardiac disease and the propensity for cardiac dysrhythmias in long-term space travel. Studying under his mentor, physician Dr. Schlegel, M.D., he examined data received from hospitalized patients suffering from coronary artery disease for the occurrence of cardiac conduction disturbances. This was done using the advanced ECG technology being developed in the Neuroautonomic Laboratory at NASA.

Since his internship at NASA, he has graduated from the University of New England with a B.S. in Medical Biology. He is currently attending A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine to become a physician. He is President of the KCOM student chapter of the American College of Neurology and Psychiatry, a member of the Internal Medicine club, the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, and the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation club.

Shawn's goals are to become a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician and to be involved in clinical research.

Good luck to Shawn, we know he will succeed in reaching his goals!

Successfully Commercialized NASA Technologies highlighted in NASA Spinoff

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:47:00

For more than 40 years, the NASA Innovative Partnerships Program has facilitated the transfer of NASA technology to the private sector, benefiting global competition and the economy. The resulting commercialization has contributed to the development of commercial products and services in the fields of health and medicine, industry, consumer goods, transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources.

Click here For more information on NASA's Spinoff and to view a searchable database.