engineeringminds

Moon Landing

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:53:32 GMT

On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong laid his left foot on the lunar surface and famously said “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

52 years ago, Neil Armstrong was the first human to ever step foot on the Moon followed by lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin.

Neil A. Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930. He had a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering.

For 17 years, Armstrong served as an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics).

Later, Armstrong was assigned as a command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission launched on March 16, 1966, where two vehicles successfully docked in space.

During the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the Moon and the first human to step on its surface.

He then became a Professor of Aerospace Engineering between 1971-1979. Armstrong was later chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., during 1982-1992. Armstrong passed away on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82.

Edwin Eugene aldrin Jr, better known as Buzz Aldrin, was an American astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. Born January 20, 1930.

During his time with NASA, Buzz Aldrin was involved in missions Gemini 12 and Apollo 11. Where he had spent 12 days, 1 hour and 53 minutes in space.

Before working with NASA, Buzz Aldrin was commissioned into the United States Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He had flown 66 combat missions with over 2,500 total flight hours.

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon and this was made possible by the Saturn V rocket. The rocket was 111 meters tall and when fully fuelled, it weighed 2,800,000 kg. Its immense thrust and power meant it could launch 43,500 kg to the Moon.

The rocket was called a Heavy Lift Vehicle which means it was very powerful and able to lift huge amounts of weight. It was the most powerful rocket that had ever flown successfully.

Half a century later, the event that happened on 1969 is still one of the top achievements of humankind. Despite our rapid advances with technology where an iPhone is more powerful than the computer that landed man on the Moon, humans have not been back to the Moon since 1972.

With the introduction of the Artemis program, NASA has established the goal of returning to the Moon by the year 2024 known as mission Artemis III.

Women in Space

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:26:09 GMT

As of March 2021, 65 women have flown in space, including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and space station participants. The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who flew on Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963. The first American woman in space, Sally Ride, flew aboard the Space Shuttle STS-7 in June of 1983.

First African-American Woman Astronaut

Mae Jemison was born in Alabama, but when she was only 3 years old she moved with her parents to Chicago. From a very age, she was passioned about astronomy and she turned this passioned into an astonishing achievement – to be the first African American woman in space.

Mae was very lucky to have parents who encouraged her to explore a wide range of topics. She was a curious child who loved to learn about many different subjects, from dance to astronomy, maths and anthropology. When she was a young student in the late 1950s - early 1960s, girls were not encouraged to study maths and science, as they are now and many people thought it was odd for this little girl to have an interest in science. But Mae’s parents taught her she can be anything she wants to be.

In addition to being a brilliant young mathematician, Mae was also a very talented dancer, Actually, when she was a young child she dreamt of being a professional dancer and began studying ballet at the age of 8 or 9. Dance remain one of her big passion throughout her life and one of the domains she exceeded in. At the end of her high school, she needed to make a difficult decision, having to choose between enrolling into a career in science or one in dance.

She chose science and entered a prestigious American University - Stanford at the age of only 16. It was a very young age to leave home, but Mae was a strong girl, who described herself as "naive and stubborn enough” not to fear independence.

She graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering and a BA in African and African-American Studies. While at Stanford, she also pursued studies related to her childhood interest in space and for the first time has considered applying to NASA.

Upon graduation, she enrolled into Cornell Medical School to become a doctor and during her training she discovered her passion for international work. She worked for the Peace Corps and travelled to Cuba, Thailand, Cambodia, East and West Africa to give medical care to people from many developing countries throughout the world.

Upon returning to the United States after serving in the Peace Corps, Mae Jemison took graduate level engineering courses. The flights of the first female astronaut, Sally Ride and Guion Bluford, an African-American space engineer in 1983 inspired Mae to apply to the astronaut program to NASA, and she was chosen out of roughly 2,000 applicants. The American newspapers covered her as the "first black woman astronaut" in 1987.

Mae Jemison flew her only space mission from September 12th to September 20th, 1992, on STS-47, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan, as well as the 50th shuttle mission of NASA. Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in Space and orbited the Earth 127 times. Throughout the eight-day mission, she began communications on her shift with the salute " Hailing frequencies open ", a quote from Star Trek .

Often pilots take souvenirs with them in space. Mae took a dance poster along with her on the flight, a West African statuette and a photo of pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African American with an international pilot license.

Mae Jemison's first book, Find Where the Wind Goes (2001), is a memoir of her life written for children. Perhaps this could be one of your summer books? We hope you will find a lot of inspiration in reading about this remarkable astronaut, scientist, engineer, doctor and fabulous dancer.

The most women in space at one time

The most women in space at one time happened in 2010, when space shuttle Discovery visited the space station for the STS-131 mission. Discovery’s crew of seven included NASA astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. The space station crew of six included NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

The first European woman to command the International Space Station

"AstroSam" is the nickname of the popular Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. She is the first Italian woman in space and she also won a record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours). Now she is going to be the first European woman to command the International Space Station (ISS) and the third woman in the world after Americans to be in orbit on the ISS in 2022.

Samantha has an equal interest in humanities. She enjoys learning foreign languages and her current challenge is Chinese. Occasionally she finds the time to hike, scuba dive or practice yoga.

She has been the first astronaut to drink espresso coffee in space in 2015. Did you know that espresso coffee is the typical Italian coffee?

How did Samantha get into this career?

AstroSam attended a Space Camp in US as an exchange student when was only 18th and later she graduated in Mechanical Engineering and also in Aeronautics Sciences. After being enrolled for a few years in the Italian Air Force in 2009 she was officially selected as an astronaut by the "European Space Agency" from a group of 8000 applicants.

"Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut"

AstroSam is also passioned about inspiring children

In 2015 she started an outreach program of nine-week to challenge students 8–12 years old to get fit while Cristoforetti trained in space. Mission X is a yearly international educational challenge that focuses on health, science, fitness and nutrition. Why not joining next year? https://www.stem.org.uk/missionx

What to do when bored in space?

If you are curious to know how Samantha entertains herself in space read this article on BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/33096620

Oceans!

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 09:47:12 GMT

On Earth, there is one global ocean which is split now into 5 different oceans. These are the Artic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern oceans, with the latter being newly named.

Did you know that seas are different to oceans? Seas are the body of water that is found between the ocean and land.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and has the most biodiverse waters. It also contains about 25,000 islands. Oceans will vary in temperature, salinity, and density.

Did you also know that 97% of the Earth’s water is found in our oceans? The oceans also cover more than 70% of our planet’s surface.

As an engineer, naturally our curiosity wants to know what’s lurking under the oceans. But it is a challenging task to accomplish. To this day more than 80% of the oceans remain unexplored.

Physics makes it difficult for us to explore the unknown. The zero visibility, extremely cold temperatures and most importantly, the enormous amounts of pressure are all challenges that must be overcome by vessels. The deeper you go into a body of water, the greater the amount of water above you which means there is more weight pushing onto you. Therefore, submarines have been designed to withstand this pressure to allow vessels to travel deeper into oceans.

The equation above shows us that the fluid pressure (P fluid ) is equal to the depth of the fluid (h) multiplied by the density of the fluid ( ρ) and gravitational field strength of the planet (g).

The Pacific Ocean hosts the deepest known point of the global ocean called Challenger Deep. There could be many species of sea animals and different minerals lurking at the deepest points of the ocean just waiting for us to discover. But right now, it is easier to send someone to space than the bottom of the ocean because of the crushing pressure.

The Environment

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 08:53:30 GMT

What is the environment? It is simply the world we live in and everything around us. From the trees and grass to water and animals. The environment is our home, and it is important to look after it!

However, Earth is experiencing many environmental problems because of human activities. Activities such as deforestation, where forests such as the Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed for more land or activities such as factories and vehicles producing emissions that pollute the Earth. Something like dumping plastic into our oceans can have a drastic impact on our environment and aquatic life.

So, how exactly is the environment being affected? Well, global warming is a key environmental issue. Global warming is the gradual increase of the Earth’s temperature. The global temperature increased by 1°C in the last 100 years and although this does not sound like a lot, it is certainly enough to result in drastic changes. Changes such as glaciers melting, increasing sea levels which has resulted in flooding. In some geographical locations, this change has resulted in forest fires and droughts, which is extremely scary and sad since plant and animal life is being affected! Scientists even believe that up to 50% of Earth’s species will be extinct by the end of this century and many believe that human activity is the main cause!

But what exactly causes global warming? It all stems from pollution, pollution comes from a wide range of things like cars, trucks, planes, factories and so on. They all produce greenhouse gas pollution like carbon dioxide. These greenhouse gases will travel to the atmosphere and form a layer around the Earth like a blanket. This blanket will trap more of the Sun’s radiation rather than letting it out which will heat the Earth altogether, the thicker the blanket, the more heat it will trap which will make the Earth hotter. This is called the greenhouse effect.

So, what can be done against global warming? A great way to tackle pollution is to lower the amount of pollution we produce. This is why a lot of cars now are becoming electric as electric cars do not produce any direct emissions as a traditional car would.

Another great way to tackle pollution is to incorporate more renewable energy sources. For example, did you know that sunlight can be used to generate electricity? Solar panels can convert the energy from sunlight into electricity that we can use. You may have already seen them on top of homes! Renewable energy sources do not produce nearly as many emissions as a non-renewable energy source like coal would which makes it a clean alternative.

Can you think of other ways to tackle global warming? What other renewable energy sources are there? How could we clean up all the plastic in our oceans? Get in contact and share your ideas with us, we’d love to hear them!

Women in Engineering

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 08:49:12 GMT

Some of the greatest inventions and engineering marvels have been from women within engineering and science. The internet connection that you are using right now to read this had the foundations laid by Hedy Lamarr .

Hedy Lamarr was an Australian-American inventor who pioneered the technology that served as the basis for Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth communication systems. She invented a method of encrypting signals to prevent enemy spies listening to sensitive information in WW2 which is the underlying method of how we use Wi-Fi today. Not only was she a revolutionary inventor, but she was also a talented actress!

Rockets require an immense number of calculations to ensure that all goes to plan, especially during the time before computers were introduced. Calculations such as trajectories, launch windows, and emergency back-up return paths are just a few examples that Katherine Johnon calculated for NASA missions. Katherine Johnson was also requested by John Glenn (the first American to orbit Earth) to personally check the calculations of the Friendship 7 as she was trusted more than a computer. She also performed calculations for plans for a mission to Mars.

Women and people from minority groups have always been under-represented within engineering and science. Katherine was an African American living in a time of extreme prejudice. But her determination and hard work proves that anyone with the passion to succeed will do so. Her passion led her to excel in a field dominated by males. Katherine encountered many obstacles because of her race and gender but she believed that anyone with a passion should not be put off by a perception of a profession.

How Do Rockets Work?

Fri, 07 May 2021 14:55:30 GMT

Rockets! Everyone knows what they are but how do they actually work? Can rockets look different to others? Did you know you can make your own rocket at home?

There are so many different types of rockets today, but they all generally work on a very simple principle. What goes in must come out! To put this more accurately. Rockets follow Newton’s third Law of Motion which is for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Burning rocket fuel pushes exhaust gases downwards. The opposite reaction is a force that pushes the rocket upwards.

Did you know that for a rocket to escape Earth’s gravity, it must be travelling at least 7 miles per second?

There are 4 main parts of a rocket!

1. The Nose Cone: this is usually at the top of the rocket which is why its called the nose cone. It is used to carry payload and cargo like astronauts and satellites.

2. The Fins: these parts stick out from the body of the rocket and are needed to keep the rocket flying straight. If a rocket did not have fins, then it would tumble and turn out of control during flight.

3. The Rocket Body: this part of the rocket holds the fuel and engine of the rocket. The fins are also attached to the rocket body.

4. The Engine: the engine is used to burn something called propellant. The propellant is a mix of the rocket fuel and oxidizer. The oxidizer is needed for a rocket because oxygen is needed to burn fuel. Since there is no oxygen in space, the rocket would not be able to work without the oxidizer.

The journey of a rocket from Earth to space is done in stages. This is because of the huge amount of fuel that is needed to launch the rocket. The Saturn V rocket used 770,000 litres of fuel in just its first stage of launch!

Did you know that when Saturn V launched, it cost $1.23 billion in today’s value? This is very expensive and one of the reasons is because of re-usability. Rockets can’t be re-used like airplanes can. The components that are used to launch the rocket into space like boosters do not usually survive the fall back to Earth once they have done their job. But SpaceX is currently developing re-useable rockets which would make space travel a lot cheaper. They are doing this by making boosters that can land themselves. Look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkk9VIKWw2w

Can you think of other ways that could make a rocket re-useable?

Challenge time: I want you to design your own rocket and name the components of your rocket! You can do this by drawing it or even making it at home! Send in your rockets for us to see!

If you need help, take a look at this video about making your own homemade rocket but remember to do this with an adult!

Trash in Space

Fri, 07 May 2021 14:45:46 GMT

Did you know that our Earth is surrounded by man-made trash?

Is called Space Debris and consists of parts of dead satellites, bolts, nuts. We became aware of these issues for the first time in 2009 when 2 satellites, one of them inactive, accidentally collided bursting into lots of fragments.

34,000 pieces of Space junk are larger than 10 centimetres!

Most of this Space junk is within 1,250 miles of Earth's surface, in what is known as low Earth orbit, where most of the satellites are located, including the International Space Station (ISS) where astronauts live and work.

How to get rid of the Space Debris?

Each nation should take care of its dead satellites and dispose of them within 25 years of inactivity by dragging them into the atmosphere.

Is it going to be dangerous for us?

The satellites will burn out once into the atmosphere, so they won't hit the Earth's surface, but they will indeed increase the air pollution...

What about the rubbish produced by the International Space Station?

In this video from NASA you can see how the rubbish is initially stored in the meantime a cargo ship comes to collect it and burn it during the re-entry.

Researchers at Nasa are also studying how to repurpose waste and convert the rubbish into methane gas to make rocket propellant while the water is already filtered and recycled.

Do you have any ideas about how the Space Debris could be recycled or disposed? Email us at info@engineeringminds.org.uk

Robots in Space

Fri, 07 May 2021 14:32:42 GMT

Scientists and engineers are designing Robots that are being sent in Space to explore it, as this is much safer and easier than sending astronauts. We don’t have to worry too much about the safety of these robots – though of course it is very important to build them carefully in order to last and provide us with accurate and timely information. But even if a robotic mission fails, at least the humas involved with the mission stay safe.

Sending a robot to space will cost less than sending a human. They will be able to be out there for long period of time and in most of the cases there is no return trip. However, that creates the problem of Space Debris which we have presented in this newsletter.

As you remember, robots can do lots of things that human can’t. They can withstand harsh conditions, like extreme temperatures and high level of radiation. They will also be more precise in their actions than astronauts, and will be able to do things that for humans will be risky or even impossible.

Robots developed by NASA

We are sure you do remember Milo, the Science Rover. It is actually looking so similar to Mars Rovers- Perseverance and Curiosity. NASA’s scientists are working all the time on developing new robots and they have been exploring Mars with the help of Robots since1997, when Sojourner landed on the Red Planet.

Some of you are the next engineers and scientists to build a new generation of space rovers.

Inspired by origami, one of the latest NASA Robots is A-Puffer, short for Autonomous Pup-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/robotics-at-jpl/a-puffer

This is a lightweight, two-wheeled adventurer that can flatten itself out and duck down to investigate tight spots. What do you think could be the use of such a robot in exploring the Moon or Mars? Email us your answers at info@engineeringminds.org.uk

Do you remember when you wondered whether you could take some pictures under the water with your parents’ new phone? Probably you were told not to try it. Well, the scientists have developed BRUIE, the Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration that can float in the water and roll its wheels along the underside of an icy surface, all while taking pictures and collecting data. Very exciting! One day, BRUIE might find some signs of life on icy bodies somewhere in the solar system. For example, the underground oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Why don’t you try to design some space rovers that could be used to explore one of the planets of our Solar System? You might need to research that planet and use your imagination to plan a robot to find out its mysteries. Email us your ideas at info@engineeringminds.org.uk

And why not, if you have time, try this classroom activity designed by NASA

Classroom Activity: Design a Robotic Insect

Plants in Space

Fri, 07 May 2021 14:18:05 GMT

Plants in space? Sounds a bit silly doesn’t it, especially as everyone know that’s not where they grow! Plants as we know grow in soil on the earth, but some scientists are trying to find ways to get them to grow on the Moon. Some of the plants they want to grow are sunflowers, tulips, rice and more importantly vegetables. The astronauts need to grow vegetables to make sure they have all their daily nutrients.

The biggest problem with growing plants in a spaceship, is that there is no sunlight or gravity which means the scientist have to create a place for them to be able to thrive. One of the ways they can do this is with something called Veggie , which is a garden the size of a small suitcase that can hold six plants!

As there is no gravity, the astronauts use light to guide the growth of the plants. So far they have successfully grown lettuce, Chinese cabbage and zinnia flowers. Another way that they have managed to grow plants is by using an Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) which unlike Veggie is enclosed. This means it needs less care from the astronauts as it has everything it needs in its enclosure, like its very own little world.

The plants are planted in a porous clay soil called pillows. These are important as they allow the water and nutrients to spread evenly to all of the plants. Without the pillows, as there is no gravity to let it flow, the water would form into bubbles around the roots and drown the plants, as there is no gravity to let it flow.

Different plants grown better in different colour lights and as plants reflect a lot of green light but grow well in red and blue light, most of the chambers glow pink.

Fun space facts

· There is no wind on the Moon, so the astronaut footprints are still on there!

· The gravity from the Sun and the Moon controls the tides of the oceans.

· Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are made of gas so you wouldn’t be able to walk on them.

· One million Earths could fit inside the Sun

· When you are on Mars, the sunset looks blue!

· A single day on Venus is almost longer than a year on Earth.

· Except for Earth all the planets are named after Greek or Roman gods.

· If you lined up all the planets in our Solar system they would fit between the Moon and the Earth.

Inspiring young engineering minds

irina@engineeringminds.org.uk (Irina Jarrett-Thorpe) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 09:51:27 GMT

Mazdak Ghajari and innovative helmets to protect children's brain against accidents

Inspirational Engineers and Scientists support Engineering Minds' vision of encouraging children to embrace technology and break the circle of under-representation for ethnic minorities and girls in STEAM fields. We are so excited to have Dr. Mazdak Ghajari from Imperial College visiting Eltham Library on Monday 3rd December to meet 30 children from one of the local schools. Dr. Ghajari will explain how engineering and computational modelling could be used to design innovative helmets to protect children's brain against accidents.

Christmas Lego Robotics and Web Design

irina@engineeringminds.org.uk (Irina Jarrett-Thorpe) — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

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Join us for a FREE exciting afternoon of LEGO Robotics and Web Design at The Greenwich Centre on 28th November, from 4pm to 6pm. Children will build and code LEGO robots, and will start learning web and graphic design. Whether you're a parent, a teacher or a child yourself, you will enjoy listening to our very special guest, Matt Soper from The Creation Lab who will explain some secrets of web design.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

irina@engineeringminds.org.uk (Irina Jarrett-Thorpe) — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Engineering Minds' photo higly commended by The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

So proud to announce that ENGINEERING MINDS’ picture from the Bromley Lego Robotics club has been highly commended by The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Our brilliant junior mentor and graphic designer Ludovica Quaranta took this photo which captures the dynamic, creative and progressive face of engineering. Through our Science and Coding Clubs children develop each day their young engineering minds and show so much focus and creativity.

Engineering Minds Summer 2018

irina@engineeringminds.org.uk (Irina Jarrett-Thorpe) — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

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Back to school after a great summer, coding and playing with lego robotics, exploring the space and the underwater world, discovering science in the woods. Thanks to all the kids & parents who joined us and we look forward to seeing you soon for the new Engineering and Science Clubs starting next week.

Deep Sea LEGO Robotics at the Maritime Museum

Wed, 04 Jul 2018 15:18:11 GMT

Wonderful three days of LEGO Robotics - Deep Sea Exploration hosted by the National Maritime Museum . Parents and children built and programmed robots, visited the Great British Seaside exhibition and got inspired to create short motion animation films. Some of the words used to describe the workshops were epic, creative, inspiring, amazing. It was so beautiful to watch the mothers and fathers completely engaged in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) activities with their children. Thank you all!

You can view more here.

Welcome to our brand new website!

Thu, 31 May 2018 14:30:10 GMT

Here at Engineering Minds we thought it was about time we had a fresh start and launched a brand new website which reflects our organisation.

We have improved the design of our previous website to make it easier for you to find everything you're looking for, as well as making it completely unique to reflect who we are as an organisation.

You can now easily navigate through all of our classes, reserve a place online or get in touch to enquire about any of our classes.

We'd love to know what you think! Have a browse of our new website and images and if you have any comments or feedback, please get in touch with us through our brand new contact page.