Monday, March 31, 2014

"Virginia Tech KTU exhibits on April 5th!"


The exhibits below are for KTU registered kids and parents in the Virginia Tech Kids' Tech University program on April 5th! 

Exhibit title- "Robtic Extraterrestrial Mining"

Mining in Space is the first step to substantial space travel and colonization. The extra-terrestrial minerals that have been studied have proven to be an effective fuel source. This is a must in the endeavor that is deep travel. Colonies on other planets would need to have a local fuel source. The first step in this would be in developing robots that can harvest regolith in the harsh environments found on Mars and Asteroids.

Group hosting exhibit- Astrobotics at Virginia Tech

The Astrobotics team is a senior design team in the Aerospace and Mining engineering departments that is participating in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition. This is the 5th year of the competition formerly known as the Lunabotics competition has be held at Kennedy Space Center, but as space exploration has shifted from the moon to Mars and asteroids. The team is tasked with designing and building a robotic rover capable of mining Martian or asteroid regolith.  
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Exhibit title- "New River Valley Rocketry "

Our booth will have static displays of rockets ranging in height from 3” to over 12 feet. We will have on display different types of model and high power rocket engines as well as payloads from altimeters to video cameras. We will show short video segments of rocket launches from our launches in the New River Valley and from other sites around the world. Come see the Virginia Tech themed rocket which went from 0 to 619 miles per hour in less than 50 feet and is signed by the original rocket boy, Homer Hickam. 

Group hosting exhibit- New River Valley Rocketry – TRA prefecture #143 

New River Valley Rocketry is a prefecture of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, Inc. Our mission is to educate, enable and inspire students and the public on safe construction, launching and recovery of all sizes of hobby rocketry. We provide event insurance through our parent organization, file all proper FAA waivers and NOTAM and fly with permission of land owners. We strictly follow our safety code which has proven itself in over 50 years of hobby rocketry experience with an estimated over 500 million rockets flown without any serious injury or death. NRVR strongly encourages and supports outreach and activities to generate excitement and enthusiasm for the next generation of scientists, engineers, and rocket and space enthusiasts. 
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Exhibit title- "DNA Extraction from Strawberries"

The Biochemistry Club hosts this hands-on experience with DNA. DNA is the genetic material that gives living organisms their characteristics. The Biochemistry Club of Virginia Tech invites all KTU participants to engage in a hands-on DNA extraction from strawberry. We use strawberries as a source for extracting DNA because they are soft and easy to pulverize, and they produce enzymes which aid in breaking down the plant cell walls.  Strawberries have enormous genomes.  They are octoploid, which means they have eight of each type of chromosome (which equals abundant DNA). At the end of this experiment participants can take their strawberry DNA home.

Group hosting exhibit- Biochemistry Club

The Biochemistry Club of Virginia Tech is an  undergraduate Biochemistry majors group that sponsors events for career development of students. One important activity is the engagement of elementary school students in science activities.

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