Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Caroline McCall
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
617-253-1682
Cmcall5@mit.edu
RELEASE: 11-335
NASA INVITES STUDENTS TO NAME MOON-BOUND SPACECRAFT
WASHINGTON -- NASA has a class assignment for U.S. students: help the
agency give the twin spacecraft headed to orbit around the moon new
names.
The naming contest is open to students in kindergarten through 12th
grade at schools in the United States. Entries must be submitted by
teachers using an online entry form. Length of submissions can range
from a short paragraph to a 500-word essay. The entry deadline is
Nov. 11.
NASA's solar-powered Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory
(GRAIL)-A and GRAIL-B spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Fla. on Sept. 10 to begin a three-and-a-half-month
journey to the moon. GRAIL will create a gravity map of the moon
using two spacecraft that orbit at very precise distances. The
mission will enable scientists to learn about the moon's internal
structure and composition, and give scientists a better understanding
of its origin. Accurate knowledge of the moon's gravity also could be
used to help choose future landing sites.
"A NASA mission to the moon is one of the reasons why I am a scientist
today," said GRAIL Principal Investigator Maria Zuber from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. "My hope is
that GRAIL motivates young people today towards careers in science,
math and technology. Getting involved with naming our two GRAIL
spacecraft could inspire their interest not only in space exploration
but in the sciences, and that's a good thing."
Zuber and former astronaut Sally Ride of Sally Ride Science in San
Diego will chair the final round of judging. Sally Ride Science is
the lead for GRAIL's MoonKAM program, which enables students to task
cameras aboard the two GRAIL spacecraft to take close-up views of the
lunar surface.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the
GRAIL mission. GRAIL is part of the Discovery Program managed at
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.
For contest rules and more information, visit:
http://grail.nasa.gov/contest The public can email questions to:
grailcontest@jpl.nasa.gov
For more information about GRAIL, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/grail For more information about MoonKAM, visit:
https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/
