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KidSat Project Files
RSS 2303
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: KidSat Project Files
Creator:
California Space Institute
Identifier/Call Number: RSS 2303
Physical Description:
2 Linear feet
(5 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1991-1996
Abstract: The KidSat Project was sponsored by NASA in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), UC San Diego (UCSD), and
the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY). The program enabled K-12 educators and students
to participate in the space program. The records include organizational proposals, policies, and agendas, meeting minutes,
hardware and software control documents and manuals, mission procedure manuals and reports.
Languages:
English
.
KidSat began in 1995 as a collaborative three-year pilot project. It was funded by NASA and managed by the California Space
Institute at UC San Diego, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Academic
Advancement of Youth (IAAY). The purpose of the project was to revitalize the K-12 public school curriculum by providing K-12
students an opportunity to participate in shuttle missions. Middle School students through the School Mission Operation Centers
(SMOC) were able to direct a camera onboard the shuttle through the use of computers linked to the internet and to Johnson
Space Control in Houston, TX. Use of the camera required students to become familiar with navigational plotting, computers
applications, and working in teams. As part of the project, a Mission Control Gateway Center was established on the first
floor of the Chemistry Research Building near Thurgood Marshall College. UC San Diego student responsibilities included managing
communication with Johnson Space Center and the SMOC sites, software monitoring, and overall team coordination. Sally Ride
served as an advisor, overseeing the progress of several student teams.
The first KidSat Shuttle Payload (STS-76) occurred in 1996. Three middle schools participated in the mission, capturing several
hundred photographs.
In 2001, the KidSat program was renamed ISS EarthKAM (formerly known as EarthKAM) corresponding to the move of operations
to the International Space Station. In 2013, the program was again renamed to Sally Ride EarthKAM, in honor of Sally Ride
who passed away in 2012.
KidSat Project files, RSS 2303. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1996
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Scope and Contents of Collection
The KidSat Project was sponsored by NASA in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), UC San Diego (UCSD), and
the John Hopkins University Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY). The program enabled K-12 educators and students
to participate in the space program. The records include organizational proposals, policies, and agendas, meeting minutes,
hardware and software control documents and manuals, mission procedure manuals and reports.
Arranged in 4 series: 1) ADMINISTRATION, 2) HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, 3) MANUALS, and 4) REPORTS.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Space photography
Earth (Planet) -- Photographs from space
Earth (Planet) -- Study and teaching (Middle school) -- Activity
KidSat (Program) -- Archives
California Space Institute -- Archives
University of California, San Diego -- History -- Archives
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.)
Johns Hopkins University. Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth