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Small RMS satellite to launch into space Oct. 2020

Posted at 4:21 pm August 19, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Robertsville Middle School RamSat CubeSat
The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch in October 2020, and it will be deployed from the International Space Station, Oak Ridge Schools announced Monday, Aug. 29, 2019. (Photo courtesy Todd Livesay)

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. Aug. 20.

The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch in October 2020, and it will be deployed from the International Space Station, Oak Ridge Schools announced Monday.

The school system said it has received notification of the launch date from NASA.

“We received the official word from Scott Higginbotham at Kennedy Space Center,” Oak Ridge Schools said in a press release. “His letter stated, ‘RamSat is currently manifested to fly on the ELaNa-31 mission aboard the NG-14 Commercial Resupply Services mission to the ISS. Launch is currently scheduled for October of 2020. NanoRacks will be facilitating the deployment of your spacecraft from the International Space Station.’”

Students have determined the mission of the cube satellite, or CubeSat, will be to circle the Earth and capture images to help them study the regrowth of vegetation in Gatlinburg, as the city recovers from the forest fires of November 2016, the press release said. The satellite has been named RamSat.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, Federal, Front Page News, Government, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: CLSI, cube satellite, Cube Satellite Launch Initiative, CubeSat, Ed Dumas, Eli Manning, forest fires, Gatlinburg, Holly Cross, Ian Goethert, International Space Station, Jaxon Adams, Marshall Space Flight Center, Melissa Allen, NASA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Schools, Patrick Hull, Peter Thornton, RamSat, Robertsville Middle School, Scott Higginbotham, Todd Livesay, Tyler Dunham, Y-12 National Security Complex

Selected for space launch, Robertsville satellite gets boost from ORNL

Posted at 7:32 pm March 10, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space. On Friday, March 9, 2018, the $70,000 science project got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Celebrating above by saying "NASA, we are a go!" are RMS students, teacher Todd Livesay, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, and other Oak Ridge Schools staff and project volunteers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space. On Friday, March 9, 2018, the $70,000 science project got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Celebrating above by saying “NASA, we are a go!” are RMS students, teacher Todd Livesay, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, and other Oak Ridge Schools staff and project volunteers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. March 11.

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space.

On Friday, the $70,000 science project, which started about three years ago, got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Robertsville satellite, which will orbit a few hundred miles above Earth, will use a small camera to try to take pictures of forest regrowth in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg. That area burned in forest fires fed by high winds after Thanksgiving 2016, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying more than 2,500 homes and businesses.

The RMS satellite, named RamSat, will use a radio to relay its images and other data back to Earth.

A project proposal was submitted to NASA in November, and Oak Ridge Schools learned this month that the RMS proposal had been accepted.

“This is such an exciting opportunity for the students!” said Peter Thornton, one of the RamSat team leaders from ORNL. “They will now have the chance to design, build, carry out, and own a satellite mission.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, Federal, Front Page News, Government, K-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2U CubeSat, 3D printer, Bruce Borchers, Bruce Lay, Butch Alline, cube satellite, Cube Satellite Launch Initiative, CubeSat, CubeSat prototype, Eli Manning, Eric Sampsel, forest fires, forest regrowth, Garfield Adams, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains, Holly Cross, Ian Goethert, International Space Station, Janie Hiatt, Leigha Humphries, Lilli Finstad, Marshall Space Flight Center, Melissa Allen, Michele Thornton, nanosatellites, NASA, NASA class, NASA enrichment, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Schools, ORNL, Patrick Hull, Peter Thornton, RamSat, RMS, RMS satellite, Robertsville Middle School, Robertsville satellite, satellite, satellite mission, science project, science technology engineering and mathematics curriculum, STEM, STEM curriculum, Thomas Schultz, Thomas Zacharia, Todd Livesay, Tracey Beckendorf-Edou, Tristin Del Toro, Y-12 National Security Complex

ORNL-led study analyzes electric grid vulnerabilities in extreme weather areas  

Posted at 9:18 pm July 31, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A new ORNL-developed method pinpoints electrical service areas across the southern United States most vulnerable to climate change and predicted population growth, which could inform decision makers about future substation needs. (Photo by ORNL)

A new ORNL-developed method pinpoints electrical service areas across the southern United States most vulnerable to climate change and predicted population growth, which could inform decision makers about future substation needs. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Climate and energy scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to pinpoint which electrical service areas will be most vulnerable as populations grow and temperatures rise.

“For the first time, we were able to apply data at a high enough resolution to be relevant,” said ORNL’s Melissa Allen, co-author of “Impacts of Climate Change on Sub-regional Electricity Demand and Distribution in the Southern United States,” published in Nature Energy.

Allen and her team developed new algorithms that combine ORNL’s unique infrastructure and population datasets with high-resolution climate simulations run on the lab’s Titan supercomputer. The integrated approach identifies substations at the neighborhood level and determines their ability to handle additional demand based on predicted changes in climate and population.

The new, high-resolution capability can explore the interconnections in complex systems such as critical infrastructure and weather and determine potential pathways to adapt to future global change, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: climate change, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, electrical service areas, electricity demand and distribution, Impacts of Climate Change on Sub-regional Electricity Demand and Distribution in the Southern United States, Joshua Fu, Melissa Allen, Mohammed Olama, Nature Energy, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, ORNL, population, Steven Fernandez, temperature changes, Tennessee Valley Authority, Titan, Titan supercomputer, University of Tennessee

Lunch today: ORNL Climate Change Science Institute, impact of climate on society

Posted at 10:19 am February 16, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Melissa-Allen

Melissa R. Allen, post-doctoral research associate, Computational Science and Engineering Division at ORNL (Submitted photo)

Joseph Kennedy and Melissa Allen of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discus the lab’s Climate Change Science Institute and the impact of climate on society during a lunchtime meeting today (Tuesday, February 16).

Kennedy and Allen will be the guest speakers at the Lunch with the League. Kennedy is a postdoctoral research associate and computational glaciologist at the Institute. Allen is a post-doctoral research associate in the Computational Science and Engineering Division. 

Presented by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, the program will be held at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in  the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The public is invited, and no reservations are necessary. Lunches are provided on a first-come basis for $8 or you may bring your own. Coffee and tea are provided.

Also at the meeting, there will be a formal announcement and details of an ORNL CCSI and a League partnership on climate change issues, a press release said. League member Chris Iversen, who leads the climate change action group for the LWVOR, has been working extensively with ORNL to develop this partnership. ORNL is already working with the city of Knoxville on similar partnership. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: CCSI, Chris Iversen, climate, climate change, Climate Change Science Institute, Joseph Kennedy, League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, Lunch with the League, Melissa Allen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL

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Classifieds

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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