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For members: RMS satellite scheduled to launch in September

Posted at 12:37 pm June 3, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

 

Peter Thornton, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, holds the cube satellite, or CubeSat, that will be completely built soon and was developed by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers and mentors. Named RamSat, the cube satellite is scheduled to launch from Virginia on a space station resupply mission on Sept. 7, 2020. Thornton is pictured above during a mentors meeting at RMS on Thursday, May 28. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch on a resupply rocket to the International Space Station in September, and it could be deployed into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth in October.

Testing of the satellite and its components, including a battery test and vibration tests, was scheduled to start this week.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

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Filed Under: Education, Education, Federal, Front Page News, Government, K-12, Premium Content, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: cube satellite, CubeSat, Eli Manning, Global Testing Laboratories, Holly Cross, Ian Goethert, International Space Station, Melissa Allen-Dumas, NanoRacks, NASA, NG-14, Oak Ridge Amateur Radio Club, Patrick Hull, Peter Thornton, RamSat, RMS, Robertsville Middle School, STEM, Todd Livesay, Wallops Flight Facility

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 scientist to describe current understanding of climate change

Posted at 3:08 pm February 13, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Peter Thornton

Peter Thornton

Peter Thornton, deputy director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Climate Change Science Institute and group leader for the Terrestrial Systems Modeling Group in ORNL’s Environmental Sciences Division, will describe the current best understanding of climate change on Thursday, February 22 at 7 p.m., a press release said. The public is invited to attend this free program.

Thornton’s presentation will describe evidence regarding historical and modern climate changes, and projections of future climate based on Earth system models, the press release said. His current research involves the development, evaluation, and application of Earth system models for future climate change prediction. His areas of expertise include the interaction of water, energy, carbon, and nutrients within land ecosystems, the interactions of vegetation communities with the atmosphere, and weather observations over land, the release said. (See a brief ORNL summary here.)

The presentation, co-sponsored by Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, Climate Coalition Lobby-Knoxville, and the Citizens Climate Coalition at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, will be in the Social Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Weather Tagged With: Citizens Climate Coalition, climate change, Climate Change Science Institute, Climate Coalition Lobby-Knoxville, Earth system models, Environmental Sciences Division, land ecosystems, Oak Ridge Civic Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, ORNL, Peter Thornton, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, Terrestrial Systems Modeling Group, weather observations

Climate study finds human ‘fingerprint’ in Northern Hemisphere greening

Posted at 1:29 pm June 29, 2016
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

North Hemisphere Greening

Earth system models simulate Northern Hemisphere greening. The figure shows the spatial distribution of leaf area index trends (m2/m2/30yr) in the growing season (April–October) during the period of 1982–2011 in the mean of satellite observations (top), Earth system model (ESM) simulations with natural forcings alone (lower left), and ESM simulations with combined anthropogenic and natural forcings (lower right). (Image by ORNL)

 

A multinational team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute has found the first positive correlation between human activity and enhanced vegetation growth.

The research team, led by Jiafu Mao of the Ecosystem Simulation Science group in the Environmental Sciences Division, used new environmental data and strict statistical methods to discover a significant human-vegetation interaction in the northern extratropical latitudes, the section of the planet spanning 30 to 75 degrees north, roughly between the Tropic of Cancer and the North Frigid Zone above the Arctic Circle.

“This is the first clear evidence of a discernible human fingerprint on physiological vegetation changes at the continental scale,” Mao said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Climate Change Science Institute, climate study, Dan Ricciuto, DOE Office of Science, Earth system model, Ecosystem Simulation Science, enhanced vegetation growth, Environmental Sciences Division, ESM, ESM simulations, Forrest Hoffman, human activity, Human-induced greening of the northern extratropical land surface, Jiafu Mao, Nature Climate Change, Northern Hemisphere greening, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Peter Thornton, U.S. Department of Energy, Xiaoying Shi

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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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