Thursday, April 11, 1996
Video conference to accompany space station trekBy Rachanee
Srisavasdi
Daily Bruin Staff
A UCLA aerospace group will hold a satellite videoconference to
talk with NASA engineers and scientists about future plans for an
international space station.
The live two-hour video conference, hosted by the UCLA chapter
of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is the
first time a UCLA group has hooked up with NASA in an interactive
discussion.
"(The teleconference) will allow students to find out what is
happening with the space station and interact live with scientists
and engineers who are designing it," said David Lackner, the
institute’s UCLA chapter president.
During the videoconference, students will take an interactive
tour of the proposed model of the space station at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston. Additionally, students will participate in
a question and answer session with a group of panelists, including
space experts, researchers, former astronauts and engineers
currently working on the international space station.
The effects of living in space on the human body and the
objectives of the international space station are among topics to
be discussed.
"These discussions are important for the exchange of information
from both sides," said Rudolph Meyer, a professor in mechanical and
aerospace engineering. "It will give students a stronger motivation
for learning about space."
The international space station, coined Space Station Alpha, is
a collaborative effort by 13 nations to create a permanently
orbiting science institute. The station would conduct micro-gravity
experiments and would also learn about human physiology in
space.
By learning about human physiology,the institute could provide
scientists with more information and make future manned missions to
space possible, Lackner said.
"One of the goals is to get people in general to be excited
about space," Lackner said. "And engineers who are learning here
(at UCLA) can see what is happening out in the real world."
The satellite video conference will be held from 10 a.m. to noon
today in the Powell Media Lab, room 270. The conference is open to
the public, though seating is limited to about 50 persons.