SPACE DAYS 2011 - Thank You For a Successful 2011 Space Days!

Links To All Space Days Pages:

Space Days 2011 List of Events Click Here to see what Space Days 2012 will be like
Printable PDF of all 2011 Events
Apollo 11 Moonwalk
NASA Spinoffs
Cool NASA Stuff
Barbara Morgan Interview Video

Idaho Welcomed Retired NASA Astronauts, Jose Hernandez and John Herrington, To Boise For Idaho Space Days 2011!

Jose Hernandez spoke at the Discovery Center on Friday, August 5th. Hernandez wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. "I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. "I was already interested in science and engineering," Hernandez remembers, "but that was the moment I said, 'I want to fly in space.' And that's something I've been striving for each day since then." One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernandez -- who didn't learn English until he was 12 years old -- spent much of his childhood on what he calls "the California circuit," traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. Then they would return to Mexico for Christmas, and start the cycle all over again come spring. "Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that," Hernandez laughs, "but we had to work. It wasn't a vacation." Hernandez has had a distinguished career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he worked on the x-ray laser program. Hernandez co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system, which has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. Hernandez has won recognition awards for his work on this project. SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-128 Discovery (August 28 to September 11, 2009) was the 128th Shuttle mission and the 30th mission to the International Space Station. While at the orbital outpost, the STS-128 crew rotated an expedition crewmember, attached the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), and transferred over 18,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the station. The STS-128 crew conducted three spacewalks. The STS-128 mission was accomplished in 217 orbits of the Earth, traveling over 5.7 million miles in 332 hours and 53 minutes and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

John Herrington spoke at the Discovery Center on Wednesday, August 10th. Selected by NASA in April 1996, he completed two years of training and evaluation, and was qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Initially, Herrington was assigned to both the Shuttle and International Space Station Branches in support of Guidance Navigation and Control systems. Herrington was also assigned to the Flight Support Branch of the Astronaut Office where he served as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team responsible for Shuttle launch preparations and post-landing operations. In November 2002, he flew on STS-113 logging over 330 hours in space, including 3 EVAs totaling 19 hours and 55 minutes. Post-flight, Herrington was assigned as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) supporting Shuttle and Space Station training and operations. In the summer of 2003, Herrington was detailed to support International Space Station training efforts in both the United States and Russia. Following this assignment, he became a member of the Extravehicular Activities (EVA) Branch supporting Russian/US EVA hardware and operations. For his last assignment, he was chosen to become the Chief Engineer for Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) at the Johnson Space Center. On October 1, 2005, he retired from US Navy and left NASA to pursue a career in the commercial space industry. Currently, Herrington serves as a Special Advisor to the National Institute for Space, Science and Security Centers at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Also, he is Chairman of the Board for the American Indian Institute for Innovation (AIII) in Rapid City, SD. AIII is a 501(C) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving the opportunities for Native American students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-113 Endeavour (November 23-Dec 7, 2002) was the sixteenth Shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station. Mission accomplishments included the delivery of the Expedition-Six crew, the delivery, installation and activation of the P1 Truss, and the transfer of cargo from Shuttle to the Station. During the mission Herrington performed three EVAs totaling 19 hours and 55 minutes. STS-113 brought home the Expedition-Five crew from their 6-month stay aboard the Station. Mission duration 13 days, 18 hours and 47 minutes.

Barbara Morgan, Boise State's Distinguished Educator in Residence was on hand to meet the public during our Space Days 2011 celebration. Barbara is deeply involved with the Space Days celebration each year, and this year DCI showcased 2 new and successful educational programs brought to Idaho by Barbara. The ISAS (Idaho Science & Aerospace Scholars) program for high school juniors completes their second year in August, and the Discovery Center will have an ISAS display up all week, as well as hosted a presentation by ISAS students. Also, the Discovery Center hosted presentations by BSU Microgravity Team students, another of Barbara's programs. They shared their projects and experiences at NASA where they tested their projects in a simulated weightless environment.

For a full list of activities that can be expected at Space Days 2012, Click Here

Updated on August 16, 2011

DCI Interviews Barbara Morgan About The Discovery Center on 3/23/2009 (10 minutes)

Updated on July 22, 2009

SPACE DAYS 2011 EVENTS AT THE DISCOVERY CENTER

Daily Activities: (unless otherwise stated, events are covered under normal admission fees, all events will be at DCI)

Friday– August 5th:

Jose Hernandez Bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hernandez-jm.html

Jose Hernandez Mission, STS-128: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts128/main/index.html

Saturday – August 6th:

Sunday – August 7th:

Chris McKay Bio: http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/spacewardbound/atacama2006/bios/Chris_McKay.html

Monday – August 8th:

Tuesday – August 9th:

Wednesday - August 10th:

John Herrington Bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/herringt.html

John Herrington Mission, STS-113: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-113.html

To keep up with our current list of activities, just bookmark our calendar page:
Link To DCI Calendar of Events

Updated on July 20, 2011