THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501100495
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
They invented, reworked, tinkered and scrounged for supplies. They labored long in the classroom and dodged thunderstorms while testing equipment at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
But when the shuttle Discovery roared to orbit in early September, the students on the Norfolk Public Schools Science and Technology Advanced Research (NORSTAR) team felt years of toil and trouble fall away in an instant of joy and exhilaration.
Their baby, their one-of-a-kind science experiment, was headed into space.
Now, baby is back. On Friday, researchers from NASA Langley Research Center hand-carried the NORSTAR experiment to its classroom birthplace in the Norfolk Technical Vocational Center off North Military Highway. Although the device was flown to Virginia from Florida in mid-December, schedule conflicts and the holiday season kept the apparatus tucked away for several weeks in a Langley warehouse.
``I feel really good about it,'' said Lisa Krueger, a Granby High senior in charge of data analysis. ``After waiting so many years to send it up, the fact that it's back is marvelous.''
In this next and final phase of the effort, the NORSTAR students will help their infant project mature. Perhaps the hardest and most monotonous work is yet to come, says NORSTAR supervising teacher Joy Young.
Students will painstakingly study some eight hours of video tape recorded during Discovery's mission. They will do so in six-second chunks and only for 10 minutes per person, to avoid eye strain and fatigue. The mission: find sound wave patterns in smatterings of cork dust.
NORSTAR experimenters hope to determine to what extent gravity affects the behavior of sound. Should the students succeed, eventual payoffs may include better stereo speakers, car mufflers, sound-dampening equipment and concert halls.
``Even though the actual going into space was very exciting, here's the essence of science: the analysis of the results,'' Young said. ``That's what real scientists do. It's going to take time, the rest of next semester (to finish).''
Sealed in an aluminum canister, the NORSTAR device flown in Discovery's cargo bay consisted of two long plastic tubes containing small amounts of cork dust. At the bottom of each tube was a small tweeter speaker. Other, attached electronic devices activated the speakers, the force of which sent the dust swirling within the tubes.
The battery-powered array also included small light bulbs that illuminated the tubes during the experiment's running time.
Hand-size camcorders recorded the results on eight millimeter videotape, which Langley scientists have digitally enhanced so that acoustical patterns can be better seen and identified.
``This is a starter experiment. A university may want to take this to a higher level,'' Young said.
``This in itself won't have a practical result right now. It's one little piece that will lead to further research and maybe practical applications.''
More than 10 years have passed since a $10,000 NASA grant seeded NORSTAR's space venture in 1984. Several generations of high schoolers, roughly 100 in all, culled from different Norfolk high schools, contributed time and talent to the effort.
Most NORSTAR graduates have gone on to pursue university science or engineering degrees.
NASA Langley researchers and area businesses also played a key role in the project, providing technical assistance, equipment and other related materials.
Friday afternoon, students removed the apparatus from its shipping container and fired it up for an in-class test. As in space, all systems appeared to operate without a hitch.
``I was excited when we got the tapes back,'' said Summer Graves, a Maury High senior and NORSTAR payload systems coordinator.
``Engineering worked. That was one of our biggest concerns. We were terrified it (the experiment) would burn up or freeze, or that our batteries wouldn't hold up.''
Once the tapes are studied and analyzed, the students will collect their findings for publication. In the short run, they will prepare a scientific paper to present at Goddard Space Flight Center in late summer.
By the end of the year, the students hope to publish their results in one of the national physics journals.
Their teacher says that the NORSTAR pupils' most valuable lesson comes in early exposure to the sometimes maddening workings of real-world science.
``They've learned to think, to act, to persevere, to work through frustration, to throw everything in the garbage and start over again,'' Young said.
``This postponement of gratification is usually something you learn in college. They've got a head start into college and a head start into life.''
No matter the moral, most of the NORSTAR participants knew that this first Hampton Roads space experiment would remain a high-water mark in their lives.
``Almost no one gets to do something like this,'' said data analysis chief Krueger. ``It's not something I'll forget.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JIM WALKER/Staff
NORSTAR students Jeremy Estes, left, and James Robb examine the
science experiment that they sent to space on the Discovery shuttle.
They will study the returned project to determine how gravity
affects the behavior of sound.
Graphic
ABOUT THE VENTURE
More than 10 years have passed since a $10,000 NASA grant seeded
NORSTAR's space venture in 1984.
Several generations of high schoolers, about 100 in all, culled
from different Norfolk high schools, contributed time and talent to
the effort.
Most NORSTAR graduates have gone on to pursue university science
or engineering degrees.
by CNB