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KidSat
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KidSat is designed to capture the imagination of students and motivate them to learn by engaging them in an exciting, hands-on project that contributed materially to their education.

The KidSat Project

There are several components to the KidSat project: the Earth-viewing instruments which will fly in space; the "mission operations" structure which allows many schools and classrooms around the country to participate in the program; and a coordinated set of curricular materials. 

The Earth-viewing instruments will be similar to cameras which have already flown on board the Space Shuttle. We have had extensive discussion with engineers at NASA, and they are eager to work with us and with the KidSat students and teachers.

The "mission control" scheme will include a KidSat mission control gateway (staffed by students) which will communicate with NASA's Mission Control. More importantly, it will also and act as a communications gateway to participating schools. "Student mission operations centers" will be located at each of the schools. There students will plan their mission before a flight, and follow (and modify) their mission during a flight. These are centers which could easily be replicated at any participating school, and would not require sophisticated technology. 

The KidSat project will not have an impact on classroom instruction unless it includes curriculum guides, lesson plans, and resource materials . Educators, students and scientists are working together to create curricular materials. Teacher training and staff development are an integral part of KidSat. The materials will be available in a variety of media, and will be disseminated through comprehensive training sessions.

The KidSat Partners

KidSat is a partnership between UCSD's California Space Institute, Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The KidSat Principal Investigators are Professor Sally Ride of UCSD, Elizabeth Jones Stork of CTY, and Dr. JoBea Way of JPL. 

Though each institution will be involved in all aspects of the project, each will take primary responsibility for particular parts of the project. JPL will lead the project management of KidSat and will oversee the development of the cameras and Earth-viewing instruments. UCSD will lead the development of the link between the schools and the instruments in orbit,