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[[Image: KidSat logo]]

How KidSat Works

KidSat is an ongoing middle school earth science program with three phases.

[[Image: students in classroom]]

Phase 1: Getting Started--Setting-up, Planning and Practicing
For this phase, you receive lesson materials, and a set of existing images of earth, to support your students' initial learning. You set up the Student Mission Operations Center (SMOC) in the classroom. During this phase, the students:

-  practice the targeting process that will allow 
   them to take the pictures they want

-  learn about the shuttle and orbital mechanics

-  learn how to "read" images

Phase 2: Actual Mission
This is an intense and highly focused period when the shuttle is in orbit, the camera is mounted and students are actively targeting images, sending requests to the shuttle and receiving their pictures. For example, on STS-76 there were two periods of about 24 hours each in which a total of about 300 pictures were taken. During this phase, the students:

-  apply knowledge of the Earth's physical 
   geography to select sites to photograph

-  use the targeting process to take pictures 
   relevant to classroom activities

-  participate directly in an actual NASA mission

[[Image: students at a computer]]

06/21/96                                 Page 1.2