groundcontrol, Author at The Mars Generation®

The Right Stuff: A guide to Martian Potato Challenge Success

November 3, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

So you have been challenged to do the Martian #PotatoChallenge now what?

First scroll to the bottom of this page to read a bit about what the #PotatoChallenge is all about!

Here are the steps to follow to participate!

FIRST you must challenge at least one other person- preferably in public on social media – we suggest challenging a group of people! The more people you challenge the more fun for everyone! Also don’t be shy, challenge some famous people on Twitter too…you never know who may say yes! Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have both been challenged multiple times. We are still waiting to see if they have the right stuff!

To challenge someone go on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media channel and publicly declare:

“I challenge *tag Name of Person Challenged * to participate in the #PotatoChallenge for Give to Mars Day! #GTMD16 Learn details here: http://themarsgeneration.org/the-right-stuff-a-guide-to-martian-potato-challenge-success/“

AND Next Choose #2 or #3 below for your own challenge

2. You can accept the Potato Challenge and click here to sign up. You can also join the Ground Support Crew (talk about the challenge and cheer us on) for the challenge and sign up here. Email addresses will only be for awarding prizes and giving updates for the challenge.

3. You can head over to the TMG Give to the Max Day / Give to Mars Day donation page and contribute to The Mars Generation #GTMD16 fundraising initiative. Hurry because there are exclusive rewards for donations that are received by November 30, 2016. These rewards are perfect for your holiday gift list of space geeks – or just for your own geekiness!

AND Lastly – Spread the Word!

The success of the potato Challenge is in people sharing it with others. That means directly challenging people like we mentioned above, but also communicating with people about the event, inviting them to participate and talking about what The Mars Generation is about.

You can use email, social media channels and word of mouth. Remember to use our hashtags whenever possible #PotatoChallenge #GiveToMarsDay and the Give to the Max Day event hashtag #GTMD16 .

Here are a bunch of photos, and pre-written social media and email messages that you are free to use. Please feel free to edit the messages to fit your own voice and personality. It’s best when your messages are customized a bit!

What is the Potato Challenge?

This event is called the Martian Potato Challenge. The potato challenge is meant to be fun and relatively easy. You commit to eating your own ration of potatoes, just 10 medium potatoes and drinking the ration of water that you start with, 32 ounces, for the entire day. There will be water challenges every 2 hours as well as lots of ways to earn condiments for the potatoes, more water and even a shower.

Bring Us Home From Mars

The ultimate goal is to be saved from Mars by rest of the world working to raise the $10,000 TMG fundraising goal for the 24 hours! That’s right the goal is $10,000 raised in only 24 hours! The funds will be used for the TMG Space Camp Scholarship fund to send disadvantaged kids to Space Camp.

While the participants of the Potato Challenge may be spread around the world and only pretending to be stuck on Mars, there is sure to be a lot of fun and commradere on social media as people follow our hashtags #PotatoChallenge and #GTMD16 to follow the adventure.

Prizes and Lots of Fun

Every hour we will have a prize drawing for everyone who uses our #GTMD16 and #PotatoChallenge hashtags (see guidelines for how to use hashtag to qualify) – prizes include TMG logo t-shirts, Autographed Astronaut Abby photos, TMG patches, magnets and more!

We hope you will take the challenge with us, invite your friends to do the Potato Challenge and help The Mars Generation reach their fundraising goal of $10,000 to fuel their work going into 2017. Let’s show the world that dreaming big and setting out to make those dreams happen really can create results.

Together we can change the world.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure!

Astronaut Abby is Kicking off the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) Alumni Webinar Series

September 22, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

We are excited to announce that our founder, Astronaut Abby, will be kicking off an Alumni Webinar Series for AEOP, Army Educational Outreach Program. This Alumni Webinar Series will give alumni all over the country the opportunity connect with one another to continue their learning and journey in STEM. The series will launch in October and will allow alumni to hear from success stories from those in the STEM field first hand.

This webinar series is such a great opportunity for people of all ages to hear and learn more about STEM. We are so honored to have Abby be a guest on the first two webinars on October 8 and October 10, 2016. Abby will have the opportunity to share her involvement in STEM and our worldwide outreach initiative to engage students in all things STEM, space and also talk about the importance of students pursuing their dreams.

The AEOP, Army Educational Outreach Program is dedicated to providing both students and teachers a synergetic portfolio of Army-sponsored STEM classes that attract and inspire the next generation of talent. AEOP provides courses for K through College level in order to establish a diverse and highly competent workforce for the Army, Department of Defense and the nation.

The AEOP’s priorities and core objectives are to broaden and diversify the STEM talent pool,to support and empower teachers with unique Army resources, and to develop a sustainable STEM education outreach infrastructure.

Press Release: Ten Full Scholarships Awarded to Students for A Week at Space Camp

July 13, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

The first TMG scholars meet Astronaut Abby and TMG Executive Director Nicole Harrison.

The Mars Generation Awards Ten Young People Full Scholarships for A Week at Space Camp

Less than a year after its inception, The Mars Generation (TMG) is excited to announce ten students will represent The Mars Generation at Space Camp® this summer.

“It’s really through the amazing efforts of TMG volunteers, individual donors and our generous sponsors that we have guaranteed spots for ten young people this summer,” explained TMG Executive Director Nicole Harrison.

This year’s scholarship recipients are between the ages of 13 and 16 and represent communities all across the United States. Harrison said that each student participated in a rigorous application process, including a recommendation from a teacher or advisor. “Our Space Camp attendees have demonstrated not only a passion for space exploration, but a willingness to work hard academically,” said Harrison. TMG’s unique scholarships cover all expenses including transportation, flight suits and even spending money. TMG scholarships are meant to help eliminate some of the barriers facing students and families living in poverty who might not otherwise consider a camp like Space Camp.

Along with the ten U.S. scholarships, TMG announced the nonprofit’s first international chapter is providing two students and one teacher with scholarships to attend Space Camp. Harrison expects the Colombian chapter will serve as a model for additional international chapters to join The Mars Generation.

To celebrate this achievement, TMG Founder Abigail Harrison – Astronaut Abby, along with TMG’s executive director Nicole Harrison, TMG board members retired astronaut Dorothy “Dottie” Metcalf-Lindenburger, Microgravity Scientist Penny Pettigrew and Space Historian Robert Pearlman, will be in attendance at the Space Camp Summerfest, July 14-16, 2016. TMG representatives will be joined by the scholarship recipients at the Alumni Town Hall Brunch, Saturday morning.

“I am delighted to join this year’s scholarship recipients at Space Camp, where it all began for me, personally,” said Abigail Harrison – Astronaut Abby. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it certainly changed my own life, forever,” she said. “I expect it will have an equally profound impact on these ten young people.”

Space Camp Summerfest is an annual event designed to bring together both space camp alumnae and space enthusiasts who would like an opportunity to experience the fun and learning at Space Camp. The events range from astronaut training simulations to a concert under the shuttle and offers a something for people of all ages and backgrounds. All proceeds go to support the Space Camp Alumni Scholarship fund. The Mars Generation is a partner organization with the Space Camp Alumni Foundation.

More about The Mars Generation: The Mars Generation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing and inspiring tomorrow’s explorers today while also supporting advocacy for NASA’s Journey to Mars with a broad community of space enthusiasts and ambassadors. Each generous donation is an investment in building The Mars Generation and strengthening our future by inspiring the youth of today to be leaders tomorrow.

One week at Space Camp® in Huntsville, Ala. changed Abigail “Astronaut Abby” Harrison’s life at age 11, she set out on a mission, not only to become an astronaut and possibly be one of the first people to set foot on mars, but to inspire and excite others about the importance of human space exploration and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education.

At 18 years old, Astronaut Abby, founded The Mars Generation (TMG), an organization designed to meet this goal through three programs: the Future of Space, an online outreach community to empower space enthusiasts to share their passion for space; the Student Space Ambassadors, a mentorship program for people ages 13-24 to foster excitement about space exploration within their own communities; and the Space Camp Scholarship program, which provides kids with an aptitude for STEM and a demonstrated financial need complete scholarships (including airfare) to attend Space Camp®.

Find out more: http://themarsgeneration.org/

For media inquires call Nicole Harrison: 612-670-0337 or email nicole (at) themarsgeneration (dot) org

NASA Awards Grants to Two Universities for STEM Education Programs

June 7, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

June 6, 2016

NASA PRESS RELASE

NASA Awards Grants to Two Universities for STEM Education Programs

NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has selected two minority serving institutions for cooperative agreement awards totaling approximately $1 million to help strengthen science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula at the schools.

Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, will receive as much as $500,000 each.

The MUREP Other Opportunities solicitation challenged schools to propose innovative ways to create and implement STEM activities, with a goal of increasing the number of historically underserved students studying STEM fields relevant to NASA’s diverse exploration missions.

“NASA’s MUREP program helps colleges and universities give students from underrepresented and underserved communities a strong foundation in STEM fields, which in turn helps create a strong STEM workforce,” said Donald James, associate administrator for NASA’s Office of Education.

Through MUREP’s competitive awards, NASA provides financial assistance to minority serving institutions, including historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institutions, tribal colleges and universities, American Indian and Alaskan Native serving institutions, predominantly black institutions and other minority serving institutions and eligible community colleges. These institutions recruit and retain underrepresented and underserved students, including women, girls, veterans and persons with disabilities, into STEM fields.

For more information on the award process, visit:

http://nspires.nasaprs.com

For more information on NASA’s education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

Air and Space Museum Visit: This started everything!

May 17, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

Here is Astronaut Abby filming for the STEM in 30 program produced by the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Do you remember your childhood dreams? When you started thinking about your future and what you wanted to be when you grew up? For our founder, Astronaut Abby, her childhood dreams of wanting to someday go to space, have guided her on a journey that has no end in sight. And part of those dreams led her to the Air and Space Museum and that eventually led to founding our organization, The Mars Generation.

As Abby’s mom, I often get to tell the fun and cute stories of Abby growing up. And believe me there are many. The story of the Air and Space Museum is one of my favorites. It is because of her desire to visit this museum that Abby’s blog and Twitter account were started and that led to her outreach program which eventually led to this nonprofit.

A great photo of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution observatory. So much fun to see up close.

When Abby was 13 and in 8th grade she came to me and declared that she was going to participate in her school’s National History Day competition. National History Day is a competition that schools around the country participate in and students compete to move to state and hopefully the national final championship. In Minnesota, History Day is a big deal! And for parents it is the bane of our existence as teachers tie it into the classroom curriculum every other year from 5th to 12th grade. The students have to perform well as their grade is dependent on their project, and that is where the fun starts. As a single mom, I had two kids going through this “hell” (that is hell for me) and I was pretty much buying presentation boards, editing papers, helping paste photos, edit videos or some other function that parents are often tasked with doing.

When Abby informed me that she wanted to do the competition in her “off” year – the year she was not required to participate – I was not overly pleased. I asked why would she want to do that to me and she said because she wanted to win and make it to nationals so she could go to Washington D.C. for free and go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. How can I argue with that? So I said what does a winning project look like and she found a 12th grade presentation board project and then fun began. Long story short – Abby created an amazing project about the “Debate and Diplomacy of the development of the ISS”. We utilized our handyman to make her a metal presentation board out of metal roofing materials and her science coach made her a base and wood title board – the display could be a max of 6 feet high. Abby used magnets and velcro to attach all the pieces to her presentation and it was pretty awesome. She even built a model ISS – with the help and friends and neighbors. This was the project to beat. But she did not win. As she was told it was too much like a science fair project than a history day project.

It’s a small world! We ran into a Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) student at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution – so much fun to connect after TARC2016!

Losing was a bummer, but she had already won because she had done so much to build the project, including getting on Twitter for a few quotes from NASA employees, which led to me taking her to her first launch at Kennedy Space Center. After that launch we had connected with so many wonderful people in the space industry (remember we are from Minnesota so there is not a big space industry here). Abby also met her mentor Astronaut Luca Parmitano which allowed her to attend his launch and start her outreach program. That one school project changed the course of Abby’s life. And my life too. I was not a space fan but I am now. I never imagined running a Mars nonprofit, but now I am. Thanks Abby!

Abby began to have opportunities to attend space events around the U.S. and world but she never made it to D.C. After 5 years of speaking, doing web chats, attending events, autograph signings and more – Abby finally made it to D.C. for the Humans to Mars Summit and TARC launch in May 2016. These two events led us to connecting with the Air and Space Museum and they kindly invited Abby in for a tour with one of their curators. She was interviewed for their STEM in 30 video series that broadcasts to schools around the U.S. and she got some time in the observatory as well. Overall it was an amazing day and we feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet the amazing staff and get such a great tour.

Dreams really do come true. This may have been a dream from the past. And while it didn’t come true for her at age 13 she finally made it. And she is now one step closer to Mars. Keep checking those items off your list Abby! Good job! – Love Mom

It was so kind of Paul Ceruzzi, one the curators of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution to take an hour out of his busy schedule to give us a tour. His knowledge was amazing!

Here Abby is with a another student Explainer – talking toilets in space. Always a funny conversation!

Astronaut Abby and Mausonaut participating in the Living Maths Google hangout at the National Air and Space Museum.

Team America Rocketry Challenge’s National Finals 2016

May 16, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

TARC 2016 We were so honored to be asked to attend Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC)’s National Finals in Washington, DC May 13- 14. Our very own Astronaut Abby spoke at the Safety Briefing. She delivered a strong message to the hundreds of students in attendance to take everything they have experienced through this competition back to their communities and share it. They were encouraged to not only share what they learned but inspire others to dream big and support STEM. This was an exceptional way to get kids excited about learning, STEM, and chasing their dreams!

Photo courtesy of TARC

We had a lot of fun checking out the finals and seeing every team compete, even though the weather took a
turn for the worse and things had to end early. There were over 100 teams in attendance and the top 10 teams split $100,000 in scholarships. We were amazed by all of the teams and want to say congratulations to each and every participant. You are all winners!

Here are some photos from the events! We are already looking forward to continuing our partnership with TARC. Together we can change the world!

The Safety briefing crowd! Lots of students. Lots of fun!

On the stage speaking to students. Astronaut Abby rocks it!

#TrainLikeAMartian in Cartoons: An Artist Shines

April 25, 2016 By groundcontrol 1 Comment

While Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) fields are of vital importance to the advancement of the space industry in the United States and face their own unique set of challenges, they aren’t the only fields needed for us to get to Mars. Art is essential to success in STEM fields. It is the creative mind that figures out complex challenges like how to build a spacecraft, design a habitat, and develop food systems as well as many other challenges we have to face before we get to Mars. It is creativity combined with STEM fields that advances us as humans and allows us to continue to innovate. We often focus on STEM fields and forget that art has an important place too. Some people use the acronym STEAM instead of STEM to include art in the mix for this reason.

One of the great things about our work at The Mars Generation is that we create a place where students can share, grow and get affirmation for their talents. This past week, 16 year-old artist Tessa McEvoy put together some great comics to promote Train Like a Martian that are worth sharing here! We also included a cartoon video Tess created about a girl name Jess, “a space cadet wanna be – but not a girly girl.” Enjoy!

#TrainLikeAMartian Day 8: Speed of Light Giving

April 25, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

We have made it to the last day of the #TrainLikeAMartian Challenge! Thank you for joining us on this fun adventure. Whether you followed along, shared our posts, donated to our cause, joined in on the fun and took the challenge one day or all eight days – however you participated we are thrilled to have had you on our team and we hope you will continue to be a part of our amazing community!

As you know our work is to inspire, educate and excite the next generation about STEM and space exploration. We also inspire people of all ages to dream big! Space exploration takes humans to new places, causes us to innovate and advance beyond what we currently know. This is powerful and we are committed to ensuring that the future is bright for all of us!

Pop-Up Contest

Before we get you started on your challenge we have a pop-up contest running for the best way to ask people to give to TMG – submit your photos, videos, artwork, poems – whatever your entering just post on our #TrainLikeAMartian hashtag to have your submission reviewed. We will be giving away a TLM event t-shirt to the top submission. Don’t forget to link to our giving page here. How is this being judged – totally subjectively – whatever entertains us and is most creative will win. Sorry we don’t know what that will be!

DAY 8 Challenge: Speed of Light Giving

Today for our final day of #TrainLikeAMartian we are challenging you to work on your hand eye coordination with the Speed of Light Activity. You can find the official activity here…but we have an alternative challenge that is going to be much more fun! See how well you do exercising your financial muscles.

Practice hand / eye coordination by seeing how fast you can pull out your credit card and enter it here to donate to The Mars Generation. Give what you can all sized donations make a difference! See how you do with this and for an extra challenge you can try for round 2 and give again! Its’ really easy!

To encourage you to give today, you will not only get the great rewards we are offering – you will also have your donation doubled. That’s right – our board had provided a matching grant to double donations through the end of today.

We currently have raised 50% of our goal of $10,000. That means we need to raise $5000 in one day! Please join us and give, ask your friends to give and help us to change the world!

Your donation supports awareness events like #TrainLikeAMartian, but also our Space Camp scholarship program (we are still raising funds for our 10 scholars who are attending Space Camp this summer – so that’s where your money will go today) and we have a leadership program and our outreach program too!

When asking your friends it helps to message them privately and tell them why you support TMG, ask them to support today so their donation will be matched and ask them to help get these kids to space camp. Make sure you include the link here.

Thank you so much! We hope you have had fun with our first annual Train Like A Martian Challenge. Watch for more fun as the year progresses.

*The Mars Generation is not affiliated with NASA

*Photo credit: NASA

#TrainLikeAMartian Day 3 Challenge: Do A Spacewalk!

April 20, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

It’s Day 3 of the #TrainLikeAMartian Challenge! Remember this is a 7 day challenge running from April 18-24. The focus is to raise awareness for the importance of STEM, space and fitness and also to help raise funds for The Mars Generation programs including sending students who lack financial resources to Space Camp.

Please check out the rewards for donations here and make a donation today to help us reach our fundraising goal of $10,000.

Day 3 Challenge: Do A Spacewalk!

For today’s challenge we are focusing on building muscular strength and coordination by doing the spacewalk! For your spacewalk you will perform a “crab walk” and “bear crawl.” Yup you heard us! For the little kids this will be easy for us big kids it may be a bit more challenging!

See how you do with these activities. Can you move forward and backward? How far can you travel for each? We are guessing we will be getting some great photos and videos of this challenge! Want some instruction on how to complete these activities? Click here for awesome NASA* resources from their Train Like An Astronaut program or watch the video below. NASA provides detailed guides including adaptations for all their Train Like An Astronaut program activities. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see all the different guides.

How to Win Be Entered to Win Cool Space Prizes

Complete the challenge activity or any physical activity and share photos on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram using our event hashtag #TrainLikeAMartian to be entered in our daily drawings. You can be entered multiple times:

Every photo (up to 3 photos per day) = 1 entry each photo
Every video (up to 3 videos per day) = 1 entry each video
Every post asking your followers to donate to The Mars Generation that includes both #TrainLikeAMartian and TheMarsGeneration.org/donate = 2 entries for each social media post (here is a dropbox with pre-written posts and photos to help you with creating posts)
Sign up for the Train Like A Martian Challenge here to qualify for prizes and also to receive email updates about the challenge.

Challenge your friends to join you for #TrainLikeAMartian, click here to find out how.

Find out about the cool rewards you can earn through fundraising and/or donating to The Mars Generation by clicking here.

*NASA does not endorse nor is affiliated with The Mars Generation or the Train Like A Martian Challenge.

*Photo credit NASA

Supporting STEM Students From the White House

April 16, 2016 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

Retired astronaut Cady Coleman talks with Team America Rocketry Challenge’s Team Rock-It of North Carolina that displayed their work at this week’s White House Science Fair. Image courtesy of @nasahqphoto.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, and don’t give up on your dreams.”

That was the advice given by one of the panelists at yesterday’s White House Science Fair, who, at the ripe old age of eight, is already encouraging young people, and perhaps even some a little older, to try and achieve their goals.

The 2016 White House Science Fair will be President Obama’s last, as the United States is transitioning administrations soon. While it may be his final fair, we hope it is not the country’s. Programs like this should be seen as nonpartisan, and be continued under future administrations. While policy is up for debate, supporting the next generation’s future should be a given.

Students at the fair presented practical solutions to real problems using their knowledge of STEM, from a way to clean up the NYC subway to charging batteries with water power. Their ingenuity and curiosity benefits all of us today and provides a solid workforce for the nation’s economic future.

Students who receive encouragement and support are more likely to push themselves to achieve more. One of the other panelists, now in college, said that her recommendation to younger students was to take advantage of every opportunity given to them. As a community and as a country, we need to make sure those opportunities are there for them to take in.

Bright minds are not in short supply here in America. We encourage the next administration to continue events and opportunities like the White House Science Fair to ensure that those minds can be cultivated.