Magyar News, 2000. szeptember-2001. augusztus (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-02-01 / 6. szám
HUNGARIAN STUDENTS ASSIST AMERICAN SCIENTISTS An outstanding educational project about Space, The Planetary Society s RED ROVER GOES TO MARS, was developed jointly with the LEGO Company in cooperation with Visionary Products, Inc., and the Center for Intelligent Systems at Utah State University. Also NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Malin Space Science Systems. 10,000 applications from 44 nations were submitted. There were the usual categories as semi-finalists, and 9 finalists. We Hungarians could be proud to know that 2 out of nine were Hungarians and in their category 2 out of 4. We asked Sándor Frey, director of the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing, also of Satellite Geodetic Observatory, to tell us about the Hungarian participation. When The Planetary Society launched its Red Rover Goes To Mars international student contests in 1999, the main goal was to facilitate direct student participation in the Mars Surveyor 2001 mission. The contest was a professionally established, unique, boundless educational program, and it did not even suffer from the re-consideration of the NASA Mars program in 2000 - just the timeline and the activities had to be reorganized. The Hungarian Astronautical Society happily agreed to serve as the national center for Hungary. We took care about announcing the the contest through our newsletter and the media. The Red Rover Goes To Mars contest was based upon the idea of giving equal opportunities for non- English speaking students worldwide. Thus our Society had the important role of translating all the materials, entry forms into Hungarian, and also translating the winning essays on national level back into English. We have set up a Hungarian version of the RRGTM web-page (http://www.sgo.fomi.hu/mars). The predecessor of the Hungarian Astronautical Society was established in 1956. Its members are either professional scientists and engineers working on space research, or other people interested in space science and exploration. Since the beginning of the nineties, the Society has made special emphasis on attracting teenagers. Essay contests are organized every year, covering various topics of space research (e.g. "our favorite planet", "the utilization of the International Space Station", or most recently "our future in the solar system"). These essay contests gained considerable interest during the past few years. The entries received often exceed 100, including a few from the ethnic Hungarian regions of the neighboring countries. The essays are judged in two age categories (primary and high school students). As the most valuable prize, every year the best boy and girl can attend the Page 4 International Space Camp in Huntsville, U.S.A. conducted by NASA. Our Society also organizes summer Space Camps in Hungary. The camps take about a week in every August. The participants listen to many lectures from leading experts, visit different space research institutes in the country or even abroad, take part in space related quiz, and certainly make long-term friendships and have fun. I must say that these camps are of extremely high quality. The work of the Society members pays off since many of the students of the first contests are now preparing for their professional career. Most of them, of course, chose professions different from space research, but will never forget what they learned and enjoyed. The two Hungarian girls, Zsófia Bodo and Bernadett Gaal, two of the total of nine finalists of the Red Rover Goes To Mars essay contest (and two of the four students selected in their age category), are also active in the Hungarian space contests and Zsófia Bodo and Bernadett Gaal, two winners of the essay contest making friends at a space photography exhibit participated in the Space Camps. Besides the good family and education background, we believe this is what helped them most to achieve this beautiful result. This confirms the importance and effectiveness of the education activities of our Society and encourages us to continue. Wide Angie baffle bakeoot heater Narrow Angle tube alignment cube mounting feet Mars Observer Camera
