Earth Kam Space Outreach Program by NASA

The Choice School encourages enrichment programs where students can develop a sense of self-awareness and understand their schoolwork better. In line with this, recently, a space outreach programme run by NASA called Sally Ride Earth Kam was offered to a group of children from Primary, Middle and Senior school.

This education program enables thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the internet, the students control a special digital camera on-board the International Space Station. The program was initiated by Jo Bea Way Holt, an Earth Scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was initially named Kid Sat. In 1998, Kid Sat was Co-Opted by Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in Space and renamed as Earth Kam.

In the programme that the Choice School children attended, the facilitators briefly spoke about  the function of the International space station(ISS) as well as how to use the camera on the ISS. The Camera is located in the Cupola section and looks down on earth. It captures images that have more clarity than the Google maps images. However, there are limitations such as the limited areas to take these photographs due to ISS orbits and inclement weather which may result in distorted images.

All the children who attended the programme found it a unique and once in a lifetime experience.