The technical expertise applied to the entry, descent and landing (EDL) phases of space missions are very important for exploration and scientific study of the earth, and other planetary bodies. EDL…

This is a 15-month Cooperative Agreement awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the Desert Community College District (DCCD) for $107,137.66. The agreement is in support of NASA's Education Implementation Plan and 2014 Strategic Plan objectives 2.3 and 2.4, which focus on enhancing student knowledge of entry, descent, and landing (EDL) concepts and practices related to space missions.

DCCD, a community college in Palm Desert, California, will modify its existing PH-31 course to incorporate EDL materials, acquire lab equipment to support the updated curriculum, and align the course with California State University and University of California undergraduate research requirements. Additionally, DCCD will offer 10-week NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory summer internships for select students, and conduct outreach to increase STEM interest among underrepresented populations. The project will be evaluated through quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify best practices. This contract award does not have a set-aside designation.

The technical expertise applied to the entry, descent and landing (EDL) phases of space missions are very important for exploration and scientific study of the earth, and other planetary bodies. EDL techniques were successful in returning payloads from earth s orbit to the surface and deliver probes to other planets for scientific investigation. Requiring varied approaches and considerations to develop, each mission is unique with its own level of complexity. For example, navigating through a thin atmosphere like mars, a thick atmosphere like venus, or an airless body such as comet 67P/churyumov-gerasimenko requires detailed knowledge of planetary environments to develop appropriate EDL scenarios and achieve mission goals. Development of advanced technologies enabling the safe return and redeployment of spacecraft, and reducing the cost of space travel as developed by spacex, all require a detailed understanding of EDL. In support of the national aeronautics and space administration s (NASA s) education implementation plan and 2014 NASA strategic plan, objectives 2.3 and 2.4, college of the desert (COD) proposes a 15-month project to improve student knowledge about EDL-related concepts and practices through the following activities: 1. Enhancing the college s existing PH-31 course by incorporating EDL concepts into the curriculum and lab experiences; 2. Acquire and implement lab equipment that promotes meaningful lab experiences associated with the modified EDL-related course materials; 3. Align the PH-31 course with california state university (CSU) and the university of california (UC) undergraduate research experience requirements to embed the EDL-enhanced materials into educational pathways for future student cohorts; 4. Offer space mission design/operations experiential learning opportunities, for select student completers of the PH-31 and other prerequisite stem courses, through 10-week NASA-jet propulsion laboratory (JPL) summer internships; 5. Implement national k-14 bridging and outreach best practices to increase interest in stem fields for underrepresented populations, including hispanic/latino; and 6. Work collaboratively with cobblestone applied research & evaluation, INC. (cobblestone) to conduct the qualitative/quantitative analysis of the project to inform formative/summative evaluations of the project design. Currently, the topic of EDL has never been developed for students at the community college level which is a challenge. In order to accomplish our objectives and overcome this challenge, we will review EDL related topics as they exist in the scientific literature, senior undergraduate and graduate level textbooks, and NASA technical reports. We will organize and simplify the material to a conceptual level and introduce IT to the students without losing the merit of the topic. At the same time, we will engage and excite stem students about EDL and get them prepared with all the required tools to have a successful internship at NASA-JPL. The project will employ quantitative and qualitative analysis to evaluate improvements in stem education pathways by underrepresented and minority (URM) populations. A deductive reasoning approach, based on well-established postsecondary teaching-centric methods, will be applied to project assessment to inform and identify best practices. Formative and summative evaluation will be conducted throughout the award to ensure project goals and objectives are completed in our proposed timeframe.