Held each year to commemorate the first manned landing on the moon, AIAA SF sponsors an essay contest for 7th and 8th graders. U.S. Savings Bonds of varying denominations are awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in each grade. The theme for this year's contest was "With the success of SpaceShipOne, space tourism may be just around the corner. Where would you go, and what would you do?" This year's awards are presented at the July 28 section dinner meeting.
This year's winners are as follows:
Yehyang Kim
Herbert Hoover Middle School
San Francisco, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Dennis Kujawa
Many believed that becoming an astronaut was the only way to go to space, but now, there are many who believe that others can as well. When the time comes, where would you go? There are so many places to visit. I would go to Mars.
If you ask why, I have three reasons to give you. The main reason is because Mars is the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Second, because it is the most studied planet after Earth. Finally, because Mars is more similar to Earth than any other planets are.
What can you do there? First you can climb one of the highest mountains in the solar system, the Olympus Mons. Next you can visit the Meridiani Planum, the place where hematite is located. You can also visit a permanent ice cap at each pole. There are many other things you can do such as visiting erosion sights, and sighting cloud formations like Cyclonic Disturbances.
Mars was given another name, the Red Planet because it is as red as blood. Mars shows evidence that it once was geologically and biologically alive. Mars drew attention to itself in the ancient times, and continues to attract scientists.
Mars is full of wonders and it may be just the right place for you to visit. Space tourism approaches every time with the advance of technology. It won’t be long until it becomes a reality. The Red One shines brightly in the night sky taunting the mankind to try and reveal all of its secrets.
Ty Holzschuh
Herbert Hoover Middle School
San Francisco, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Dennis Kujawa
If I were to go into space on a private spacecraft I would want to be at the moons of Jupiter. This would be a different experience from anything I have done. Because there are many moons around Jupiter, I would have a lot to explore.
I would go to the moons of Jupiter because the landscapes would be interesting to look at, some of the moons like Io have active volcanoes, and there would have places with moderate temperature. In addition craters formed by impacts of asteroids would probably be more common than on other moons because of its closeness to the asteroid belts.
On the moons of Jupiter I would explore Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, a family of moons. On Io, I would explore the volcanic environment and view the landscape from far away. On Europa and Ganymede I would enjoy the somewhat new terrain by walking and jumping on the moons. Also on Callisto I would look at the plentiful craters on the surface and I would explore the landscape.
On my trip I would step out of the spacecraft, look at the magnificent landscape and climb on high rocks to see how high I could jump. Then I would climb to the center of a crater and look at the fiery red planet as the moon I am on circles Jupiter.
The beautiful terrain of Jupiter moons should encourage everyone to go. I guess I better pack my space suit!
Tiffany Ng
Herbert Hoover Middle School
San Francisco, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Janet Cunningham
With the success of space tourism, I would go to the planet, Mars. You’re asking why Mars? Well, I chose Mars because it contains beautiful scenery. Mars has a rust sort of color because of all the minerals and iron in the soil. The sky around Mars is sometimes pink when the temperature is minus forty degrees, but when it gets much colder, ice clouds appear in a midnight-blue sky. In Mars, there are no clouds except for a lot of dust in the sky. Also, there are many craters and canyons that give it a bumpy appearance. Did you know the weather on Mars is really bizarre? One day, there could be a dust storm and another, a rain storm. On one vacation I could experience all kinds of storms and floods I’ll ever want!!!
Mars is similar to Earth in many ways such as Mars being eighty-one minutes longer than Earth to rotate around the sun. Mars is also the only planet that shows any evidence of living creatures. If I go to Mars I could see the grooves on the ground where it shows that water once flowed in Mars and may still be there, but is in a frozen form because of the cold weather. I could also go visit Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in Mars and the solar system. With all the scenery and weather this vacation would last a lifetime.
Kelsey Fiance
Redwood Middle School
Saratoga, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Julie Shultz
For vacation, I would not travel to the moon (it’s already been done) or planets (we have cameras to take pictures). Instead, I would go to a comet. Comets are less common, more interesting and pretty. We know less about comets so I would have a better chance to discover something new about them. I might be able to tell if there is variation in size relative to where they are located. The elliptical orbit of comets also means there might be more variation in the view, gravity, and other space effects, making it better for vacations.
The launch timing is critical to get to the right point of interception. Once the velocity of the comet is matched, the space plane would be in the same elliptical orbit and would not need to use its limited fuel. I could choose to travel in front of, behind, or possibly through the tail of the comet (being wary of damage that might be caused to the plane)!
I could take pictures of the comet from various angles, perhaps using a “space dinghy” to view the comet with the space plane in the background. I would also take pictures of going past the sun while in orbit. I could also research the composition of the comet and the molecules in its tail. I would go on vacation for a month to see the movement of the comet and any other objects I found on my vacation in space.
Aaron Garg
Redwood Middle School
Saratoga, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Julie Shultz
As all good tourists know, you can’t travel without your big hat, sunglasses, Hawaiian shirt, swimming trunks, and sandals. But I am not a good tourist, at least not your typical one, and this is no ordinary vacation. On this trip I am traveling to the Hilton Space Hotel located near the rings of Saturn. I’ve been informed that the trip takes eight months to a year. We will make stops at major photo sites of course, like Mars and Jupiter, but the end destination will be Saturn and its rings as they have always fascinated me.
From there you can get a great view of Prometheus and Pandora, two of Saturn’s moons. Others have told me that Prometheus looks like a potato, but I shall see for myself when I get there. The rings are also a great sight to see with their many bands and contrasting colors. With any luck I should also be able to take a space shuttle outside the hotel to get a closer look.
There are also many fun things to see and do inside the hotel. There will be a weightlessness chamber where people will be able to feel the effects of zero gravity, and there will also be a variety of space games, like space swimming and spaceball, a game in which players must avoid getting hit by asteroids and such. In other words, dodgeball. With so many things to see, do, and experience, this should be a very exciting trip.
Brian Tang
Redwood Middle School
Saratoga, CA
Sponsoring teacher: Debbie Yakulis
Neil Armstrong once uttered, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” when he first landed on the moon. I want to experience how Neil Armstrong felt when he first landed on the moon. When space tourism begins, I would like to go to the moon. On the tour, I plan to learn many things about it and enhance my knowledge about space. Was there any water on the moon? What is underneath the surface of the moon? The moon is the ideal place to go and it’s the one place in space that I want to explore the most.
There are many reasons why the moon is the place I would like to go to. First of all, the moon is very close to the Earth. The travel to the moon won’t be as long than traveling to any other planet. Secondly, there is no dangerous weather on the moon. The moon has calm weather, while Mars has dust storms and Venus has dangerous volcanoes. Lastly, I want to know if the moon is made of “cheese”. What I am saying is that I want to further study the moon and learn about its physical appearance. On the tour, I want to learn more about the moon. I hope to increase my knowledge about the moon and its mysteries. Maybe the tour can also teach me about other planets’ moons and their formation. On the moon, I would also like to experience the feeling of no gravitational pull pulling you down to the ground. These are the reasons why I would like to travel to the moon.
Space is fascinating Scientists have discovered many things about the Milky Way, but they only covered a small percentage of space and the other galaxies. There are still many mysteries to be solved. I definitely would like to study and travel to all the planets in the solar system. Maybe sometime in the future, I may become an astronaut and help scientists discover more about space. For now, I just want to stay focused on the moon. When public tourism begins, the moon is the one place I would want to go to.