Davis Creek Elementary fifth grade class particpated in the first StarShine student project by grinding and polishing a mirror that was sent into space via the space shuttle.  We also particpated in the observation phase and recorded our observations.  The 2000 - 2001 school year offered another opportunity to particpate in real space science by grinding and polishing mirrors for StarShine II and StarShine III.  StarShine III will launch on August 2001, while StarShine II will launch later in the fall.  Students will observe the satellites passing over their area and report the flashes of light, direction, and time on a special web site.  The information will be used to help scientists learn more about atmospheric drag.  To learn more about the StarShine Projects surf to the StarShine web site.
Davis Creek Elementary fifth grade class watches as Mrs. Hamilton reads the directions for grinding and polishing from the StarShine web site.  The other pictures in this section show the set up for polishing using diamond dust paste, a chem pad, and special lubricant.  BTW, it was "Wild Hair" day at school.
More grinding and polishing from our several days of work.  The pictures below show more polishing of the mirror using a timer to get an accurate record of the work.


The photograph above shows the use of the optical flat supplied to measure the purity of the polishing phase.  We were to polish until we could see the "rainbow" rings, count them and divide by 2 to qualify for use on the StarShine satellite.  Some of the pictures below show grinding of StarShine II and polishing of our school's mirrors.
Davis Creek Elementary fifth grade class particpated in the first StarShine student project by grinding and polishing a mirror that was sent into space via the space shuttle.  We also particpated in the observation phase and recorded our observations.  The 2000 - 2001 school year offered another opportunity to particpate in real space science by grinding and polishing mirrors for StarShine II and StarShine III.  StarShine III will launch on August 2001, while StarShine II will launch later in the fall.  To learn more about the StarShine Projects surf to the StarShine web site.

 

Davis Creek Elementary fifth grade class keeps the extra mirrors from StarShine I and II in our Marscape box.  We have the DC Mars Red Rover robot that travels around in the Marscape with the directions given by drivers who have logged in over the Internet to our dedicated server:  daviscreek.cabe.k12.wv.us
If you have access to a Planetary Society's Red Rover site you can log on and drive our robot.  For information to purchase the Red Rover program log onto http://planetary.org
StarShine II Launch 12/5/2001 @ 5:19PM
More Pictures of StarShine II & III
Davis Creek Elementary LEGO Site Map
Davis Creek Elementary StarShine I
StarShine I Model
Davis Creek Elementary
LEGO Links of Linda Hamilton
Project StarShine



 Created 6 / 13 / 2001
Edited 4 / 5 / 2004
S. Simon