Campers will be given the opportunity to meet an astronaut and become space suit engineers
for a day at the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at the University of
Houston this month.
Showcasing their skills to a media audience Tuesday, June 21, campers will be tasked
with designing and creating a space suit swatch capable of absorbing the impact of
space debris. Using household items to mimic essential protective materials, students
will assemble a test sample to submit for competition. The durability of their samples
will be subjected to an “impact tester” to imitate the rigors faced during spacewalks.
During this competition, groups of students will be challenged to manage their money
while testing their science skills learned at camp. Each team will have 20 minutes
to choose and purchase materials ranging from Styrofoam and aluminum foil to wax paper
and duct tape for constructing a 14-layer space suit capable of standing up to the
hazards of the micrometeoroids that astronauts often encounter in space. These particles
typically travel at speeds 150 times faster than a typical passenger jet plane. 
The camp has transformed the summer vacations of local middle school students for
11 years in Houston by giving students the opportunity to get ahead in the STEM disciplines
of science, technology, engineering and math, meet inspiring role models and experience
college life at UH. Offered free of charge to academically qualified students entering
sixth, seventh and eighth grades, the two-week camp was started at UH in 1999 by former
NASA Astronaut Dr. Bernard Harris Jr., a UH alumnus and the first African American
to walk in space. Harris will be on hand to work with the students during the space
suit competition this year.
The Harris Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization that supports programs
empowering individuals – in particular minorities and the economically or socially
disadvantaged – to recognize their potential and pursue their dreams. In collaboration
with Harris, the ExxonMobil Foundation awarded UH an $80,000 grant to provide funding
for this year’s camp.
| WHO: | Houston-area middle school students building space suits Bernard Harris, the first African American to walk in space |
| WHAT: | ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at UH |
| WHEN: | 9 to 11 a.m., Tuesday, June 21 |
| WHERE: | University of Houston Philip Guthrie Hoffman Hall (PGH), Room 232 (map: http://www.uh.edu/campus_map/buildings/PGH.php) Off Cullen Boulevard, Entrance 14 |
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