Saratoga Springs Nasa Club History

The Saratoga Springs High School NASA Club was started in 2001 as an activity for students in Saratoga Springs who like space and space exploration. Over the years the club has been involved in many activities that have allowed students the opportunity to participate in NASA sponsored projects. The number of students involved in this after school activity varies from 30 to 50 students depending on the topic and the time of year. Our club is active for twelve months of the year and has students from ninth to twelfth grade participating.

In the past our students have participated in the NSIP (NASA Student Involvement Program). This program allows students to study the effects of microgravity while doing an experiment in space. Our students chose to study the effects of microgravity on the chemical reactions of bone material while in space. The Saratoga NASA Club also participated in Project Starshine. Project Starshine involved our students with the process of grinding aluminum mirrors to be used in the construction of a satellite that would be used to study orbit decay of satellites.

The Saratoga Springs NASA Club is presently working on MSIP, which is one of the most exciting projects that they have ever done. MSIP is the Mars Student Imaging Project that is a NASA endorsed project and is directed by Arizona State University. This very powerful project allows students to study Mars using images from the Mars Odyssey satellite that orbits Mars every two hours. Students develop their own experimental question and then use the enhancement and analysis of images to collect data and reach conclusions concerning their question. During the 2003-2004 school year our students used the MSIP program to research the existence of water on Mars as an international research project. Students from Saratoga High School did a joint research project with students from our city's "Sister City " from Chekhov Russia. More information concerning this research project can be found on this site.

The NASA Club of Saratoga Springs High School is directed by Earth Science teachers and club advisors: Charles Kuenzel, Melinda Anderson and Michael Leonard. Please feel free to contact us with any questions concerning the Saratoga Springs NASA Club or our current MSIP project.

The Saratoga Springs NASA Club thanks our district administrators and Board of Education for continued strong support of our many projects and activities.