HANDS IN SPACE—

The Astronaut Glove Experience in Local Schools
 

The Island Astronomy Institute and Peter Homer's Flagsuit, LLC have partnered to develop the educational opportunities presented by Peter's prize-winning space glove design. Hands-on exploration is just as important to students as it is to NASA scientists and engineers. When concepts are overly abstract, they become confusing to students. Even engineers benefit from direct sensory experience.

The Flagsuit/Institute partnership is dedicated to developing the pilot projects and classroom visits to local schools. The two organizations are committed to using the incredible story of the astronaut glove competition to share with educators and students what it feels like to innovate and solve problems like a scientist. The team of Peter and Peter uses their extensive engineering experience (a combined 14 patents for commercial spacecraft hardware) to create hands-on experiences that rapidly convey their knowledge through the human hand's remarkable capacity to grasp the physical world around us.

The Institute’s outreach program literally brings hands-on space science education down to earth, when students are given the opportunity to reach into space to try on an astronaut's glove.

In the original homemade vacuum chamber (right), Peter Homer's glove stiffens like an inflated tire—but not as stiff as the current NASA glove, which is unwieldy to use in the exhausting work environment of space.

Students get to experience exactly how engineers use so-called “mistakes” to produce truly innovative designs by trying them on. They are also able to feel how pressure, force, work, and energy are related. When combined with an explanation of the demands of life support in space, it’s an integrated physical and life sciences experience that students can literally grasp and hold onto.

In January 2008 NASA added detailed information about Peter's design to their online resources for science educators; see NASA's article, "Holding a Winning Hand."

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These pilot projects were partially sponsored by the Maine Space Grant Consortium.