Students Chosen as Cassini Scientists for a Day

Feature December 13, 2012

Students Chosen as Cassini Scientists for a Day

Eleven U.S. students have won NASA's 2012 Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest. Contest participants had to choose one of three target areas for Cassini's camera: Saturn's moon Pan, Saturn's F Ring, or Saturn. The students had to write an essay explaining why they thought their chosen picture had the most scientific merit. The winners and their classes are being invited to discuss their essays with Cassini scientists via a teleconference, videoconference, or web chat.

A panel of Cassini scientists, mission planners, and the education and outreach team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California judged the essays.

This year's winners come from California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Washington State.

Their essays were chosen from entries written by 2,032 fifth- to twelfth-grade students across the United States. One hundred and seventy teachers in 36 states had their students participate in the essay contest this year.

Richard Zhan, a fifth-grader at Willow Springs Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia, wrote about Saturn's moon, Pan. In his essay, Richard writes, "As a young scientist, I believe that Cassini should point the cameras at Pan due to its gravity, interesting composition, and odd shape."

Evan Grahn, a sixth-grader from Magnolia Elementary School in Upland, California, wrote about Saturn's F Ring. In his essay, Evan writes, "The thing that fascinates me the most about Saturn's 'F' ring is what some people call 'mini-jets.' I find it amazing how the 'mini-jets' are formed. I liked watching the videos on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website that showed debris floating into the 'F' ring and how the debris bounces off carrying out the ice particles. What I find really intriguing is how 'mini-jets' can be destroyed or created by the debris in the 'F' ring. What causes this process?"

Bradyn Shelley and Sam Phillips, two sixth-graders from Shelley Elementary School in American Fork, Utah, wrote about Saturn. In their essay, Bradyn and Sam write, "If you were to choose Target 3 [Saturn], it would be a very good chance to observe Saturn's weather patterns. You would also be able to research the planet's polar aurora, and study the Great White Spot, Saturn's gigantic storm. But who knows, a new storm could start, one bigger than the Great White Spot, and you could get photos of that. Maybe some of Saturn's colors will change - anything could happen."

Michaela Leung, a seventh-grader from Odyssey Middle School in Bainbridge Island, Washington, wrote about Saturn. In her essay, Michaela writes, "One of the rings, the E ring is made of mostly of small particles spewed out by Enceladus. Most of the other rings are made out of small pieces of ice and rock. How did they become that way? Are they the remnants of unfortunate moons? Or are they the last remains of planetoids from the formation of the solar system? These are just a few of the many questions that could be answered by Target 3 [Saturn]."

Arseny Mikhailov, an eighth-grader from Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick, New Jersey, wrote about Saturn's moon Pan. In his essay, Arseny writes, "Very little is currently known about Pan, but if we had more information it could help us understand the formation of the planets and since all things in the universe are similar in one way or another, Pan could probably give us more information about our moon too. If the Cameras on Cassini are aimed at Pan we could get a lot of information and a stunning image all in one."

Mary Joyce, an eighth-grader from King Middle School in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, wrote about Saturn's F Ring. In her essay, Mary writes, "This is not just your average ring we are discussing here. The F-ring is extremely unique. It is often altering its appearance within a matter of several hours. This fluctuation is due to the obscure gravitational forces acting on it. The ring sits at a balancing point between the massive force of Saturn, trying to break things apart and self-gravity, pulling objects together."

Zoe Aridor, a tenth-grader from Fox Chapel Area High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wrote about Saturn's F Ring. Zoe writes, "Dynamic and full of exciting discoveries, Saturn's F Ring would be the most interesting and rewarding subject to study. From a distance, the F Ring is unnoticeable, only a few hundred kilometers wide and, but despite its size, it is one of the most active rings in the entire solar system and the most eccentric of Saturn's ring system. "

Ruchica Chandnani, a tenth-grader from Troy High School in Troy, Michigan, wrote about Saturn. In her essay, Ruchica writes, "Beneath its serene, beautiful exterior, Saturn is a book of secrets waiting for scientists to read page by page and unearth more about the cosmological activities in our universe, one discovery at a time. This makes Target 3, Saturn, my choice for scientific finding and breakthrough."

Anissa Lee and Ming Wang, a pair of eleventh-graders from The Winsor School in Boston, Massachusetts, wrote about Saturn's moon Pan. Anissa and Ming write, "Currently nothing more than computer simulations and theories can suggest how Pan's surrounding debris could have aggregated to form the moon. Closer inspection of Pan and its formation could help scientists understand how, during the formation of the universe, debris around newborn suns could have combined to make planets and other celestial bodies in the same manner as Pan formed around Saturn."

The next opportunity to participate in the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest will be in 2013. A similar essay contest covering Saturn's moon Titan and Jupiter's moon Europa will be held in winter 2012-13.

More information is online at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/scientistforaday/

More information on the Cassini-Huygens mission is at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

Media Contact:
Jia-Rui Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

Educators Contact:
Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman 818-393-6847
Rachel.zimmerman-brachman@jpl.nasa.gov

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