Clovis Students Offered an Astronauts Mission Simulation

Five astronauts occupy a space station simulation for 48 hours. They are continuously monitored by mission control via web cam, computers, and closed circuit broadcast. During their stay, the astronauts execute various experiments and observations, including a micro-gravity drop tower.

Then, peril ensues. They are told that carbon dioxide is seeping into the air. Their only chance for survival is to work together quickly to solve codes so that oxygen and nitrogen can clear the harmful gas and fill their lungs, allowing them to breathe freely once again.

Sound like NASA gone wrong? Nope, it’s just another day at Buchanan High School in Clovis, CA.

“I wanted to create a simulation project where my students could discover first hand what it might have been like in the late 40's and early 50's when NASA evolved from NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,” said Jim Esquivel, math teacher at Buchanan in Clovis, CA. “I also wanted to give them a platform to develop, enhance, and utilize their mathematics, critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills.”

Esquivel is within a select group of teachers being considered for an Educator Astronaut position offered by NASA. He is a self-described “NASA missionary” and feels that the educational opportunities NASA provides are phenomenal. Incorporating them into the daily curriculum, however, presents a challenge.

Thus commenced the first Student in Space (SIS) Columbia Math Simulation Mission for Buchanan in Clovis, CA. The goal of the mission was to simulate an International Space Station (ISS) mission. The simulation ran the gamut, from astronaut application and selection to the research, design and fabrication of model rockets.

Approximately 100 Advanced Math Analysis and Advanced Placement Calculus BC students were involved in the two-day mission simulation, which deployed Friday, May 19 at 6:30 a.m. and concluded Sunday, May 21 at 9 a.m.