NASA Langley Research Center employees are committed "beyond the gates" to activities that benefit the educational and human service communities. Notable Center-supported initiatives include the following:
Langley has the highest participation rate and average gift of any major federal group on the Virginia Peninsula. In all, 1,581 employees at NASA Langley contributed $323,000 to the Peninsula Combined Federal Campaign in 1997/1998 for an average gift of $204. This amount does not include Langley retirees or contractors who contributed directly to the United Way campaign.
Just one of numerous Center-supported outreach activities, 170 Langley volunteers participated in the sixth annual community Day of Caring. Volunteers were posted at over 40 community sites. Whether they painted, pruned, plumbed or planted; sided, spackled, sorted or sawed; mowed, manicured or mended; cleaned, counted or cooked, the 1997 Day of Caring volunteers made the Peninsula a better place.
NASA Langley employees made the holidays warmer and sweeter for their neighbors in need. Sixty-six "angels" were adopted from Salvation Army Angel Trees in local stores. Warm clothing, socks and underwear, hats and gloves, shoes and boots were among the items chosen for the needy children. Many of the packages included a toy, a cuddly stuffed animal or candy as well. Another project, "Cookie Power," netted over 27 dozen goodies for the Salvation Army's mobile kitchen. In addition, members of the Supervisors Club, Alumni Association and American Federal of Government Employees, Local 2755, collected 350 pounds of food for the Peninsula Food Bank.
The NASA Langley Alumni Association in partnership with the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula and the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) created Galaxy of Gifts, a community service project that distributes donated products to people in need. At present Galaxy has 120 member agencies. The Sarah Bonwell Hudgins Foundation funded and oversaw construction of a 5,000-sq. ft. warehouse out of which the project is now operated by ARC-Peninsula.
Six blood drives were sponsored by NASA Langley. Civil servants and contractors donated 1,373 pints of blood in FY 1997 to the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Red Cross, which supports the mid-Atlantic region.
NASA Langley civil servants, retirees, and contractors address civic, professional, educational, and other non-profit organizations that want to learn more about NASA Langley's research. Over 125 presentations were made in FY 1997, impacting a combined audience of almost 13,000 stakeholders.
NASA Langley offers a limited number of tours for public, professional, military, governmental, and educational groups. Through these tours, our stakeholders are provided a first-hand look at how NASA research benefits them. In FY 1997, Center personnel and volunteers hosted 92 tours for over 2,800 visitors to the Center. In addition, 26 tours were provided by the Center's educational staff, impacting almost 700 teachers and over 600 students.
NASA Langley's official visitor center is the Virginia Air and Space Center (VASC) located in Hampton, Virginia. Langley Research Center's programs and work are presented to the public through the VASC, which opened in 1992.
THEME: "From the Sea to the Stars"
The theme integrates the region's abundant history with Langley's
aerospace legacy.
FEATURES: The Center features over 100 permanent exhibits that tell an exciting story of history, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration. A traveling exhibit hall features several interactive science exhibitions annually.
IMAX: The Center has an IMAX theater which features a five-story-high projection screen and state-of-the-art sound system.
ATTENDED: Over one million people have visited the VASC since it opened.
ORGANIZATION: The Center is a non-profit institution governed by a board of directors.
TOURS: The VASC conducts guided drive-through tours of the Langley Research Center during the summer months. Tours of exhibits, as well as educational programs, camps, and lectures are offered year round at the Center.
NASA Langley's 1997 Information Guide to Research and Education Programs was disseminated to over 10,000 students, teachers, and faculty this year. The Info Guide, designed to serve as an source of information on opportunities at the Center for the entire academic community, is now available on the web: http://larcpubs.larc.nasa.gov/InfoGuide98
NASA Langley contributed over $40 million to universities across the country, awarding over 500 research and training grants, cooperative agreements and contracts to academic institutions in fiscal year 1997, over $8 million going to Historical Black Colleges and Universities. The Center also provided summer internships and research opportunities to almost 300 students, teachers, and faculty.
Under the Stevenson-Wydler Act, Langley transferred almost $7 million in education-related Federal equipment to 32 K-12 school districts in FY 1997. More than 2,400 items were donated, including computers and related equipment as well as other research equipment for use in math, science and technology curricula. The total original purchase cost of all items donated in this 4-year-old program is $14 million.
In FY 1996, NASA Langley's Teacher Resource Center Network disseminated a total of 97,554 products and served 11,5l7 educators. Langley's Teacher Resource Center is located at the Virginia Air and Space Center and the six Regional Teacher Resource Centers are located within the five-state precollege service area.
In FY 1997, the NASA Teacher Resource Center Network was changed to the NASA Educator Resource Center Network (ERCN) to include other educators. This year the ERCN disseminated over 100,000 products and served over 16,000 educators. NASA Langley's Educator Resource Center is located in Hampton, Virginia . Six Regional Educator Resource Centers are located within the five-state precollege service area; Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The Aerospace Education Services Program (AESP) specialists visited 1,200 teachers and over 37,400 students in NASA Langley's five-state precollege service area. The AESP specialists focus their efforts on teacher enhancement at the precollege level and provide workshops, demonstrations, and classroom visits.
As part of NASA Langley's commitment to encourage and prepare young people for life in a technological world, the Center sponsors a school visitation program each February in recognition of National Engineers Week. In 1997, 132 employees visited 389 local schools, reaching nearly 10,500 students in this single effort to reinforce student interest in math, science and technology careers.
Employing a variety of information technologies, NASA Langley uses distance learning to promote educational excellence. The initiatives, compiling with national standards, utilize Langley's unique facilities and personnel, this year reaching almost 1 million students and teachers with programs including KidSat, Connect Series, Think Bigg Series, and a featured appearance on the TV show Brain-Stew.
In FY 1997, Langley Research Center provided employment and on-the-job educational experience for over 100 students. Work experience is provided for technicians, secretarial, administrative, and engineering students. Currently, 54 educational institutions throughout the United States and Puerto Rico participate in these programs. Eight agreements are with Virginia schools and colleges. Selected participants may be offered full-time employment upon completion of the program.
No. of From No. Agreements*
Category Students Schools With Schools
Technician 7 2 3
Engineering 73 24 44
Administrative 6 4 6
Professional
Secretarial 30 1 1
* Schools can be represented in more than one category and may not have students in the program at a given time.