Dr. Andrew Rivkin, Planetary Astronomer and Lead Investigator of NASA’s DART Mission
Freeport High School students explored the orbital mechanics of asteroids during a virtual presentation from Dr. Andrew Rivkin, planetary astronomer and lead investigator of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission (DART), part of NASA’s Planetary Defense Test.
Dr. Rivkin explained his work and the work of the NASA DART mission team. The work was the first of its kind and took decades of research and experimentation to complete before successfully colliding a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its position. The position of a celestial object was changed for the first time in human history. Freeport students presented to Dr. Rivkin their analysis of the DART mission where they showed the renowned scientist how they performed the same calculations and obtained nearly the same results as NASA scientists. They ended the presentation by showing Dr. Rivkin the CubeSat that they are currently building.
Astronaut Scott Tingle's Second Visit to Freeport School
Daring Journalist Visits High School
Freeport High School's journalism and AP English students had the exciting opportunity to witness an interview of American participatory adventure journalist and author Jim Clash. Stacey Severn of StarTalk Radio conducted the interview, which took place in front of students in the school's library.
While answering Ms. Severn's questions, Mr. Clash shared his experiences as a journalist and writing for Forbes Magazine, where he has engaged in the world's most daring exploits, including bobsledding with the U.S. Olympic team, piloting a super-boat at 140 MPH, flying to 84,000 feet at Mach 2.6 in a MiG, bull fighting, and climbing the Matterhorn mountain. He informed students that his next adventure will take place in outer space, after purchasing a ticket to fly with Virgin Galactic.
After the interview, Mr. Clash answered student questions about his journey and provided words of advice on pursuing dreams.
"You guys can do anything you want. I've done all these things because I was aggressive, I was motivated but I'm a regular guy," he said. "I created this dream job and any of you can do the same thing. Pursue your passion and work hard at it and don't give up. If I can inspire one of you to do something like that, we've done our job here."
District staff and administration presented Mr. Clash with a framed photo thanking him for his visit and then enjoyed lunch and refreshments.