Students from LF enjoyed their meeting with NASA material engineer, Carlie Watts, a 2009 graduate of Penn State University and former resident of Bucks County who shared her story that led to her work for NASA. As an engineer, Ms. Watts designs the PLSS compartment which is the life support backpack that astronauts wear over their spacesuits that provides their oxygen, water and maintains the integrity of the spacesuit. The students learned that space suits, 7 layers thick and worn over a nylon bodysuit that insulates the body. Protection is critical to eliminate exposure to radiation, to correct for the absence of pressure that exists in space and to prevent injury from micro meteors. The students toured the museum where they learned about perceived failures that became scientific discoveries and how chemistry applications replaced plastic where ivory from elephants was formerly used. Most appealing to all students was the interactive periodical column that stood two stories high and continually showed images of elements and what they do. Did you know that Washington was ‘bled’ four times to treat a sore throat, bleeding was the medical practice of 1799 and died the next day? Did you know that Joseph Priestly invented carbonated beverages or that DDT insecticide was once place in wallpaper placed in nurseries? Find out more about chemistry yourself by visiting the CHF at 3rd and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:13:14 +0000
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