FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Noel Mock took the controls of the flight simulator yesterday at the new NASA Flight Training Aerospace Laboratory at Windward Community College.
New aerospace Young people fascinated with airplanes, aerospace and astronauts will find Windward Community College's newest science facility a dream come true.
education lab
takes flight
Students learn through hands-on tasks
at the Windward facilityBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comThey can actually take off and land an airplane or a space shuttle in a $40,000 virtual-reality flight simulator.
The NASA Flight Training Aerospace Laboratory, installed in WCC's new science building, is one of only 25 like it in the nation. It was dedicated in a formal ceremony yesterday with more activities set for today.
WCC professor Joseph Ciotti chose Discoverers' Day to kick off the newest addition to the college's science complex because it is the same day the science building and popular Hokulani Imaginarium (Planetarium) were dedicated in 1997 and 2001, respectively.
The college's Center for Aerospace Education also includes an Aerospace Exploration Laboratory and Lanihuli Observatory.
"We are very blessed," said Ciotti, the driving force behind the science developments. "Our campus is the center for many high-tech, creative resources for the community. Remember, when we started we were 'the little engine that could.'"
Ciotti, who obtained a NASA grant for the aerospace training classroom, said it is aimed at encouraging students, particularly traditionally underrepresented groups, to learn math and science and consider related careers.
"Our proposal had strong leverage because of the high percentage of minority students and females on campus," he said.
NASA installed about $250,000 worth of equipment, software and services to create the facility.
The lab's coordinator, Jake Hudson, is a physics professor at St. Andrews Priory and a former WCC professor. Hudson said he "kind of volunteered" to run the lab because he has always been interested in rocketry and space.
"This lab is a marvelous opportunity," he said. "It draws all my loves together."
It is designed for seventh-graders on up and accommodates 24 students with 11 computer work stations to explore aeronautics or microgravity through hands-on activities.
The teacher has a 12th work station and can monitor all the others to see what the students are doing.
In aeronautics the students can gather information necessary to complete a cross-country flight, virtually fly and land different types of aircraft with a working instrument panel, and learn about remote sensing imaging technology and global positioning systems.
Students also can design and test computer-generated airfoils; collect and interpret meteorological information from a rooftop weather station; and even design an aircraft, and create a flight plan with material and fuel needed for the trip and a budget to stay in the town in which they land.
"The Junior Air Force ROTC program at Kailua High School is really excited to get in here," Ciotti said.
"It's more than just flying," he added. "Many jobs involve teamwork. We try to emphasize everyone doing a job well and coordinating it."
In the space program, students can take a virtual space shuttle flight, build and test a robot, visit a GPS station to see a satellite view from space, monitor a weather station, tour the International Space Station and learn about living and working in space.
The NASA lab will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Student visits can be scheduled by calling Hudson at 347-8246, leaving a voice mail at 235-7348 or sending e-mail to jhudson@priory.net.
Windward Community College Aerospace Lab
