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In August, NASA came to the Laurel campus to tour the SOI and profile the students working there. The video, A New Di features students Ross Asato, John Blake, and Joe Flemke, as well as President Michael Wood and Associate Professor Angela Walters.
Capitol served as a co-sponsor of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Geological Society of America’s national meeting held at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Visit the SSEPO Activities page for more information.
Throughout the summer, the Space Operations Institute (SOI) has welcomed visitors from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters, the State of Maryland, and other leaders in the aerospace industry to tour the Institute and learn about the real-life experience Capitol provides students through the SOI.
The following faculty, staff, and students were recognized for their contributions to the successful launch and operation of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE):
In March, Michelle Elie received an award from NASA in appreciation of her dedication and commitment to the continued mission operations of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Tropic Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) during the historic snowstorms. She was responsible for monitoring the research satellite between February 5th and February 11th.
Bryan J. Mendez, Ph.D., Education and Public Outreach Specialist for the Center for Science Education in Berkley, CA, held a WISE EPO training session for SOI students. In his position, Mendez works to improve science education and literacy.
Capitol College was invited to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. For more information and to view photos from the tour, click here.

NASA released the WISE first light image today. This 8-second snapshot of a region near the Milky Way in the constellation Carina was taken shortly after the satellite ejected its cover. The "first light" picture shows thousands of stars and covers an area three times the size of the moon. Well over a million similar images will be taken by WISE to generate its all-sky atlas and catalog. The WISE survey will be done while the satellite continuously scans the sky, and an internal scan mirror counteracts the motion to create freeze-frame images. The team is working now to match the motions of the spacecraft and the scan mirror precisely.
Takaaki Matsuzawa, deputy director of Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), visited Capitol College in December 2009 to tour the Space Operations Institute and learm more about the institute's partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the new Center for Space Science Education and Public Outreach.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, lifted off over the Pacific Ocean this morning on its way to map the entire sky in infrared light. A Delta II rocket carrying the spacecraft launched at 6:09 a.m. PST (9:09 a.m. EST) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket deposited WISE into a polar orbit 326 miles above Earth. For more details on the WISE launch, view the full story here.
In addition to their regular duties, some SOI interns also serve as WISE student ambassadors, reaching out to area high schools to talk about the WISE mission and their experience with WISE and the SOI. Yasir Tufail, a student ambassador from New York City, spoke with students about his experience working in the SOI and other opportunities to work on space missions.
Today, we had a visit from several WISE staff members:
The WISE mission will provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the Universe by studying the asteroids, the coolest and dimmest stars, and the most luminous galaxies. WISE is one of several satellite missions the SOI is a part of.
Dr. Hashima Hasan from NASA Headquarters, Dr. David T. Leisawitz, a WISE Mission Scientist, and Dr. Anne-Marie Novo-Gradac, a WISE Program Executive, toured the Space Operations Institute and visited with students responsible for operating the Backup Operations Mission Center at Capitol in preparation for the impending launch of the WISE satellite in December 2009.











