NeurOn Chat with Chris Barreras
February 4, 1998 - 10:00 A.M.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 0 - 08:20:37
]
Join us here on Wednesday, February 4 to chat with Chris Barreras, Payloads
Engineer at NASA Ames Research Center. To quote from Chris' last journal,
"My team is also preparing the Rodent cages for shipment to KSC and subsequent
flight. Included in the preparation is assembling the Rodent waste trays,
feeders, and final cleaning of the cages. We plan on shipping 26 cages with
feeders and waste trays to KSC around the beginning of March." The obvious
connection to our Great Habitat Debate should make for some excellent conversation.
Be sure to read Chris' bio at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/barreras.html
prior to joining us.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 1 - 08:23:13 ]
If you come before Wednesday's chat, you'll find yourself unable to post
any messages here. If you need to reach me, please email me at: lindac@quest.arc.nasa.gov
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 4 - 09:54:24 ]
Hello all, It's Wednesday, and we're getting ready for our chat with Chris
Barreras. I will now open the room, and Chris will let us know as soon
as he is signed on. I know he has spent some time looking through your
designs, and I'm looking forward to a terrific chat. Welcome!
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 6 - 09:56:27 ]
Hello Montgomery High! Chris has not checked in yet, but should be here
shortly.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 13 - 10:05:09 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] What was
your major at San Jose State?
Hello I am here I just got off the phone. How are you at Montgomery High?
Where is Montgomery High? My major at San Jose State was Aeronautics Operations.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 15 - 10:06:43
]
RE: [Theresa-students/MontgomeryHigh] Hello
Linda. We are eagerly awaiting him.
Hi Theresa, I've really been enjoying your students' work!
[ Chris/NASAARC - 16 - 10:06:56 ]
RE: [Theresa-students/MontgomeryHigh] Hello
Linda. We are eagerly awaiting him.
Hi Linda, I am here and I apologize for keeping you waiting. If you have
any questions in Spanish, then I can try and answer but help me out since
mi español is somewhat poor.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 17 - 10:07:57 ]
RE: [cristian-students/MontgomeryHigh] tú
hablas español.do you speak Spanish
Yo hablo español poquito, Lets give it a try. Mi madre is angry
with me that my Spanish is not better.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 21 - 10:09:50
]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Looking
at the picture of RACK 3, could you please explain the air flow? How does
this direct the waste to the waste tray?
Welcome Atholton! What a project! to come up with ONE drawing for all
your groups. That's a teamwork effort very similar to what's happening
with this mission at NASA
[ Chris/NASAARC - 22 - 10:11:53 ]
RE: [Victor-students/MontgomeryHigh] Why do
you use bus to go to work instead of a car.
Hello Victor. I use the Bus and sometimes the train like today for a couple
of reasons. 1. Its less wear and tear on my car since my commute is about
1 hour by car out of Morgan Hill sometimes longer. 2. Its more relaxing
letting someone else do the driving. 3. On public transportation it helps
the environment and also I can do work or reading. Its better use of my
time.
[ ESMERALDA-students/MontgomeryHigh - 23 - 10:12:06 ]
Hola Estamos muy bien aquí en la escuela de Montgomery High que
se encuentra en South San Diego at Palm Avenue.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 24 - 10:13:39 ]
RE: [luliana-students/MontgomeryHigh] What
part of Mexico did your grandparents come from?
Mi Tío has just finished a family tree and during his research
he located their origins in Sonora, Mexico I believe.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 25 - 10:13:59
]
RE: [ESMERALDA-students/MontgomeryHigh] Hola
Estamos muy bien aquí en la escuela de Montgomery High que se encuentra
en South San Diego at Palm Avenue.
Me imagino que estás refiriendo a San Diego, California?
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 28 - 10:16:37
]
RE: [MeteoriteGroup/TheWhiteLakeSchool-KarenJ.Massey]
How many animals do you take into space at one time? We are in second
grade and we are building model space stations.
Hello White Lake, Where are you coming to us from?
[ Chris/NASAARC - 33 - 10:20:58 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] How do you
make the habitats for the rodents? What materials do you use?
Hello Luis How are you? This is a good question. Our habitat is assembled
in sections and then we put all together somewhat like what is done when
building our homes. The materials we use are primarily aluminum and some
stainless steel. We also use a type of plastic in our waste tray.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 36 - 10:24:47 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Looking
at the picture of RACK 3, could you please explain the air flow? How does
this direct the waste to the waste tray?
Hello Mellie at Atholton. Where is this school? Good question. We use
an Air purification system which intakes are from the spacelab. This intake
is located just above the cage areas below the upper cover on the rack
left side.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 40 - 10:30:01 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] What
kind of food should be provided for the rats? How much food should be
provided?
Mellie Hello again. I did not finish answering your question. Through
the Air purification system the air flows into the top of our cages and
down through the waste trays and then back out into the spacelab through
a filtering process so the crew does not smell the waste odor. The food
we use is basically wheat in a foodbar format somewhat like a long (2
ft) candy bar.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 41 - 10:30:36 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] What
kind of food should be provided for the rats? How much food should be
provided?
Did you get my food answer?
[ Chris/NASAARC - 42 - 10:32:58 ]
RE: [ESMERALDA-students/MontgomeryHigh] Hola
Estamos muy bien aquí en la escuela de Montgomery High que se encuentra
en South San Diego at Palm Avenue.
Hola Esmeralda San Diego. ¿Cómo es El "Super Bowl"?
[ Mellie/AtholtonElementary - 43 - 10:33:30 ]
Chris, Our school, Atholton Elementary, is located in Columbia, MD. Columbia
is midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Thank you for answering
our questions.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 44 - 10:34:40 ]
RE: [MeteoriteGroup/TheWhiteLakeSchool-KarenJ.Massey]
We are from Fort Worth, Texas. We are interested in space. We would like
to know what kind of models Mr. Barreras built.
Hello White Lake. I have built several type. Planes, Space shuttle, Rockets,
boats....etc.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 46 - 10:36:44
]
RE: [KarenJ.Massey] Could you tell us what
"room moderation" means? We would like to leave a message that could be
answered later because we have to get another group from our class now.
Sure Karen! by moderation, I mean that instead of questions appearing
as they are asked, I hold them in store and post them a little closer
to the answer so that Chris doesn't have to try to scroll back so far
to find previous questions that are still unanswered. You can continue
to ask questions. This will just give Chris a chance to catch up - after
all, we're about 15 to 1 right now!
[ Chris/NASAARC - 47 - 10:39:41 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] Hello Chris
do you believe in aliens? I do.
Hello Luis Yes I do. I am believer that we are not alone. As stated in
the movie "Contact" if we were alone, then it would be a terrible waste
of space.
[ Mellie/AtholtonElementary - 48 - 10:43:54 ]
Chris, Thank you for the food answer. This will help us with our design.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 49 - 10:44:37 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Could
you please describe what the food and water containers look like and how
do they work?
Hi Mellie Our food container is actually a long cassette which holds the
foodbars. The cassette is approximately 2 ft long by 2 inches wide and
1 inch thick. It is spring loaded so as the animal (rodent) eats food
the spring automatically feeds the food to the animal. The crew hardly
ever has to do the feeding. As for the water. We have a main water tank
which feeds water to all the cages. The tank holds about 9 liters of water
under pressure to the cages.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 50 - 10:48:38 ]
RE: [MeteoriteGroup/TheWhiteLakeSchool-KarenJ.Massey]
How many animals do you take into space at one time? We are in second
grade and we are building model space stations.
Hello White Lake For this mission we are taking a zoo The systems I work
on are taking 24 adult rodents, plus 12 mother rodents with 8 seven day
little rodents per each mother. We are also flying mice, crickets and
fish. I do not have the exact quantities for these.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 51 - 10:53:56 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] Why can't
artificial gravity be created for the Space Shuttle.
Hi Luis There are different answers to this one but briefly the shuttles
design and basic mission role is more of transport to and from earth orbit.
Designing the shuttle to create artificial gravity would have made it
more complex than it already is. Taking everything into consideration,
costs, schedule, and the tasks it needs to accomplish, the present design
was the best one needed. However, there are new designs on the computers...
[ Chris/NASAARC - 52 - 10:58:16 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] What
should wattage of the fluorescent light be?
Wattage? Our present systems use about 50 watts per each RAHF for the
lighting systems. The shuttle provides the RAHF 28 VDC of power to each
RAHF RACKs 3 and 7. Try to keep your lights under 50 watts. Question for
your group- How would you calculate the wattage if you only knew the voltage
and current? Do not cheat by looking on the bulb.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 53 - 11:00:36 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] How long
did it take to make the habitats? to come up with the idea and to make
it.
How long? Ours took at least two years including the designing and testing.
They were built before I came to work on this project.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 54 - 11:04:30 ]
RE: [Atholton-Mellie/AtholtonElementary] We
are a little confused. How do the rats hang on to aluminum and steel?
Is there a grid surface on the steel?
Hello again Good one... Yes we do have a grid on the floor the cage or
habitat.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 56 - 11:08:49
]
RE: [KarenJ.Massey] Thank you for explaining
room moderation to us. We are learning how to use the computer to learn
more about space. We are divided into groups, and we picked names for
our groups. We also decided on a question to ask. We are enjoying these
computer activities. Our question today is how long will the animals stay
in space when they go up in April?
This one I can help with. The mission is scheduled for around 16 days.
To find out more about the schedule, timing, etc. check out: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/background/mission.html
[ Chris/NASAARC - 57 - 11:08:57 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] Yes we are
in California near Tijuana, Baja California a unos cuantos kilometros
de Sonora--400 kilometros las 3 horas
Near Baja! ¡Qué bonito! Yo quiero visitar a tus estudiantes.
My Spanish needs work...please excuse me
[ Chris/NASAARC - 60 - 11:11:59 ]
RE: [Luis-students/MontgomeryHigh] How are
the fish going to be able to find their food in space.
Hi again I am not involve in the fish project so I do not know the details
but I can find out.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 61 - 11:12:56 ]
RE: [KarenJ.Massey] Do the animals make noises
in space?
Hi Karen and welcome They make some noise but generally they are quiet.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 65 - 11:15:23 ]
RE: [Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Are you going
up in space on Neurolab? If yes, how often do you expect to check on the
rats?
Hi No I am not going up in space... I wish I were... The Astronauts will
be doing daily health checks for our Scientists on the ground.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 66 - 11:16:18
]
RE: [Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Will there
be a veterinarian on the Neurolab? Will he have medical supplies?
Have you checked out the bios for the crew members? They're at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team
at the foot of the page.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 67 - 11:16:55 ]
RE: [Mellie/AtholtonElementary] Will there
be a veterinarian on the Neurolab? Will he have medical supplies?
Good question... One of the Mission Astronauts is a Veterinarian. Yes
they will have medical supplies.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 69 - 11:19:09
]
Wow! We went right past 11:00! I'm going to close for now, and if Chris
is willing, perhaps he would stick around and answer the last 2 or 3 before
checking out. Thanks for joining us!
[ Mellie/AtholtonElementary - 70 - 11:19:36 ]
Chris, Thanks for the math problem. We'll calculate the wattage problem
in math tomorrow, first and second period math classes, and send the answer
to Linda. My students say thank you for this challenging problem.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 71 - 11:20:37 ]
RE: [students/MontgomeryHigh] el super bowl:
ya pasó hace 1 semana y fui a ver el juego y ganaron los broncos.
¿Qué equipo de soccer te gusta? a mí me gustan las
chivas de Guadalajara, México.
Chivas es us gran equipo. Missail Espinosa juega por las Chivas? Mi equipo
favorito es Estados Unidos y Cruz Azul. Aquí en Oakland Mexico
juega con Trinidad hoy.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 72 - 11:21:13 ]
RE: [KarenJ.Massey] How many different animals
have you worked with? Thank you for answering our questions.
Hi Karen I have worked with Rodents rats and mice.
[ students/MontgomeryHigh - 73 - 11:22:08 ]
Thank you for answering our questions and thank you for your efforts in
Spanish. You are welcome to visit any time.
[ Mellie/AtholtonElementary - 74 - 11:22:21 ]
Chris & Linda, Thank you both very much. The information from today will
really help the students revise their animal habitat designs.
[ Chris/NASAARC - 75 - 11:22:49 ]
RE: [Linda/NASAQuest] Wow! We went right past 11:00! I'm
going to close for now, and if Chris is willing, perhaps he would stick
around and answer the last 2 or 3 before checking out. Thanks for joining
us!
Hi I can stick around for a few more
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 77 - 11:27:02
]
RE: [Standish/RussellMiddleSchool] Hi, this
is Christine and Lynn. We are from Thomas Russell Middle School.We would
like to know what the rat cage design is?
Shhhh! Keep it under your hat, but I've posted some pictures that you
can check out at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/photos/AEM.html These
will give our Chat participants a chance to see one of the habitats designed
here at NASA Ames Research Center.
[ Linda/NASAQuest - 78 - 11:28:58
]
I want to say a giant thank you to Chris for taking from his really busy
schedule to chat with us today! I enjoyed it so much that I lost track
of time, and he has been very tolerant. Thank you to all the classes that
joined us -- and thanks for your terrific designs. You're the reason we
do this!
[ Chris/NASAARC - 79 - 11:30:36 ]
RE: [Standish/RussellMiddleSchool] Hi, this
is Christine and Lynn. We are from Thomas Russell Middle School.We would
like to know what the rat cage design is?
Hi Christine and Lynn and welcome Our cage design is rectangular shape
about 3ft long approx 10 inches wide and 10 inches tall. The cages actually
is in two equal sections where each section can hold one adult rodent.
Both rodents have access to food and water. The top of the cage has two
screened doors for access to the animals. The bottom of the cage has a
tray which collects all the waste. One end of the cage has a viewing door
for health monitoring.
I have to go and thanks for the chat.. Good luck in all you do. Stay
cool.
Adiós
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