Hello All!   
      
   NASA's Cure for a Common Phobia        
      
   Nov. 9, 2012:  NASA has found a cure for a common phobia--the fear of asking   
   "stupid" questions.    
      
   It's not a pill.  No therapy is required.  The cure is a rubber chicken.    
      
   That's right, school kids and even their teachers can find themselves   
   tongue-tied when they come face to face with an astronaut or astrophysicist.   
   This interferes with NASA's mission to reach out, inspire, and educate. "But   
   nobody's afraid to talk to a rubber chicken," says Romeo Durscher of Stanford   
   University, executive secretary for a fowl NASA ambassador named "Camilla"   
   who's taking classrooms by storm.    
      
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYwNFwj2QVE   
      
   Camilla visits the edge of space during a suborbital helium balloon flight in   
   Sept. 2012. Credit: Earth to Sky. Videos:Chicken Float, ScienceCast   
      
   Outfitted in her own personal spacesuit, Camilla travels far and wide to meet   
   with kids at schools, science centers, and even sci-fi conventions.  She helps   
   break the ice for astronauts and other space-celebrities when they meet the   
   general public.    
      
    "Camilla is the perfect NASA spokes-chicken!" says astronaut Clayton   
   Anderson. "I am one of her biggest fans. Always a big hit with the kids, she   
   makes science, engineering, technology, and math seem appealing, not   
   threatening, to youth of all ages."    
      
   Camilla is  willing to go almost anywhere for science.    
      
   Earlier this year she flew to the edge of space to investigate a solar   
   radiation storm.  A group of high school students in Bishop, California,   
   attached radiation sensors to Camilla and sent her into the storm clinging to   
   the payload of a helium balloon.  She flew so high (124,000 feet on one   
   flight) that the daytime sky turned as black as space.  Later, Camilla   
   parachuted back to Earth where the kids continue to study the data she   
   gathered.    
      
   "We had so much fun working with Camilla on this experiment," says Rachel   
   Molina, a senior at Bishop Union High School and a member of the launch team.    
   "She is one cool chick." One of Camilla's prime missions is to inspire girls   
   to enter the sciences, and it seems to be succeeding. Molina plans to major in   
   physics when she goes to college next year. "Should I ask Camilla for a letter   
   of recommendation?" she wonders.    
      
   The Adventures of Camilla: In this episode the rubber chicken gets stuck atop   
   a space toilet. MoreMore than 20,000 people follow Camilla on Facebook,   
   Twitter and Google+, where every adventure is an opportunity for science   
   education.    
      
   "During one visit to Johnson Space Center, Clayton Anderson showed her the   
   space toilet trainer," Durscher recalls. "Camilla insisted on trying it out.   
   She ended up getting sucked into the hose -- and stuck in the toilet. Luckily,   
   we were able to free her. And we used the incident to teach how space toilets   
   work."    
      
   On Nov. 14, 2012, Camilla will be in Australia to observe a total eclipse of   
   the sun.  At the end of totality, she's going to run "the Solar Eclipse   
   Marathon," a 26.2 mile race that begins when the first ray of sunlight lances   
   over the edge of the retreating Moon.  As far as anyone knows, this is the   
   first time a rubber chicken has run such a race.     
      
   Camilla's travel budget is very small, so certain measures are necessary for   
   reasons of economy.  For instance, on airplane flights Camilla travels in the   
   overhead compartment. "I ask her to keep quiet," says Durscher, "but every now   
   and then she lets out a disgruntled squawk. I just sit there like I don't hear   
   anything."    
      
   Ultimately, Durscher would like Camilla to join the crew of the International   
   Space Station. In particular, he's angling for a berth on Soyuz Expedition   
   40/41. If this happens, astronaut chats from orbit with school kids and   
   reporters might never be the same.    
      
   With a space-suited chicken floating in the background, "no one will ever be   
   afraid to ask a `stupid' question again."    
      
   Educators are encouraged to follow Camilla on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.   
      
      
   Authors: Dr. Tony Phillips , Dauna Coulter | Production editor: Dr. Tony   
   Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
      
      
   Regards,   
      
   Roger    
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna - (1:3828/7)