Professor Donna Reis

Humanities 105-77

June 14, 1998

Humanities 105-77 Summer 1998 Classmates
Tidewater Community College
Virginia Beach, VA 23456

Dear Classmates:

I just wanted to let you know about the wonderful experience I had on my June 11 trip to the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton Virginia. While at NASA I was able to see and learn a great deal about today's technology and discover how it is effectively being used in our world today.

While at NASA, I was given the opportunity to talk to Jeff, a NASA Langley Research Center Engineer who was able to both show and teach me a great deal about today's technology, particularly related to the Internet. In the brief time I was there, he introduced me to the Internet and the many different elements related to the Internet. He of course showed me one key (and inseparable) element of web page development: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Programming, a "universal" and platform (operating system) independent language used to create the homepages with which everyone is familiar. He also explained to me the process of creating some of the animated graphics that we see on the Internet as well. While it is possible to create these impressive graphics using a powerful programming language like Java, he showed me how to create these graphics using a certain program on the computer. The process is very similar to the way an animated film used to be made: A number of graphics of the same type (but with slightly different orientations/positions) is placed "one on top of the other" using a certain program which can manipulate graphics files in this way. When viewed with a suitable browser, this type of graphic appears to be animated. It was very interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes of a web site.

I was then introduced to a project involving LEGOs, those blocks that everyone loved playing with as children. But these were of course no ordinary LEGO blocks. At NASA, I discovered that research was being done to use these special LEGOs as engineering teaching tools for middle school students. They were special in that some of the LEGOs had small motors and sensors which were hooked up to a personal computer where they were controlled by a program. In that way, LEGOs could be made into motorized cars and even an automated sensor-controlled mini-greenhouse! In this way NASA hoped to introduce students to the many wonders of technology and engineering. Needless to say I was thoroughly impressed with they many things technology had to offer.

Initially, I had thought that technology was only for a select few, a small number of experts who had been practiced in a given field for years. But Jeff showed me this was not so. Jeff told me that HTML Programming was not difficult to understand (nor was the Internet), if you were willing to put a little effort into learning something new. And he told me that engineering was a very good field to pursue because it requires a person to think critically, to be open to new ideas, and realize that learning is an ongoing process. It was truly an enjoyable experience at NASA with Jeff.

Afterwards, I was given the opportunity to walk around the NASA Langley Research Center and make a few observations. While NASA is known for its technology, few people realize that there is also more than just a "technological" aspect; as a matter of fact, there is also an aesthetic and social element incorporated into that technology. While walking around one of the conference centers, I surprisingly saw artistic works reflecting NASA. There were detailed pencil and ink sketches of rockets, watercolor paintings of past astronauts, and even a beautiful pastel piece of space shuttles. What this suggests to me is that technology and art, technology and society, even technology and culture, are inseparable elements of our world. Technology cannot exist without these seemingly antithetical qualities and vice versa. Through my visit to NASA, I realized to a greater extent that much can be learned from technology if one uses it wisely and well.

Sincerely,


Jay R

Jay R <jgr5@cornell.edu> hum10577su98