2009 Cassini Scientist for a Day

17 July 2009

In celebration of the Cassini spacecraft¹s extended mission orbiting Saturn and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the Fall 2009 edition of the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest is going to be INTERNATIONAL. In the past, this contest has only been open to students from the United States. With your help, we¹d like to invite students from many other countries to participate.

Winners will be invited to submit questions about the Cassini mission to international Cassini scientists who will be attending the Cassini Project Science Group meeting at NASA¹s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in October 2009.

Contest rules for the previous version of the contest can be found here: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientistforaday7thedition/rules/

Students in grades 5-12 (approximately ages 10-18) will be invited to write a 500-word essay about one of three possible targets the Cassini spacecraft will image on October 11, 2009.

Here¹s where we need your help: We need national or regional coordinators for the essay contest. You would advertise the contest, collect essays from students in your country or region, assemble a team of judges to read the essays, and send the best essay(s) from your country to NASA¹s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To sign up: Send an e-mail to scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov with " International CSFAD" in the subject line, and include your name, e-mail address, space background, and country or region you would like to represent. If other people from your country have already expressed an interest in coordinating the essay contest, we will put you in touch with them so you can work together.

More information:

Rachel Zimmerman Brachman

scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov

Cassini Scientist for a Day organizing committee lead

Cassini Formal Education Specialist

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA

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