Piner High School STEAM Certification L1

We Are Stars
Ashley Morales
Presentation Topic: We Are Stars
Presenter: Mr. Kruger
Date: Thursday, September 28th, 2023

Presentation Summary:

Our presenter, Mr. Kruger introduced us to who, what, and where OSIRIS-REX was.
Later showed us a movie about the periodic table, how we are a part of it, and how everything on
this earth has been once an element. OSIRIS-REX also known as OSIRIS-APEX was designed
by Lockheed Martin in NASA. It was launched into space on Thursday, September 8th, 2016 its
mission was to 101955 samples of Bennu. Bennu is an astroid in outer space. Scientists wanted
samples of Bennu to show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could
indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. OSRIS-APEX completed
his mission and returned to earth on Sunday, September 24th, 2023.
OSIRIS-REX mission is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid.
REX's mission was difficult due to Bennu orbiting the sun. It could have led to many
complications. The biggest one is REX disintegrating. When REX was 3 miles in diameter/ 490
meters in diameter from Bennu, in order to collect the 400 grams of Bennu. I was quite intrigued
when our presenter showed us REX moving on Bennu and gathering the sample in real time.
This sample was collected Sunday, September 24th, 2023 in the Utah, Desert.
Stars have been around forever, since the Big Bang. The Natives made stories about them
and others like Galileo saw and studied them. In the film, we learn what stars are made of, giant
balls of hot gas – mostly hydrogen, 10 million from the surface star begins to shine, with some
helium and small amounts of other elements. The first stars were huge. The core of the star is
nuclear fusion (heat). Carbon is key. We are made of atoms, atoms have niass. The movie
explained how the periodic table worked.
 Reflection: I’ve personally been interested in making underwater machines (robots). I
see many similarities in OSIRIS-APEX being a robot sent to space and collecting grams of an
asteroid. This stood out to me because you are able to create a moving and living machine that
can help the world. I always wonder how long it takes NASA, etc to make a machine/robot/etc. I
also wonder how many failures have they experienced, since OSIRIS-APEX was the first ever
mission in the U.S. to go through successfully. I personally am not interested in this field but if
there were to be a club or class of robotics. I would be interested in joining because I would
watch films of underwater robots which were quite inspiring, even if I did not show interest in
that field. Lastly, what is OSIRIS-APEX's next mission? The goal is to study near-Earth asteroid
Apophis for 18 months after the asteroid's close approach to Earth on April 13, 2029. My
opinion on the periodic table is amazing. I am amazed at how we can start with nothing or we
can start with a single atom or an element and just add or remove and we end up with a different
type of element. We have the power to create. As I continue my years of high school, my next
step is to attend AP Chemistry. In that class I hope to learn more about chemistry, what exactly
the film's background is, and how to create/work with elements. As a person who is interested in
the medical field, chemistry plays a big part in my future career. STEAM yet lives to amaze me.
STEAMify: