The North Dakota Space Grant Consortium recently sponsored "NASA in North Dakota Day" at the State Capitol in Bismarck.

A variety of poster displays and demonstrations gave legislators the opportunity to learn about the scope of NASA related research in the state. In addition to the posters, the NDX-1 (a proto-type planetary space suit to be worn on the surface of Mars) and a table of meteorite samples were in the Great Hall.

Below are photographs that highlight the event:


 

Students from Northwood/Hatton High School attended "NASA in North Dakota Day" and brought their FIRST robot, Thunder, to perform for the crowd in the Great Hall of the State Capitol Pablo de Leon, principal investigator for the NDX-1, attended the NASA event at the State Capitol on February 17 Suezette Rene Bieri, deputy director of the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium, stood by the over sized poster of NDSU's human powered vehicle during NASA's dog and pony show at the State Capitol Suezette Rene Bieri and Mike Vogelwede, FIRST Robotics advisor from Northwood/ Hatton High Schools, stand by the 2008 robot that took the teamto the national competition. The robot is named Thunder Nathan Ambler, director of the Space Operations Center for UMAC at the Center for Aerospace Sciences at UND, attended the NASA event at the State Capitol on behalf of AgCam Beth Reynolds and Vishnu Reddy, both graduates of the masters program in Space Studies at UND, attended "NASA in  North Dakota Day" at the State Capitol. Reynolds and Reddy were both recipients of NASA research grants during their graduate programs A sampling of the Space Grant posters in the Great Hall during "NASA in North Dakota Day" at the State Capitol on February 17, 2009