1997 Summer Highlights

As the end of summer is upon us, there once again was the mad rush to view the "Moon rocks" and the lunar processing facility. The summer faculty, summer interns, and NRCs all look forward to donning the bunnysuits, hat, gloves, and booties to gaze upon our national treasures. Some of them have worked with PIs, scientists, and technicians on small portions of samples over the past months, but lab tours show the big picture. The efforts of the men and women who have dedicated so much of their lives to the care of these samples have assisted in providing and producing tangible results that have positively impacted the lives of all human kind. The precision handling and special care that is taken to preserve the condition of the rocks makes an impression to visitors to the lab.

From left to right, Jessie Hendrick (JSC EEO), Robert Thompson (Intern), Chris Barrett (Intern), and Geri Spratlin (Interpreter) tour the lunar lab.	Summer Hight School Apprentice Research Program (SHARP) students from Booker T. Washington School of Engineering and Clear Lake Intermediate School.	The Lunar Growth Chamber Project is a joint project with Space Center Houston, Clear Creek ISD, and NASA JSC. These student participants took a break from planning plant growth experiments to tour the lunar sample facility.

Shannon Colton, Summer Intern

I grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. I now live in San Antonio, Texas. I am the daughter of Sue and Milo Colton, and the sister of Chase, Starlight, and Dallas Colton.

I received my high school diploma from James Madison High School in San Antonio. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in geology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where my professors have opened my eyes to many facets of geology.

Planetary geology, in particular, has always left me in awe. I remember the day my geology professor, Dr. Eric Swanson, described impact craters on the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and Antarctic meteorites. My awareness that Earth is not an isolated entity, but a member of a dynamic solar system, has fostered my interest in planetary geology.

I have spent two summers working for Dr. James Gooding at the Planetary Missions and Materials Branch, NASA JSC. Dr. Gooding has involved me in projects that provide tools for deciphering Martian mineralogy. In both, I have written Excel macros. One spreadsheet stores chemical composition data, and plots samples on a graph with the axes Al/(Al+Mg+Fe) and (Na+K+Ca)/Si; the other stores principal wavelength positions and relative absorption strengths of minerals anticipated on Mars. While completing these projects, I have gained a basic understanding of Martian geochemistry. I also helped index documents for archives maintained by our division. Working here has been the most challenging, and fulfilling experience of my life; I am now dedicated to a career in planetary geology.

In my spare time I enjoy visiting parks, camping, and hiking in northern New Mexico.

I plan to graduate in the summer of 1998, and attend graduate school in planetary geology the following Fall.

Christopher Barrett, Summer Intern
High School/High Tech Program

My name is Christopher Barrett. I was born on February 8, 1981, in Houston, Texas. I live with my parents, Jack and Carol Barrett. I have an older brother, Michael, who is 20 years old. We all live in Clear Lake in the Middlebrook Subdivision. I like to go out with my friends and play basketball. I also like to go out at night and play pool. Next year I will be a Junior at Clear Lake High School. I cannot wait to graduate high school and go to college. I want to work at NASA and become a Engineer (or something like that). I think it's pretty interesting when some new discoveries are made! I would like to see some new things that people have never seen or heard of. Being a High School-High Tech. student gives me good experience for the future and it will look very good on my résumé. I think it's a good idea to work around NASA. I'm glad that I had this opportunity!