Reassessment for Honors Qualification 

Quality of Resources

Self-Assessment: Qualifies for Honors

While I narrowed the focus of my Essential Question from “How can more science and research be conducted on the International Space Station?”  to “What is the optimal Crew Transfer Vehicle for the International Space Station?” early on in the project, the scope of my project remains very broad.  More importantly, it would be foolish to develop a manned space vehicle without knowing the history of its endeavors.

Resources, as mentioned in Reassessment 2a, included publications, books, technical reports from NASA, online websites, and a CD-ROM database.  This covers all aspects of the resource requirements, demanding that research should not be exclusively web-based.  The publications, primarily Aviation Week & Space Technology, showed unbiased reporting on project development.  NASA resources, while biased for self-interest, focus primarily on the facts, leaving interpretation to the reader.  Several online websites, especially ones concerning Russian programs, had a very capitalist feel, in hopes of selling their projects to Western developers.  Nevertheless, these too reported the facts.  Finally, the CD-ROM database is very unbiased.  I would compare it to Britannica or Encarta, except focused on a single topic.  The CD-ROM, in fact, is titled Encyclopedia Astronautica.

All resources involved either the actual systems used in my design, their predecessor, provided me the tools in which to understand the material, and equations to determine the required orbital dynamics of the space station and my orbiter.  Several books, which I read for personal interest, also provided me with the viewpoint of the astronaut, which I believe also has indirectly impacted my work.

Mentor Assessment: Qualifies for Honors

Ryan made excellent use of experts to obtain information about recent research in his field of inquiry.