Projects

The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) project is a partnership involving NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Lewis Center for Educational Research (LCER), and the Apple Valley Unified School District.

This educational program uses a 34-meter antenna at NASA's Deep Space Network Goldstone Complex for classroom radio astronomy observations via the Internet. The GAVRT project introduces students in elementary, middle, and high school to the process of science with the goal of improving science literacy among American students.

• GAVRT teaches students to use radio astronomy, to control a huge antenna, and to collect science data from objects in the universe at which the antenna is pointed
• GAVRT trains teachers, provides curriculum, and supports classroom implementation
• GAVRT uses the Internet to connect students to Operations Control and the antenna
• Students are actively involved in handling data for real science applications and learn that science is an ongoing process