Wyoming

Wyoming Students Take a Call From Outer Space (Really!) Tomorrow

Published

1 year ago

July 18, 2023

Wyoming Students Take a Call From Outer Space (Really!) Tomorrow

Some Laramie students will receive the call of a lifetime tomorrow morning – straight from the celestial reaches of Outer Space.

No, E.T. isn’t calling to check in on Wyoming. It’s a call from astronaut Steve Bowen, who happens to be floating aboard the International Space Station (I.S.S.) these days.

Stephen (Steve) Bowen is the Flight Engineer for Expedition 68. Bowen “was the first Submarine Officer to be selected as an astronaut by NASA.” He has been to space on numerous missions, including launching “the International Space Station as Commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 2, 2023,” to join the Expedition 68 crew. He is currently stationed on the I.S.S. as part of that mission. (Explore Stephen’s biography by clicking here.)

Bowen will answer questions the students sent as part of a project with the Laramie Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in partnership with the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium.

Q&A From Space – Laramie Students Interview an Astronaut

Bowen’s Q&A session is doubly special for Wyoming students. Not only is Bowen a certified astronaut – space suit and all – but it takes considerable work to assemble such a project. After all, it takes a lot of work to call from outer space. After all… it’s a very long-distance call. According to NASA, even with current technology, phone calls from the I.S.S. have a 1-second lag.

The phone call also represents the first Earth-to-space call. The students will experience history in the making!

Today, astronauts aboard the International Space Station use the “softphone” method to make phone calls from outer space. NASA breaks down how such a long-distance transmission works:

“Softphone works through the laptop computers astronauts use on the International Space Station (I.S.S.)…They speak through a headset with a microphone, and the signal is sent up to 144,810 kilometers (90,000 miles) by way of a communications satellite. That long distance can mean there is a time lag of up to 1 second in conversations.
Standard IP phone systems would disconnect with such a delay, so the Softphone astronaut’s use is modified to accommodate this.”

Now that is some out-of-this-world technology (literally!)

The students at Big Brothers and Big Sisters sent in their questions ahead of time and will receive their answers at the University of Wyoming tomorrow at 8:25 a.m. Mountain Time. A link to the video will go live on NASA’s website and in the NASA app.

Find more information on the history-making event by clicking here.

What Is The Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium?

The Wyoming Nasa Space Grant Consortium is a bridge between NASA and Wyoming citizens. The program sponsors education and research programs in the Equality State that provide and develop STEM resources for students and teachers, in addition to funding scholarships, research, and other programs. Find out more about the program by clicking here.

Wyoming’s Top Stargazing Destinations

Escape the city to watch the stars glimmer in the skies of Wyoming’s most stunning wilderness locations.

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Wyoming

UND commits 29 turnovers in falling 73-41 at Wyoming

Published

4 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

UND commits 29 turnovers in falling 73-41 at Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The UND women’s basketball team went into Christmas break by committing a season-high 29 turnovers in a 73-41 loss at Wyoming on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Hawks, who were outscored 17-3 in the fourth quarter, dropped to 5-8 overall with two Division I wins.

UND ranks last in the Summit League in turnovers at 17.7 per game. The team is also last in the Summit in assists with 314.

Wyoming, which improved to 6-6, also beat South Dakota by 34 earlier this season.

UND was led by Grafton native Walker Demers, who finished with 13 points. No other Hawk ended with more than six points.

Grand Forks freshman point guard Jocelyn Schiller and sophomore Nevaeh Ferrara Horne both added six points.

Coming off a season-high 25 points against Mayville State, Kiera Pemberton was held to four points on just 2-for-3 shooting against Wyoming. She had six turnovers.

Pemberton, a sophomore from Langley, B.C., had scored in double figures in every other UND game this season.

The Hawks trailed by five after the first quarter and 13 at halftime.

UND cut the lead as close as 10 in the third quarter but trailed by 18 by the end of the frame.

UND was just 2-for-13 from 3-point range with Demers 0-for-4 and reserve Sydney Piekny 1-for-5.

Wyoming committed just 10 turnovers and had 17 assists. Three players finished in double figures, led by Tess Barnes with 16 points.

UND only shot four free throws — all by Demers, who was 3-for-4.

UND starts the post-Christmas schedule on the road, at Omaha on Jan. 2 and at Kansas City on Jan. 4.

The Hawks return home Jan. 9 against Oral Roberts and Jan. 11 against Denver.

Staff reports and local scoreboards from the Grand Forks Herald Sports desk.

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Wyoming

Wondrous Wyoming (12/21/24)

Published

11 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

CASPER, Wyo. — “Taken in Casper, Wyoming before the sun rose,” writes photographer Tashina Williams.

Do you have a photo that captures the beauty of Wyoming? Submit it by clicking here and filling out the form, and we may share it!

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Wyoming Is One of the Best States in the Nation for Protecting Elders

Published

19 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Wyoming Is One of the Best States in the Nation for Protecting Elders

Elder abuse is a growing concern throughout the country. It costs Americans billions of dollars and unfortunately encompasses a wide range of abuses, including physical, psychological and/or sexual harm, in addition to other concerns like neglect and taking advantage of seniors financially.

A new study conducted by personal finance website, WalletHub, recently listed the “States with the Best Elder-Abuse Protections”, and the Cowboy State was ranked in the top 15.

Wyoming was ranked 11th overall on the study.

WalletHub broke down the methodology for the study stating:

To identify where elderly Americans are best protected, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 16 key indicators of elder abuse protection in 3 overall categories. Our data set ranges from each state’s share of all elder abuse complaints to their laws concerning financial elder abuse.

A few of the key metrics illustrate why Wyoming scored so high (including the one that kept us from scoring even higher):

Prevalence Rank – 19th
Resources Rank – 5th
Protection Rank – 47th

While overall Wyoming is doing considerably better than 80% of the country, there is definitely room for improvement. Considering some of the elderly horror stories that have made it to different news outlets around the state over the last couple of years, it’s nice to see us rising on this list.