Women Of NASA

Take Our Daughters To Work Day
Forum with Rosaly M.C. Lopes-Gautier
April 25, 2002

[ Andria/YWAC - 182 - 14:42:31 ]
Welcome to the Forum 4 with Rosaly M.C. Lopes-Gautier. Please post any questions you may have about the celebration of Centennial of Flight and women's role in flight's history. She will gladly answer questions specific to her work and the many aspects of her accomplishments to the NASA legacy, flight, aeuronautics and space. Read her bio at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/bios/women/rlg.html. The Forum will be open from 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. PDT / 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT / 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EDT. Be sure to identify yourself before submitting your questions. For Example: Jesse/6th/Mr.Green - How many people live on the ISS? (remember, don't use your last name) Have fun!

[ Andria/YWAC - 192 - 17:30:32 ]
Thank you for submitting all of your great questions, Rosaly Lopes-Gaultier will be with us shortly. Thank you for your patience!!

[ Rosaly - 193 - 19:39:52 ]
RE: Dear Rosaly, Have you ever been in space? have you ever been at the bottom of an erupting volcano that is actually shotting out lava? In science at Louise S. McGehee school we are learing about volcanos and earthquakes, do you have anything neat to say about volcanos and your experiences near volcanoes? Can you really see the stars in the sky, with out pictures? What is the brightest constellation in the night sky?
Hi. I have never been in space, but I have been on and around several erupting volcanoes, including Etna in Sicily and Kilauea in Hawaii.

[ Rosaly - 194 - 19:41:54 ]
RE: Who inspired you to work for Nasa? Do you have a family? If you have a family how do they feel about you working at NASA?
I wanted to work for NASA since I was a little girl. My parents feel very proud. I think I am the only Brazilian scientist who works for NASA. My parents and sister still live in Brazil. I have a son here, he is 8, and he thinks I work too much.

[ Rosaly - 195 - 19:43:37 ]
RE: Ann/Mrs.Westberry 7th grade science. How big is the moon compared to the sun?
The moon is much, much smaller than the Sun. Sorry I don't have the numbers at my fingertips, and I have a lot of questions to answer. Go to any introductory astronomy book and you will find out.

[ Rosaly - 196 - 19:44:05 ]
RE: Have you always enjoyed scienc
Yes, since I was a little girl.

[ Rosaly - 197 - 19:48:33 ]
RE: what are some new plantes? what are their names? can there be life forms on any of those plants?
Not sure what you mean by "new" planets. If you mean those that have been detected around other stars, no, they don't have names. We don't know their sizes or much about them yet. There could be life somewhere other than Earth, who knows?

[ Rosaly - 198 - 19:49:22 ]
RE: Becca Mrs Dunbars 9th - Hi Rosaly How do you know where to look for planets?
I don't actually look for planets. I study the geology of the planets in our solar system.

[ Rosaly - 199 - 19:50:26 ]
RE: Which has more volcanoes planets or moons?
The Earth has more active volcanoes (that means the ones that erupted in historical times) than any other planet or moon we know.

[ Rosaly - 200 - 19:51:03 ]
RE: Would you like to go into space
Yes, would love to!

[ Rosaly - 201 - 19:52:07 ]
RE: [Andria/YWAC] Thank you for submitting all of your great questions, Rosaly Lopes-Gaultier will be with us shortly. Thank you for your patience!!
Sorry about the delay. I have a number of meetings today and cannot stay very long in the chatroom.

[ Andria/YWAC - 203 - 19:57:46 ]
RE: [Rosaly] Sorry about the delay. I have a number of meetings today and cannot stay very long in the chatroom.
Don't worry about it, any time you can spend will be greatly thanked by children with their answered questions!!!

[ Andria/YWAC - 205 - 20:20:06 ]
Rosaly are you still connected?

[ Rosaly - 206 - 21:16:20 ]
RE: [Andria/YWAC] Rosaly are you still connected?
I'm back for a while...

[ Rosaly - 207 - 21:19:24 ]
RE: Erin/McGeheeSchool: Dear Rosaly, Since you have never been in space before, do you want to go? What is the brightest constellation in the night sky? How do you know where to look for planets?
Yes, I want to go into space. It's hard to say what is the brightest constellation, because each star in the constellation will have its own brightness: some will be brighter than others. I suppose someone must have worked out what is the constellation with the brightest stars (if you add their individual brightnesses) but I don't know about it! I don't look for planets, but when we send missions to planets like Jupiter or Saturn, which have small moons that we can't see with telescopes, we take images to look for new moons.

[ Rosaly - 208 - 21:55:52 ]
RE: Megan/Mrs. Westberry/Lakeside Middle School/Anderson, SC What exactly is the Aurora, or Northern Lights, and where does it come from?
Aurora is a phenomenon also called northern lights (on Earth), but aurora happen on other planets as well, like Jupiter. Aurora is a glow from a planet's atmosphere caused by the impact and interaction of charged particles in a planet's magnetosphere with the atoms and molecules in the planet's atmosphere. I've never seen aurora, but maybe one day I will go to Alaska or someplace where you can see this spectacular natural show.

[ Andria/YWAC - 210 - 22:04:09 ]
This concludes our chat. Thank you for tuning in.