Maker Camp 2014
Urban Astronomer is an astronomy website. We don’t cover general science, or engineering news. But this is cool, and valuable, and since they’ve sent a 3D printer to the ISS to allow for in situ manufacturing of spare parts, there’s a convenient space angle. So…
Do you like making things, or tinkering with them to see how they work? Are your favourite TV characters inventors and scientists? Do you wish you were one of those clever people who design and build the thousands of machines and gadgets we all rely on every day? Then why not join the Maker Camp, a six week virtual event sponsored by Google Plus and Make Magazine and take part in some of the 30 brilliant DIY projects.
Maker Camp hapens in both the physical and virtual worlds. You can join in at one of hundreds of organisations around the world, or on the Maker Camp Google+ page. Things got started yesterday, with a field trip to NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, accompanied by famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin – one of the very few people who have walked on the Moon. The project for the day was the construction of a working rocket from a milk bottle.
Yesterday’s campers met one of New York’s legendary bike messengers, and saw a clever bike-portable workshop. The messengers gave a few tips on how to be bike-street smart. Campers then learned to build a glow bike. Today, they see the next step in Google Street View, which maps out the world away from streets. Join the fun and learn how to take “Photospheres” of yor own neighbourhood, and if you’re up for a challenge you can even build your own simple robot that seeks the light.
We’ll be updating this article regularly to make sure you always know what’s coming up, but for more information, go to the Maker Camp website.