Project POSTAR was the first space experiment created entirely by members of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. On September 12, 1992, Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' mission

STS-47 STS-47 was the 50th NASA Space Shuttle mission of the program, as well as the second mission of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission mainly involved conducting experiments in life and material sciences inside Spacelab-J, a collaborativ ...

carried 10 Get Away Special (GAS) canisters. Amongst these GAS cansisters was G-102 sponsored by the

's Exploring Division in cooperation with the TRW Systems Integration Group, Fairfax, Virginia. The project was named Project POSTAR. (The name was a combination of the words "Post" and "Star").

Beginnings

What was to become Project POSTAR began in late 1978 when TRW purchased the "GAS Can" for $10,000. The Exploring Division of the

announced the opportunity for Explorer Posts and Sea Explorer (see:

Sea Scouting Sea Scouts are a part of the Scout movement, with a particular emphasis on boating and other water-based activities on the sea, rivers or lakes (canoeing, rafting, scuba, sailboarding). Sea Scouts can provide a chance to sail, cruise on boats, ...

) Ships to design experiments to fly on the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

. Approximately two-hundred Posts and Ships from around the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

expressed interest in developing an experiment, and thirty-eight submitted a first phase proposal. A panel of scientists and engineers from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

, TRW, and the

, headed by astronaut

James A. Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

, selected eighteen experiments for the second phase. In 1982, the experiments were pared down to a final eleven.

Explorer Post 1275 located at

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New Deal ...

integrated all the experiments into the GAS canister.

Tragedy and Success

grounded the

program after the explosion of Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' during the launch of mission

STS-51-L STS-51-L was the 25th mission of the NASA Space Shuttle program and the final flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. Planned as the first Teacher in Space Project flight in addition to observing Halley's Comet for six days and performing a ...

on January 28, 1986. This action meant that Project POSTAR might not ever fly. Due to the hard work of many, an albeit smaller Project POSTAR was launched on Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' on September 12, 1992. The final seven experiments and their sponsors were: * Capillary Pumping developed by Explorer Post 9005 and sponsored by the

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

Corp.,

St. Louis, MO St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

. * Cosmic Ray developed by Sea Explorer (see:

) Ship 101 and sponsored by the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Bridgeport, CT Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock ...

. * Crystal Growth developed by Explorer Post 310 and Emulsions developed by Explorer Post 310, both sponsored by Chesebrough-

Pond's Pond's is an American brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

Research Laboratory,

Trumbull, CT Trumbull is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders on the cities of Bridgeport and Shelton and the towns of Stratford, Fairfield, Easton and Monroe. The population was 36,827 during the 2020 census. Trumbul ...

. * Fiber Optics developed by Explorer Post 475 sponsored by the Naval Avionics Center, Indianapolis, IN. * Floppy Disk developed by Explorer Post 1022 sponsored by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

. * Fluid Droplets developed by Explorer Posts 822 and 2268 sponsored by

Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Mari ...

, Littleton, CO and the

Denver Museum of Natural History The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help mus ...

Denver, CO Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

. * Command, Power and Mechanical Systems designed by Explorer Post 1275 sponsored by the Goddard Explorer Club of

, Greenbelt, MD.

References

External links

NASA mission summary
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809080447/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-47/mission-sts-47.html , date=2020-08-09
Explorer Post 1275, Goddard Space Flight Center
Boy Scouts of America Space Shuttle program

Beginnings

Tragedy and Success

See also

References

External links