February 20, 2008

Administrator Michael Griffin

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

West Sands Test Facilities

12600 NASA Road Las

Cruces, New Mexico 88012

Dear Mr. Michael Griffin:

            I am a 7th grader in Middle School.  My science class is studying space.  When we did our lunar lenders, an egg drop, I was sick, and missed it.  Since you work at NASA on this kind of stuff, I wanted to tell you what I would have done. 

            I would have used the cheapest materials.  We got a list, and the cheapest ones were the good ones.  Since making the sides shock-absorbent would be hard, I would only do one, and weight it down to make sure it fell the right way.  The egg inside would be protected by a sponge or Styrofoam. 

            I learned a lot just by watching.  I could tell that the shock-absorbing material had worked best when exposed to the ground, not under a barrier.  The barrier would prevent the absorbing materiel from collapsing and absorbing shock.  This made a big difference.  One of my favorites of the other ideas was the two sponges the egg fit through.  This secured the egg and worked great.  This was a great project.  Good luck with your next mission!

Sincerely,

                                                                        Bill Pardon