An 80-day space mission called MoonKAM combines the efforts of middle school students, NASA researchers and UC San Diego undergraduates.
NASA's MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students) lets thousands of 5th through 8th graders in classrooms across the country sign up for the program.
The young students will be in charge of special cameras on twin satellites that entered the moon's orbit on New Year's day.
Scientists hope the new data will provide clues on how the moon and earth were formed.
The results of a student contest to rename the satellites will be announced later this month.
The MoonKAM mission is an educational and public outreach program. It is a collaborative effort led by America’s first woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride, NASA and undergraduates at UC, San Diego.
