Kobie Boykins – a NASA Senior Mechanical Engineer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena – delivered presentations on the Mars Rover Program today to more than 600 school-aged children at The Cradle of Aviation Museum. The presentation was transmitted via Google Hangout by Companions in Courage Foundation to their Lion’s Den Rooms located in children’s hospitals across North America.

Boykins is considered a “rock star,” having been awarded a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2013.  He designed the solar array systems for the Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and designed the actuators on the Mars rover Curiosity.

He kept the planetarium, as well as the pediatric patients online, in rapt attention as he discussed the preparation that went in to sending each Rover to the Martian surface and the nuances of each mission. His enthusiasm was palpable as he talked about the incredibly valuable information that has already been gleaned from these missions.

The engineer explained that when Spirit and Opportunity were launched in 2003, there life expectancy was a mere 90 Martian days. Spirit roamed the red planet for 7 years, while Opportunity has traveled almost 30 miles on the Martian surface and is still functioning today.

Curiosity was launched in 2011, and Boykins shared a story with the children. He said, “If you were alive in November 2011, your name was included on a microchip that is traveling around on Mars with Curiosity!” He explained that the names of everyone on earth was included as a way of demonstrating how all-inclusive this mission is.

He shared a neat story about how the engineers originally wanted to have the initials, “JPL” (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) embedded into the wheel treads of Curiosity. He explained that idea was shot down by senior managers. So, the team came up with the ingenious idea of including “JPL” in Morse code on each tread.

Boykins explained that the team at JPL expects to launch the next Rover in 2020. Among many other features, it will include a device named, “MOXIE”. The object of the device is to take samples of the Martian atmosphere and convert it to 96{dbba103197f763f3625c83787b2ffe6b05a03ab690785f26a5579b932964cfa8} pure oxygen. Obviously, that will be an important development to determine if man could ever travel to the Martian surface.

The engineer explained that the technology exists to send a manned mission to Mars. But there are certain limitations, such as creating a rocket that could deliver a large enough payload to bring humans to the Martian surface. Coincidentally, later that day, the SpaceX organization launched their Falcon Heavy rocket on a trajectory toward Mars. Boykins predicted that could be big enough to get a payload that included humans to Mars safely. In fact, he added, “the astronauts who may one day visit Mars may currently be in the 2^nd or 3^rd grade!”

Support material for the program was created by The Cradle of Aviation Educational Director, Catherine Gonzalez. She was thrilled that her lesson plan could be shared with teachers located at some of the hospitals in the Lion’s Den network. She explained, “The Cradle has been designated by NASA as part of their “Apollo at 50” program. We expect to have quarterly presentations like this one to celebrate the space program and inspire young people to advance their studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mechanics. Our hope is to be able to bring as many of these programs as possible to Lion’s Den Rooms on the Companions in Courage Network.”

Furry and Fabulous – The Life and Times of Taylor Swift’s Cats, is the third book by Long Island teen author Taylor Sinett. Inspired by the battle her late “Nana Judi” fought against lymphoma, Taylor is donating all proceeds from the sale of this book to the CiC Foundation. Her hope is to raise enough money to purchase a Lion’s Den Room. (www.TaylorSinett.com).

The book follows the exploits of cats named Doctor Meredith Grey and Detective Olivia Benson. They travel the world, attend major events and have LOTS of celebrity friends. They think they are the superstars, but their “assistant,” Taylor is actually the famous one! They learn a lesson in cherishing love and friendship.

In 2013, Long Island student, Taylor Sinett drew a small picture of a weasel at camp. She was inspired to turn her adorable animal into a children’s book character and decided that her furry little protagonist could carry a big message. Inspired by her cousin Casey’s determination throughout a painful fight with ulcerative colitis, Sinett deftly created a storybook narrative about perseverance.

Taylor shared her book, A Weasel on an Easel, with many different students and was able to raise over $16,000 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Her second book, Jack on a Plaque, continued with her mission to empower children; Taylor’s lovable Yak, Jack, born with a short hoof, faces all the trials and tribulations of competing with a disadvantage

and yet never loses his optimism.  Taylor’s sales of Jack on a Plaque totaled more than $10,000, which she donated to the Cohen’s Children’s Hospital to purchase two vein finders that makes injections less painful.

Taylor continues to share her uplifting tales with students and hospital patients. She has received numerous awards and grants to continue to inspire kids to be charitable and creative. She is currently a junior at Schreiber High School in Port Washington, Long Island.

One of the most anticipated days of the holidays for pediatric patients is the Companions in Courage Foundation’s Santa Connection. For a couple of days in early December, patients who are too sick to visit Santa in the local shopping mall, are treated to a personalized visit via Google Hangouts. Santa conducts his virtual visits from the North Pole, accompanied by some of his elves. The foundation also sends gift cards to each hospital so that Child Life staff members may purchase a gift for each patient who visits Santa.

Most of these visits are conducted in the hospital’s Lion’s Den Rooms. Using state-of-the-art communication tools, the children are beamed directly in to Santa’s living room, near his workshop. Santa is advised of each child’s name and he looks up the names of their siblings and pets. He tells each patient if they are currently on the “Naughty,” or the “Nice” list, and asks each child what they want as a Christmas gift. Because many of these children are from homes in under-served areas, this might be the only gift they receive for the holidays this year.

Santa had a full schedule this year, meeting and singing “Jingle Bells” on the first day with children from Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, Kravis Children’s at Mount Sinai, Wolfson Children’s, the new Oishei Children’s in Buffalo and CHOP in Philadelphia. On Day #2 he met  and sang “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with patients and their families at Cohen Children’s, St. Louis Children’s, Goryeb Children’s and North Carolina Children’s Hospitals. As an added bonus, a multi-lingual Pere Noel spoke with the patients at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Some of Santa’s favorite visits were with Gavin, Jayden, Jocelyn, Julie (who had her entire family, including grandparents with her!) Porter, “Little” Josh, Grady (who got an American Girl doll from Santa!), Mimi and Beyla. A total of almost 100 patients somehow found their way on to Santa’s “Nice” list this year.

Many patients who were too ill to make their way to the Lion’s Den Room were able to connect with Santa via their new Google Chromebooks, that had been donated by the tech giant and Companions in Courage Foundation in September. These handy devices made it easy for Santa to be with some of his most precious children at their bedsides during the Santa Connection. Very special thanks were extended by Santa to all of the Child Life and tech support people at each hospital who made the visits seamless.

Of special note was the preparation and participation of Steve Maykowski from Google and Mark Leff of Cisco Systems. They set up multiple tests with each hospital in advance of the big day, and then worked tirelessly for two days behind the scenes to ensure smooth delivery of each session. They were joined by “Elf” Amber Browning-Coyle of “Spotlight On,” and “Elf” Nicole Desantis from Google. Along with volunteers from St. Dominic’s High School on Long Island, who manned the social media aspects of the day, they made each patient visit very special. Some photos from the day are available in our Gallery at http://cic16.org/view_gallery.aspx?g=33

By NY1 News  |  December 10, 2017 @5:31 PM

Patients at Mount Sinai Children’s Hospital got a special visitor Sunday, as Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield spread some holiday cheer to children recovering from a variety of treatments.

“The kids make it easy, you know. We talk about the offseason, people talk about the grind that we go through, but nothing compares to what kids go through in hospitals,” Mayfield said. “Being able to give back and put smiles on faces, be around the kids, it means a lot.”

He appeared on the hospital’s television channel and in a Google Hangout in the hospital’s interactive Lion’s Den Room, taking calls from patients and answering questions.

“Basically, he showed me that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it and if you work hard and just do what you have to do, you can be in the same position he’s in,” said one of the children.

Hospital staff said Mayfield is just the first of some special guests scheduled this season.

Mayfield, a quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, took home the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. The honor is given out every year to the most outstanding college football player.