Editing Summer Science Program

{{Short description|Academic summer program in the United States}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Summer Science Program, Inc.
| logo                     = [[File:SSP Logo 2015 MR.png|200px]]
| logo_size                = 200px
| logo_caption             = Logo since 2015
| image                    = [[Image:SSP Telescope.jpg|200px|The Summer Science Program]]
| type                     = [[501(c)#501(c)(3)|501(c)(3)]] Educational [[Charitable organization|Charity]]
| founded_date             = 1959
| tax_id                   = 94-3341965
| founder                  = [[Thacher School]] and [[Caltech]]
| location                 = [[University of Colorado, Boulder]], [[New Mexico State University]], [[Purdue University]], [[Indiana University Bloomington]], and [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]
| mission                  = To operate a non-credit, research-based enrichment program for academically gifted high school students, designed to accelerate the intellectual and social development of tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring them to realize their individual potentials in the sciences and other professions.<ref>[http://www.summerscience.org/downloads/Scholarship_Endowment_Fund_FAQ.pdf The SSP Scholarship Endowment Fund (PDF)]{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref>
| focus                    = [[Astronomy]] education
| num_volunteers           = c. 50
| num_employees            = 1 year-round, about 15 for six weeks
| num_members              = c. 2,000
| homepage                 = http://www.summerscience.org/
}}

'''The Summer Science Program''' ('''SSP''') is an academic summer program where high school students experience college-level education and do research in [[celestial mechanics]] by studying the orbits of [[asteroids]], [[biochemistry]] by studying the kinetic properties of [[enzymes]], [[genomics]] by studying [[antibiotic resistance]], or [[synthetic chemistry]] by studying [[macrocyclic]] catalysts. The program was established in 1959 at [[The Thacher School]] in [[Ojai, California]]. It now takes place on three astrophysics campuses, [[New Mexico State University]] in [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]], the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]], and [[University of Colorado, Boulder]] in [[Boulder, Colorado]], and two biochemistry campuses, [[Purdue University]] in [[West Lafayette, Indiana]] and [[Indiana University Bloomington]] in [[Bloomington, Indiana]].

In the [[Astrophysics]] program, each team takes a series of images of a near-earth asteroid, then writes software to calculate its orbit and predict its future path. In the [[Biochemistry]] program, each team isolates and models an enzyme from a fungal crop pathogen, then designs a molecule to inhibit that enzyme. In the [[Genomics]] program, each team grows a culture of ''Vibrio natriegens'' under moderate antibiotic selection pressure.

==Overview==
Each Summer Science Program campus hosts 36 participants and 7 faculty for 39 days. Faculty have integrated academic and residential roles. The participant experience is designed to be similar at all campuses. For the research, participants are organized into teams of three. The schedule includes classroom time, lab time, field trips (scientific and recreational) and guest lectures from working scientists and other professionals.<ref name=SkyTel>{{cite web |url=http://www.summerscience.org/downloads/SkyTel.pdf |publisher=Sky & Telescope |last=Furutani |first=Tracy |title=Asteroids, Teenagers, and Real Science |date=March 2001 |access-date=December 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617120910/http://www.summerscience.org/downloads/SkyTel.pdf |archive-date=June 17, 2011 }}</ref> Past guest speakers have included [[Maarten Schmidt]], who has done pioneering work in quasars; [[Richard Feynman]], a Nobel laureate in physics; [[James Randi]], magician and debunker of pseudoscience; [[Mitch Kapor]], founder of [[Lotus Development]]; [[Paul MacCready]], creator of the [[Gossamer Condor]] and [[Gossamer Albatross]]; and [[Eric Allin Cornell]], a Nobel laureate in physics.

The application process and admission criteria are similar to that of selective colleges. Primarily juniors (rising seniors) are admitted, with a few sophomores each year. There is a program fee, inclusive of tuition, room & board, and supplies. Need-based financial aid grants are available to cover part or all of the fee, with SSP guaranteeing to meet all demonstrated need. Donations to the nonprofit fund financial aid.

In 1991, the National Academies' Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications observed that "All participants go on to college. About 37 percent of the pre-1985 graduates are now working in science and medicine, and 34 percent in engineering, mathematics, and computer science (including the [[Mitch Kapor|founder]] of [[Lotus Development Corporation]])."<ref name="CPS">{{cite book
|publisher=[[National Academies]]' Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Application
|title=Benefits to the Nation from Astronomy and Astrophysics
|url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1635&page=303
|year=1991
|page=303
|doi=10.17226/1635
|isbn=978-0-309-04383-0
}}</ref>

The program is co-sponsored by the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] and the [[California Institute of Technology]] which are affiliate universities, and by [[Harvey Mudd College]], which is an academic partner to the program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://summerscience.org/about/affiliates/|title=Affiliated Universities|last=Summer Science Program|date=24 November 2015|website=Summer Science Program|access-date=1 Jul 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer|title=Prepare for MIT: Summer Programs|last=MIT Admissions Office|date=|website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|access-date=1 Jul 2018}}</ref><ref>"While the Summer Science Program (SSP) is not on campus, MIT does co-sponsor this residential program, and many MIT students are among the program's alumni/ae." - [[MIT]] Admissions Office. [http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer <nowiki>[5]</nowiki>]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/information-counselors|title=Information for counselors: Summer programs that many of our admitted students have attended|last=Caltech Admissions Office|date=29 November 2017|website=Caltech Admissions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129180547/http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/information-counselors|archive-date=29 November 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=1 July 2018}}</ref>

==History==
The program was established in 1959 at [[The Thacher School]] in [[Ojai, California]], as a response to the launch of [[Sputnik 1]] and the start of the [[Space Race]]. The Headmaster at Thacher was concerned that the country's top high school students were not being adequately informed and inspired about careers in the physical sciences. He decided to create an intense summer program to challenge such students and give them a taste of "doing real science," with assistance from Caltech, [[UCLA]], [[Claremont Colleges]], and [[Stanford]]. Financial support came from [[Hughes Aircraft]].<ref name=SkyTel /><ref name=FirstSSP />

The first SSP was led by Dr. Paul Routly and Dr. Foster Strong. In 1960, Dr. [[George O. Abell|George Abell]] joined the program for his first of more than 20 summers at SSP.<ref name=SkyTel />

The first year, SSP had 26 students. The students used data from the "''Russian ephemeris''" (''Ephemyeredi Mahlikh Planyet'') to find asteroids to photograph, measured the positions, and submitted the data to the [[Minor Planet Center]] at the [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics|Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian]]. The students were excited to find that when they calculated the orbit of [[9 Metis]], their data resulted in a significant correction to the Russian ephemeris.<ref name=FirstSSP>{{cite news
 |newspaper   = [[Ventura County Star|Star-Free Press]]
 |title       = Students Spot 350,000-Mile Russ Error
 |url         = http://www.summerscience.org/program/russerror.php
 |date        = 1959
 |access-date  = February 9, 2012
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120204081233/http://www.summerscience.org/program/russerror.php
 |archive-date = February 4, 2012
 }}</ref>

Women were admitted starting in 1969, and reached 50% of enrollment in 2010.

After 41 summers at Thacher, a significant threat to the continuation of SSP came in 2000, when Thacher School decided to use its entire campus for a different purpose.<ref name="SkyTel" /> SSP alumni incorporated Summer Science Program, Inc., solicited funding largely from the alumni community, and found a new host campus. Beginning in 2000, SSP was held at the Happy Valley School, located just across the Ojai Valley from The Thacher School.  In 2007, Happy Valley School was renamed [[Besant Hill School]].<ref name="SkyTel" />

With the alumni rescue complete, they soon began looking to expand the program. In 2003 a second campus opened at New Mexico Tech in Socorro with the support of New Mexico Tech, [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos]] and [[Sandia National Laboratory|Sandia]] national laboratories, and others.<ref name=NMTpr>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmt.edu/news/all-news/98-2003/2578-17june04g |title=New Mexico Tech News |publisher=New Mexico Tech |date=June 17, 2004 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528061126/http://www.nmt.edu/news/all-news/98-2003/2578-17june04g |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2010, the California campus moved to [[Westmont College]] in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], then in 2015 to [[University of Colorado Boulder]].<ref>{{cite news
|newspaper=Metro Denver
|title=Top teens to track potential 'killer asteroids' during Summer Science Program at CU-Boulder
|url=http://www.metrodenver.org/news/news-center/2014/10/top-teens-to-track-potential-%E2%80%98killer-asteroids-during-summer-science-program-at-cu-boulder/
|date=October 20, 2014
|accessdate=June 27, 2015
}}</ref>
In 2016, following three years of planning and preparation, a pilot of the first SSP in Biochemistry was held at [[Purdue University]] in West Lafayette, Indiana. Six alumni from the previous summer successfully ran through the new experiment. In 2017, the first SSP in Biochemistry was successfully held with 24 participants. In 2022, the first SSP in Genomics took place at Purdue University with 24 participants.

Through 2017, over 2,500 participants have attended 75 programs. All alumni and former faculty are "members" of the nonprofit for life, along with other members named by the Board. The Members elect Trustees annually, have access to an online database for networking, and are invited to an Annual Dinner held each fall.

In 2022, 1969 alum and co-founder of [[Qualcomm]], Franklin Antonio, donated $200 million to SSP in his will after his passing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gasman |first=Marybeth |title=$200+ Million Bequest Will Support Science Research For High Schoolers |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2023/10/12/200-million-bequest-will-support-science-research-for-high-schoolers/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

==Astronomical work==
[[Image:AsteroidLaetitia(best).jpg|thumb|250px|right|Example of an [[astrograph]]ic plate taken at SSP, in this case showing [[39 Laetitia]] (circled in blue). Reference stars are also circled.]]
For the first 50 years of the program, students took photographic images of [[main-belt asteroid]]s (between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter). Starting in 2009 students took digital images of (much fainter) [[near-Earth asteroid]]s (inside the orbit of Mars). The process of orbit determination is conceptually the same in both cases. First students take a series of images of asteroids. After identifying the asteroid, its position on the image relative to known stars is carefully calculated. That relative position is then used to determine the position of the asteroid in celestial coordinates ([[right ascension]] and [[declination]]) at the exact time the image was taken. The series of positions as the asteroid moves across the sky allows the student to fit an approximate orbit to the asteroid. The measured asteroid coordinates (not the calculated [[orbital elements]]) are submitted to the [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics|Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian]].

Over the decades SSP students have done their orbit determination calculations on mechanical calculators (1960s), then electronic calculators (1970s), then "mini-computers" (1980s), then personal computers (1990s and 2000s). In recent years they write their orbit determination programs in the [[Python (programming language)|Python programming language]], employing the [[Orbit determination|Gaussian method]].

==List of alumni==
The following is a list of notable alumni.
* [[Jerold Krieger]], 1960 {{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} (1943–2002) - Los Angeles County Superior Court judge
* [[Jerry Nelson (astronomer)|Jerry Nelson]], 1960 (1944-2017) - astronomer, the pioneer in the design of segmented mirror telescopes; project scientist for the [[W. M. Keck Observatory]]
* [[Ed Krupp]], 1961 - astronomer, author, Director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles
* [[Ronald Kaplan]], 1962 - computational linguist, Chief Scientist for Amazon Search
* [[Robert Tarjan]], 1964 - Professor of Computer Science at [[Princeton University]]
* [[Mitch Kapor]], 1966 - founder of Lotus Development Corporation, designer of Lotus 1-2-3 and Lotus Notes 
* Franklin Antonio, 1969 - co-founder of [[Qualcomm]] 
* [[Robert D. Arnott]], 1970 - pioneer in "smart beta" investing, chairman and CEO of Research Affiliates 
* [[N. Gregory Mankiw]], 1975 - Professor of Economics at Harvard University; chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, 2003 to 2005 
* [[Scott Pace]], 1975 - Executive Director of the National Space Council at the White House
* [[Edmund Bertschinger]], 1975 - Professor of theoretical physics, [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
* [[R. Paul Butler]], 1977 - astronomer, staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science
* [[Elizabeth H. Simmons]], 1980 - physicist, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UC San Diego

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.summerscience.org/ Official program webpage (www.summerscience.org)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z65tG6N9l_0 Video of students talking about SSP]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110617120910/http://www.summerscience.org/downloads/SkyTel.pdf ''Sky & Telescope'' article about SSP]

[[Category:Summer Science Program| ]]
[[Category:Celestial mechanics]]
[[Category:Science education in the United States]]
[[Category:Summer schools]]