Trails Carolina

SS NaSA PoD Update #13

Posted on by Stevo

Since our last update, we have completed* the SS NaSA PoD and presented many wonderful outreach programs in Transylvania County and beyond. What follows is a recap of the events since our last update.

In August the PoD became a solar centerpiece in the PoD’s first solar/renewable energy/Electric Vehicle program while Jim and I shared our knowledge and practical experience using these technologies with a gathering of interested local individuals.

Below are a few photos of this wonderful event.

Thank you Saunders for these great photos of the event!

While Jim and I were presenting the program I arranged with Marian to drive up in the “Mighty” Bolt EV, park adjacent to the PoD in full view of the audience, then nonchalantly plug the EV into the PoD to charge its batteries on solar-generated electricity, and then take a seat in the audience. It was a really neat demonstration of renewable energy and EVs in action.

The next step in working toward completion of the PoD was to install the trim piece around the new air conditioner – it had to be custom-crafted to fit the space and it looks great – thanks, Jim!

Then the time came to have the damaged area on the “driver’s” side of the PoD repaired in preparation for the custom new ENP graphics/art. The scratch went deep into the fiberglass body of the PoD – but luckily, not all the way through. The damage was causing the gelcoat to flake off, so clearly the damage needed to be repaired before we could apply the custom graphics to the body of the RV.

This is the damaged area before repairs began.

This is how it appeared during the repair…

And now, the finished product…it is a huge improvement.

I would like to offer up a huge THANK YOU to the wonderful crew at Camping World of Asheville for doing such a great job and for giving us a wonderful 501c3/mobile education discount!

An interesting point of interest: the PoD was on-site at Camping World for several days while it was undergoing repairs. During this time the PoD was off-grid and running entirely on solar power so I decided to use this as an opportunity to test the PoD’s solar/battery power system, the new air conditioner, and its remote monitoring security system.

This is a reference photo of the PoD when I dropped it off at Camping World for repairs.

As a system test, I left the air conditioner thermostat set at 70F for the duration (but I could adjust the temperature as needed via the AC unit’s wifi connection).

To verify all systems were functioning nominally, I was able to check in with the PoD via its cellular-connected security system and Victron Energy systems portal at any time.

Next are a few photos I captured while the PoD was at Camping World for almost a week.

On the first night, I noticed a spider spinning a web from the edge of the solar array…I wonder what his story is?

The next day the PoD was moved to a distant parking area where it sat for a couple of days before its turn came for repairs.

Then the PoD was moved into the shop…

Where it met some other RVs in various states of repair. This custom RV belongs to Crossroads – a local mobile veterinary clinic – what a great idea that we can totally relate to – just so cool!!

While in the shop the PoD had its hub bearings serviced and body work started…

…it was moved outside during the bodywork to allow it to cure (and charge) in the sun.

This photo shows how small the PoD is when compared to its larger cousins.

The next photos are a few screen captures showing the Victron solar/battery system’s status from during its stay at Camping World.

The leftmost capture shows the solar (yellow) and battery use (blue) over 5 days of the PoD’s stay at CW.

The center capture shows the day the PoD was taken into the shop. We can clearly see this happened between 1 and 3 pm as evidenced by the drop to zero output from the solar array while it was inside. However, even without solar input during this time, the batteries kept the AC online and operational without any issues.

The rightmost capture shows a time when the AC was on and drawing 635 watts and the solar array was charging the batteries and powering the AC at almost twice that at 1200 watts – amazing!

Sunset between the RV’s

The PoD’s time at Camping World was time well spent as it gave us a great field test of its energy production/distribution, and life support systems as well as its remote monitoring/security system – and some much-needed repairs.

The PoD’s then came home and Marian stitched together its new curtains…

Arent they perfectly appropriate 🙂

I then decided to install a single, fold-down cot above the dinette area. I chose to do this in an attempt to make staying in the PoD more comfortable for us during multi-day festivals. The PoD’s double bed (above) is more like a wide single so it is a bit of a stretch for two 50-something humans to sleep on comfortably.

It was given to me by a friend and in its previous life had been as a very slightly used camp cot…

…I modified it by removing its legs and attaching it to the wall of the PoD. In this photo, you can see the new cot in its down position. Note the center support is made from a wooden dowel, a PVC plumbing fitting, and a chair skid.

The next photo shows how the cot appears in its stowed position.

Below the cot is the GoSun Chillest 12-volt refrigerator/freezer/dinette table.

Note: the wooden support leg is easily removable and stows behind the cooler when the cot is strapped in the stowed position using two corner velcro straps.

With the addition of a thick foam camping pad, the new cot is quite comfortable – but the couple of nights I spent sleeping on it to test it out makes sleeping in the PoD feel somewhat like a submarine.

We then completed the installation of the PoD’s microscope station and debuted it at the DuPont Forest Festival.

Take a look at a few images from this wonderful event.

This was our first event using the PoD’s Overland Vehicle Systems awning sidewalls and they worked perfectly to keep the bright sun off the microscope station and provide some nice shade/shelter when needed.

Between events, the time came to remove the old Casita decals and clean the PoD as well as possible before applying the custom new ENP decals. This is how the PoD looked before decal removal and cleaning.

During decal removal…

In this short video, Paulina shows how we removed the decals.

After the decals were removed and while we were waiting for the new ones to be printed, I installed a permanently-mounted weatherproof, Bluetooth-connected, sound system for use with general class programming and/or to provide background music.

This is the control unit mounted on the outside of the PoD.

This is one of the two coaxial waterproof speaker pods.

Then, we presented several more programs – one was at the Blue Ridge Electric Vehicle Club’s semi-annual National Drive Electric Week electric vehicle car show where the PoD and Mighty Bolt EV took center stage. The club used the PoD’s PA system to emcee the event. This is what our display looked like before the event opened to the public – the Mighty Bolt EV is plugged in and changing from the PoD’s 1,780-watt rooftop solar array – so cool!

What an outstanding teaching tool we have created – together!

Then, the next step was to have the PoD professionally detailed in order to get the ~25 years of grime off of its surfaces before we applied the permanent decals (note again the wonderful new curtains).

My crew and I then applied the decals

The PoD’s custom Hellbender artwork was donated by Peppermint Narwhal – please visit them today at:

www.peppermintnarwhal.com

Your support of Peppermint Narwhal helps wildlife species in need.

Wildlife awareness tangent: learn more about the misunderstood Hellbender by watching this beautiful short film by Freshwaters Illustrated – you will be very glad you did.

Oh, and the next time you are in Washington, DC please stop in at Hellbender Brewing Co. and have a Hellbender Ale.

Finally, we present to you the completed*

SS NaSA PoD

as it appears today.

THANK YOU Asher and family!

The next set of photos is from the multi-day

Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in October where we were able to give the SS NaSA PoD a real-world test of its abilities.

We are super happy to report that the PoD performed admirably well at the LEAF festival. It gave us a wonderful base of operations to bring wildlife and environmental conservation, nature, and science programming to thousands of festival-goers and it provided a warm, safe, and supportive environment for our education animals and ENP chief naturalist Steve when they slept in the PoD over the three nights of the festival. Even though nighttime temperatures dropped into the mid 20’s the PoD’s micro-scale heating system (a small, ceramic element, forced-air heater) kept the pod and its inhabitants at temperatures in the mid-’60s.

During the day the PoD’s solar array was able to effortlessly keep the state of charge of the batteries up to system-supportive levels that kept all systems online and functioning for the entire festival.

We made many new and visited with several old friends 🙂

The microscope station works perfectly and is a huge hit!

Rachel loves Ashley the Boa constrictor 🙂

Below are three images of how the PoD appears in its fully deployed “Festival Mode” situation.

We also demonstrated solar cooking by cooking up some of Marian’s wonderful vegan meatloaf and later cinnamon buns for all our volunteer staff using our GoSun Fusion solar stove and solar table.

Our touch table full of bio-artefacts

It is a huge draw for all the curious young naturalists, outdoors persons, and future scientists.

Cade teaching the next generation all about snakes 🙂

Charlie the Red-footed tortoise absolutely loves strawberries

From high above our corner of the wonderful LEAF festival.

It was a grand learning experience for everyone.

THANK YOU ALL

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and those that are continuing to support us in the creation of this most unique environmental outreach education project – we are eternally grateful for your most generous support. You are all the greatest of heroes and your support is truly making an amazing difference!!!

This outreach education project will continue to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who discover it. But to do this right – we still need your support. The final steps in working toward the completion of the PoD are outlined below and will most likely occur in the following order:

-Installing the telescope – yes, I said telescope. The PoD will have a telescope available for special “sky party” night programs!! This telescope will use a special camera* to connect to the PoD’s flatscreen monitor to allow large groups of people to view all the awesome from the cosmos that surrounds our pale blue dot of a planet.

-Continued stocking of our field guide library.*

-Installing the composting toilet.*

-Installing the 120/240 Volt “shore power”/EVSE service. This is mostly complete but due to supply chain issues we are still waiting on previously-ordered parts to arrive that will make this happen.

-While the PoD is mostly complete and working exactly as we engineered it to do, and doing it very well – the one big issue we are having is with its tow vehicle, a 2013 Honda Pilot with high miles that struggles to pull the PoD up hills – and in our area, we are known for the hills that we call mountains. Needless to say, we are concerned about the remaining lifespan of the Honda and truly do hope it makes it a bit longer until the day we are somehow able to source an all-electric truck/SUV to be used as the PoD’s tow vehicle as well as the third (and last) outreach/utility vehicle for ENP. Please do contact us if you would like to assist us with the acquisition of a dedicated all-electric utility vehicle*.

*These are our remaining needs to fully complete the SS NaSA PoD project. If you are interested in assisting us with a donation of or toward these final items and/or the support needed for us to be able to complete this project – please do contact us or feel free to donate via the link below.  

Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website. 

This unique mobile outreach classroom will greatly benefit the nature, environmental, and wildlife conservation education, evidence-supported science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region, as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will also benefit from the unique wonders it contains. 

As always we will be sure to share any and all updates in posts on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel – so please consider subscribing to stay up to date on this wonderful project.

The SS NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP (501c3) and used as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom for ENP and our education partners Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum.  They are fueled primarily with cleanly-generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and the SS NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students and ENP outreach program participants.

Please subscribe to this newsletter and our YouTube channel to receive future updates on our projects and programs.

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Please note: any/all ads that appear within or below this post are not provided, supported, or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads –

NaSA PoD Update #10

Posted on by Stevo

On May 18th we completed the primary construction and retrofitting of the PoD.

On May 20th my wife Marian, our little terrier Tange, and I took the PoD on a 200-mile round trip “shakedown cruise” to a friend’s farm in a remote, mountainous region of our home state.

The PoD towed perfectly behind its current tow vehicle – a 2013 Honda Pilot. At one point we had to make a pit stop at a massive truck port. Can you find the PoD in the below photo?

It is very tiny compared to all the huge trucks.

Once we arrived at my friend Rusty’s house we set up camp similar to the way we would set things up at a multi-day festival event.

Over the several days the three of us lived in the PoD – I am very happy to say that all the PoD’s systems worked exactly as we engineered them. The heart of the PoD – the 1780 Watt solar array and Victron electronics/battery storage system – provided us with loads of clean energy without even a hiccup. The original and updated wiring, electronics, and plumbing also worked perfectly. We were also able to test the PoD’s waterproofing when we had almost a full day of soaking rains giving the PoD a good leak test – and I am very happy to report that it passed with almost zero leaks. The only leak we found was a small seep on one of the windows in the main bunk area. The leak stopped on its own but just to be safe I will seal up the frame of the window in question with a bit of silicone.

While on our adventure we were lucky to be able to experience one of Rusty’s Honeybee hives swarming – it was a truly amazing spectacle to behold (“beehold” – hmmm…holding bees is not recommended).

On the return trip, we stopped for lunch and parked the PoD (in the center of the next image) in a lot next to a building with its rooftop covered in solar and two electric vehicle charge points (not in the photo but just off to the right) – it is really nice to be a part of a clean energy-powered future.

The only hard part to take during the entire shakedown cruise was paying for the expensive petro-chemical fuel needed to pull the PoD over the mountains. One day soon, in the not-so-distant future – we will replace the gas-guzzling Honda tow vehicle with an all-electric truck of some design, and then this project will truly be complete.

While on the “shakedown cruise” we made a documentary of the PoD on its first adventure – enjoy.

With the success of our shakedown cruise, the PoD is mostly complete and functional so it is to a point where it is actually useable for the purpose it was intended.

To that end goal, our first official outreach program using the PoD will take place on June 5th, 2022!

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and is continuing to support this most unique environmental outreach education project – we are eternally grateful for your most generous support. You are all the greatest of heroes!!!

This amazing outreach education project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who discover it. But to do this right – we do still need your support. The next steps in working toward the completion of the PoD are outlined below and will most likely occur in the following order:

  1. Installing the habitat pods.
  2. Attachment of the external flat screen monitor and its support arm structure.
  3. Installing the microscope station.*
  4. Stocking the field guide library.*
  5. Updating the curtains and cushions with an appropriate theme.
  6. Installing the 120/240 Volt “shore power” service.
  7. Painting the PoD.*
  8. Installing the composting toilet.*

*These are our remaining needs. If you are interested in assisting us with a donation of these final items and/or the support needed for us to be able to complete this project – please do contact us directly or feel free to donate via the links below.  

Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website 

or our GoFundMe page:  www.gofundme.com/lets-build-a-mobile-outreach-classroom

If you do choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature, environment, and wildlife conservation education, evidence-supported science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will benefit from the unique wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition. 

We will be sure to share any and all updates in posts on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel so please consider subscribing to stay up to date on this wonderful project.

The ENP NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP (501c3) and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom for ENP and our education partners Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum.  They will be powered and fueled primarily with cleanly-generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and the NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students and ENP outreach program participants.

Please note: any/all ads that appear within or below this post are not provided, supported, or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.

NaSA PoD Project Update #9

Posted on by Stevo

Over the last month, we have worked very hard on the PoD and we are happy to report that it is mostly complete! Recently we took it on its shakedown cruise – but before I tell you how that went I would like to give you a breakdown of the progress we have made since our last update. I could show several static photographs but instead, I have decided to share with you video update #2 that goes over all of the changes to the interior since the last update as well as a unique time-lapse of much of the work we have completed over the last 5 weeks or so. I hope you enjoy watching this update in video format but please note – it covers a lot of ground so it is a bit long at just over 1/2 an hour.

In our next update and video, we will cover the latest modifications to the exterior of the PoD as well as how it performed on its “shakedown cruise.”

This amazing education project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who discover it. But to do this right – we still need your support. If you choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature and wildlife conservation education, evidence-supported science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will benefit from the unique wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition. 

 Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website or our GoFundMe page:   www.gofundme.com/lets-build-a-mobile-outreach-classroom

The construction and use of this unique mobile classroom will be documented on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel.  

The ENP NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom for ENP and our education partners Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum.  They will be powered and fueled primarily with cleanly-generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and the NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet via our outreach programs.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and is continuing to support this most unique project – you are all the greatest of heroes!!!

Please note: any/all ads that appear within or below this post are not provided, supported, or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.

NaSA PoD Update #8

Posted on by Stevo

Since our last update, we worked very hard to have the PoD ready for our Earth Day reveal – but unfortunately, that did not happen. The conversion time is taking longer than we anticipated so we are now simply working to complete the PoD – with no set due date. This removed the notion of a deadline from the project and at the same time relieved some of the stress I felt because of that deadline. Now, with the anxiety of the deadline removed I feel far more at ease with things and much progress is happening at the pace at which it needs to happen.

That all being said – we are getting very close to completion.

We have completed over 90% of the PoD’s new educational/electrical/plumbing systems and all that remains includes the following:

Solar-electrical – over 95% complete: Most of the solar electronic components are now installed and all that remains is configuring the inverter, and some wire management issues.

Plumbing: 95% complete and working! All that remains is the installation of the composting toilet – this item is not time-sensitive and/or imperative to the initial operation of the PoD and will happen at some point over the next few months.

Exterior: 80% complete. All that remains is the installation of the microscope table*, flatscreen monitor mounting structure*, and painting of the PoD – these items are not imperative to the initial operation of the PoD and will happen over the next few weeks.

Interior: 99% complete! All that remains is the re-installation of the removed “furniture” from the interior of the RV as well as some finishing touches Marian will be making such as appropriately themed curtains.

Below is some of the work we have completed over the last few weeks.

We installed the Solar Inverter Battery Support Structure (SIBaSS – pronounced “Sea Bass”) into its final location in the solar-electronics gear cabinet.

We then installed the inverter, Battery Management System (BMS)/Lynx Distributor assembly, Charge controllers, and the two lower batteries.

We installed most of the heavy gauge wiring between the charge controllers and inverter to the distributor as well as the massive cables from the distributor to the batteries.

Wire management is most important. The next photo shows wires that are not yet managed.

We had to “MacGyver” a way to insulate the huge battery cables where they pass over and through the support structure. The black insulator is made from a thick, rubber, radiator hose from a large truck.

The “brains” of the system. This Cerbo GX device will allow me to monitor the real-time data from the solar-electronics system such as DC solar input, battery SOC, charging status, inverter status, AC/DC input, and output, as well as control the individual components of the system and share all of that information with my students and program participants via a Bluetooth connection to the presentation monitor on the outside of the PoD.

The AC/DC fuse/load panels are in place.

We moved the spare wheel and tire assembly from the back of the PoD to the tongue. Since we have done away with the gas bottles taking up space on the tongue, we have ample space to mount the spare. We also used the original clamp from the gas bottles as a hold-down for the wheel and tire assembly.

Moving the wheel/tire assembly freed up the space on the back of the PoD where we have installed a new access hatch that allows external access to the storage space under the bed. This will allow easy access to programming materials during classes 🙂

Lastly, we topped off the state of charge (SOC) in all four of the batteries in preparation for connecting them to the system this week!! We are about to bring the PoD to life!

In other news – Lucky the Eastern box turtle came out of hibernation this past week 🙂

If you live in an area with box turtles please keep watch for them crossing roads – especially during and after warm weather rain showers when they are most active. When you see them crossing the road please help them across to the side they are heading toward because they are on “important turtle business” and need our help crossing roads.

However, please do not take them home as “pets” or release them in areas that you believe are somehow better for them – they are protected by law in most places, and moving them far from their home range is stressful and detrimental to their health and the health of wildlife due to the potential vectoring of novel diseases and parasites and wildlife populations.

_________________________________________________

Stay tuned for all the awesome that is on the way – and a new video will be ready soon!

This amazing project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who encounter it. But to do this right – we need your support. If you choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature and wildlife conservation, science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will all greatly benefit from the wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition. 

 Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website or our GoFundMe page:   www.gofundme.com/lets-build-a-mobile-outreach-classroom

The construction and use of this unique mobile classroom will be documented on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel.  

The ENP NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom.  They will be powered and fueled primarily with cleanly-generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet via our outreach programs.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and is continuing to support this most unique project – you are all the greatest of heroes!!!

Please note: any/all ads that appear within or below this post are not provided or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.

NaSA PoD Update #7

Posted on by Stevo

Over the last two weeks, much has happened with the development of the

SS NaSA PoD.

We have made so much progress I have decided to make this update as a video. It is a bit longer than the 30-second click-bait style video clips most people are used to today. Its length is due to its real content – but if you want real content you must be patient and focused, and open to learning.

Now, sit back and enjoy a detailed overview of our progress.

Stay tuned for all the awesome that is on the way.

We hope to have the ENP NaSA PoD in service on or before Earth Day 2022!

This amazing project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers who encounter it. But to do this right – we do still need your support. If you choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature and wildlife conservation, science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will all greatly benefit from the wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition. 

 Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website or our GoFundMe page:   www.gofundme.com/lets-build-a-mobile-outreach-classroom

The construction and use of this unique mobile classroom will be documented on this blog, in our end-of-year newsletter, and on our YouTube channel.  

The ENP NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom.  They will be charged and fueled primarily with cleanly generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet via our outreach programs.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and is continuing to support this most unique project – you are all the greatest of heroes!!!

Please note: any/all ads that appear below this post are not provided or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.

NaSA PoD Update #5

Posted on by Stevo

Recently, Jim and I worked together to carefully machine some specialized support pieces for the Solar Inverter Battery Support Structure (SIBaSS – pronounced “Sea Bass” – LOL).

Take a look at some of the photos from that adventure below.

Drilling precision holes in a block of aluminum is fun!

Drilling a hole in a piece of T-Slot aluminum.

Aluminum blocks, strap cleats, and T-Slots in the process of being assembled.

Precision work.

All these parts were then applied to the SIBaSS and, with the webbing straps I will add soon, will all work together to hold the batteries and inverter securely in place.

At this point in the build, this is what the SIBaSS looks like. The solar inverter is on the top of the structure and the four batteries are below.

The aluminum blocks and yellow T-slot battery spacers are now in their final positions.

The back of the assembly. The large triangular gussets in the corners will serve to further strengthen the structure keeping it rigid and secure when the PoD is rolling down the road. A few small parts are still needed before the SiBaSS is complete and can finally be installed in the PoD.

In other news, we have transported the PoD to the Red Dog the welder who is working his magic and, as I write this, installing the solar array support structure onto the PoD. Here are a few photos of this major step in the process. Below, Red is toting the PoD into the shop with his forklift.

The PoD in the shop. Note the plastic shields I installed over the future window holes and air conditioner service port in the side – it was raining. Of note – the skylight Jim and I fabricated and installed a few days ago had a very good test today and I am happy to report that it passed with zero leaks.

Day One: Getting ready to begin the welding job.

Hmmm, I might need to re-locate the brake lights to the other side of the steel support beams.

Getting things perfectly aligned before the welding begins.

Array support structure taking shape.

Precision cuts require precision tools.

The solar array support rack being aligned. The solar modules (panels) will bolt directly to the shiny pieces of aluminum in the below photo.

This rack system is a special challenge since the roof of the PoD is made of fiberglass. The next photo shows one of the long “foot-like” structures Red is fabricating that will help to distribute the weight of the solar array and the awning over the entire rooftop.

Day Two of the construction: the rack is starting to come together.

One of the three brackets where the awning will attach.

Stay tuned – there is much more to come.

In closing, this is Tripod the Eastern box turtle – the ENP mascot. It will not be long before the warm sun of springtime awakens her from her long winter’s nap 🙂

Please subscribe and follow this blog for more updates.

We hope to have the ENP NaSA PoD in service on or before Earth Day 2022!

This amazing project will serve to inspire and educate all the curiosity seekers it will meet. But to do this right – we do still need your support. If you choose to assist us in making this project a reality, this unique mobile classroom will greatly benefit the nature and wildlife conservation, science, reality, common sense, and renewable energy awareness education for all our outreach program participants in the WNC region as well as our wonderful students at Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum who will all greatly benefit from the wonders it will contain while they are in class and in the field on expedition. 

 Please consider supporting this project via the donate link on our website or our GoFundMe page:   www.gofundme.com/lets-build-a-mobile-outreach-classroom

The construction and use of this unique mobile classroom will be documented on this blog, our end-of-year newsletter, and soon on our YouTube channel.  

 The ENP NaSA PoD and the Mighty Bolt EV (our primary outreach vehicle) are owned by ENP and used primarily as the ENP company outreach vehicle and mobile outreach classroom.  They will be charged and fueled primarily with cleanly generated electricity provided by the ENP/Trails student-built classroom solar array and NaSA PoD’s rooftop solar array. They will both serve as outstanding teaching tools for our Trails students, ENP outreach program participants, and everyone we meet via our outreach programs.

Please note: any/all ads that appear below this post are not provided or endorsed by ENP nor are we supported in any way by these ads – they are an automated feature of WordPress.com.

Rat Snake Tracks Field Report for Summer 2016 and 2017

Posted on by Stevo

Video footage in this edition of Rat Snake Tracks was filmed in August 2016 and September 2017.

The Snake Tracks project is an ongoing Rat snake habitat use and movement study using radio telemetry techniques and UAV’s (drones) for canopy surveys and monitoring.

If you were a student at Trails Carolina or the Academy at Trails Carolina during the 2015 season you may have helped “Science Steve” locate Apollo the Black rat snake and you may be in this movie, in front of or behind the camera, learning and living 🙂

This project is supported by in part by Trails Carolina, The Academy at Trails Carolina, Trails Momentum , our donors, and people just like you. If you would like to support our projects and programs with a donation and learn more about us please visit our website.

Earthshine Nature Programs is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to wildlife conservation, rehabilitation, science, and renewable energy education and awareness.

NOTE: The parents of the student(s) appearing in this video granted permission for us to record their special moments sharing time with our educators and the Apollo the rat snake.

Finding Odyssa

Posted on by Stevo

Recently, “Trina” – one of the students in one of my classes known as Alpha – was doing a wood run and found an ancient Eastern box turtle!

This was the first adult box turtle found at our Sky Valley study site since 2014!  The students and I collected the vial scientific data on this old female box turtle and in doing so found that she has a unique injury that she has overcome with great dignity – her plastron (bottom shell) has broken free from her carapace (top shell)!  How this happened in the deep forests far from humans we have no idea but whatever caused it, it must have been very traumatic but Odyssa*, as we named the ancient old reptile, pulled through the hardship and continued on her life’s odyssey. Box turtles are just amazing creatures.

After collecting the needed science data for our Turtle Trails and the statewide Box Turtle connection project, we released Odyssa at her discovery location.  “Trina” and the Alpha girls were all very excited to be a part of such a wonderful find and we documented the event in a video I produced here:

Things to know:

  1. Box turtles are protected by law in many areas.  This means no collecting, harming or touching other than helping them across the street.
  2. Box turtles do not make good pets.  They have very strict food/habitat requirements, may live for a century,  and see #1.
  3. Box turtles are very beneficial animals to have in your yard/garden.  They love to eat the pests that would otherwise eat your garden fruits and veggies such as slugs, snails, caterpillars and so on.  Count yourself lucky if you have a box turtle in your yard/garden.  Yes, they will occasionally eat a strawberry or tomato but even they need a balanced diet.
  4. Box turtles are “home-bodies” and live in very small habitats their entire lives.  Research shows that moving them away from their habitats can be detrimental to their health and to their lives.
  5. If you find a box turtle crossing a road – it is not lost.  It is only crossing the road.  All you need to do is gently pick it up – they do not bite – and move it to the side of the road that it was moving toward.  Place it a few yards off of the road and it will go on its way.
  6. If you find an injured box turtle and it has a cracked and bleeding shell or damaged appendage please place it in a container and take it to the nearest veterinarian.  They will have a list of local rehabilitators who will care for the turtle at no charge to you. Most importantly – be sure to write down the EXACT location where you found the turtle and give this information to the veterinarian/rehabilitator.  This is so they will be able to take the turtle back to its habitat for release when it is better (see #2) .
  7. Respect the wonderful box turtle.

Read my recent story on why I save snakes and turtles and Opossums.

*Why Odyssa ?

Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks Field Update for April 13, 2015

Posted on by Stevo

I have confirmed that almost all of the reptiles at both the Earthshine Discovery Center and Sky Valley (Trails Academy/Trails Carolina) Study sites are out of hibernation! Catherine, Zoe, Paula Journeys, Shelly Echo, Splinter and Apollo are all on the move heading toward their spring feeding and basking grounds.

catherine4.12.15

I found Catherine about 200 feet west of her den basking in the late afternoon sun.  The epoxy on her transmitter looks rough because I was forced to replace her previous unit a few weeks ago due to the cold weather prematurely depleting the energy in the previous units battery.   On an upcoming field excursion I will smooth out the edges of the expoy so it will be less likely to get snagged on vegetation.

zoe4.12.15  Zoe basking on the warm leaf litter.

She is only a few hundred yards from the top of the ridge and seems to be moving east toward her summer feeding grounds near the waterfall.  If you live in the vicinity of her movement areas, please be aware that she is active and will be moving through soon.

I was unable to locate Jimmy Irwin the Eastern box turtle and Utsanati the Timber rattlesnake. It seems that Utsanati’s transmitter may have exhausted it’s battery due to the very cold temperatures we had near the end of the winter. It will now be a chore to find him but I do know all of his “old haunts” so hopefully I will be able to locate him in the next few weeks. As for Jimmy Irwin, I do not know why his transmitter would have stopped transmitting–it should have had several more months of power remaining before needing to be replaced. It is possible that Jimmy has been predated or his transmitter’s antenna has been chewed off by rodents.  I am leaning more toward the rodent theory as I have had this happen before with Catherine and it greatly reduces the range and lifespan of the transmitter.  I will need to do a more thorough search in a week in order to know more.

apolloontree4.8.15Apollo basking just outside of a tree cavity.

The Trails students from Journeys wilderness assisted me with locating Apollo the Rat snake a few days ago.  We found him basking in the afternoon sunshine just outside of a rather large tree cavity on an old dead oak tree.  The students and I were very excited to see him looking so healthy after sleeping underground for over five months.  This experience was a great teachable moment for the students, many of whom had never seen a wild rat snake in it’s natural environment.  We discussed reptile biology, why they need to hibernate, and why old, rotting trees like this one are important to this species of snake and many other species of wildlife such as birds, squirrels, bats and insects.  If you have standing dead trees on your land that are not endangering any structures or anyone, please consider leaving them for wildlife.

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Master Splinter basking on a low limb.

A couple of weeks ago the students from Trails Academy assisted me in locating Master Splinter during our natural resource management and conservation class. We found him outstretched on a low limb, basking in the early spring sunshine.  Then, a few days ago Trails Wilderness group Bravo joined me and we found him sunning on the limb of an old bent oak about 35 feet off the ground.  Everyone was able to see him before he moved back inside the tree to hide from us while we collected vital environmental data and held class under the greening forest canopy.

Keep your eyes open when hiking in the forests and fields or driving the roads and riding the trails because our scaly friends are out and about and we need to do all we can to help them help us.

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What are Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks?

Turtle Tracks and Snake Tracks are citizen/student science reptile conservation and research projects occurring at two separate study sites near Lake Toxaway and Dupont Forest in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and a lot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of students, and volunteers, glimpse into the lives of four wild Eastern box turtles, two Rat snakes and two Timber rattlesnakes in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at our website: http://www.earthshinenature.com

It is our goal at Earthshine Nature Programs and Trails Science to promote wildlife conservation through our unique, exciting, citizen science based, hands-on education, out-reach programs, and online with our nature videos, blog and website and in our environmental education classes at Trails Momentum (previously Trails Academy) and Trails Carolina.

What is Earthshine Nature Programs?

Earthshine Nature Programs is a separate entity from Earthshine Discovery Center and Trails Carolina/Academy however, we work directly with these institutions of education to promote the conservation and respect of our native wildlife and wild places. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful but greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans.

Earthshine Nature Programs is a grass-roots, 501c3 non profit, volunteer operated and donation funded organization.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you, this important reptile conservation and public education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting

www.earthshinenature.com/donate

You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.

Learn more about Trails Carolina and Trails Momentum and see if our unique programs may fit into your child’s education needs.

Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers used with written permission.

www.steepcanyon.com

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Earthshine Nature Programs is in no way affiliated or responsible for ads that may appear below this line.

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