By Alexander Dworkowitz
Ever since his days of playing with Legos, Emmanuel Joseph Sin knew he wanted to be an astronaut. Now the pursuit of his dream has earned the 17-year-old College Point resident national recognition.
Sin was one of the 22 Queens students to be named a semifinalist last week in the Intel Science Talent Search, one of the nation's most prestigious high school contests.
“It's great. I never expected something like this,” Sin said. “I was in my third-period class, and they said it over the loud speaker, and I couldn't really hear my name.”
As one of the country's 300 semifinalists, Sin was awarded $1,000, and his school, the Bronx High School of Science, was given an additional $1,000 to go toward its science and math programs.
Sin's honor was based on his work at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He landed an internship at the center in July.
“I've always wanted to work at NASA, so it was a good opportunity,” Sin said.
He studied bone loss among astronauts in space, a phenomenon which remains a mystery to scientists.
“If they go for long durations of time, it's very bad for their health,” Sin said.
Sin worked with scientists at NASA to study techniques of measuring bone loss among astronauts. Once scientists come up with a good method for quantifying the problem, they are more likely to find a solution, Sin said.
In particular, Sin's work focused on N-telopeptide, a compound found in urine. High levels of N-telopeptide indicate the body's inability to regenerate bone and a health danger, Sin said.
In his study, Sin discovered that a contraption used to measure the urine in the space shuttle as opposed to sending the sample back to Earth, was often faulty.
“It was a bad device. It didn't work too well,” he said.
As a result of his work with NASA, Sin submitted to Intel a 19-page paper titled “Efficacy in N-telopeptide Determination Techniques of Measuring Bone Resorption in Astronauts During Space Flight.”
Sin hopes to enroll in the U.S. Naval Academy after graduating from Bronx Science in June. Although he still dreams of becoming an astronaut, he said he would be happy to be an engineer for NASA.
For the moment, another space technological problem has perked his interest.
“I heard that the space shuttle is out of date and they need to create a new one,” Sin said. “Maybe I could engineer for them.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
