littleBits is fortunate to work with so many talented individuals, and Ginger Butcher is one of them. The picture above was taken during one of her trips to the littleBits HQ. She has visited on a few occasions to lend her expertise regarding content, education and projects. Recently, she uploaded a project that caught the eyes — and ears of our entire office.
Where do you live?
Beltsville, MD
What’s your favorite thing about your city?
We are not overwhelmed by tourists.
Do you have a website or links of your other work to share?
Echo the Bat, a website book by Ginger can be viewed here.
How long have you worked at NASA?
My father was an astrophysicist at NASA and was actually at the launch of jis satellite the week I was born (he was the project scientist). So I have been around NASA for a long time. However, I didn’t start out with plans to work at NASA. After graduating with a degree in cartography, I decided to stay home and raise my daughter. By the time my second daughter came along, I was running a successful graphic design company and opened an office space in Beltsville. One of my clients was a contracting company to NASA. They liked my work and offered me a multimedia job at NASA Goddard in 1997. That project turned out to be Echo the Bat – a web site and book that teaches kids about satellite imagery. It won a few awards and I was off and running with a career at NASA doing education and public outreach.
What inspired the phonograph? Is this your first littleBits project?
I remember making one as a kid, but we didn’t have a motor to drive it. We just turned the record and held the paper cone on the record. I remember being amazed at how you can actually ‘hear’ the music just from the vibrations of a pin in a piece of paper.
What advice can you give people who are creating with littleBits?
Don’t use tape. In my most recent project I found that twist ties are very helpful
