HOUSTON — The Columbus Jr. High sixth grade students and 13 teachers/parents/administrators were able to attend NASA Space Center Houston thanks to the Classroom Grant awarded to them by the Columbus Education Foundation.
While at NASA Space Center Houston the group experienced some pretty amazing things. In fact, they touched a piece of the Moon. This particular lunar touchstone was actually brought back from the Apollo 17 crew in 1972. The sample is 3.8 billion years old.
Other activities students were able to do include touching a rock from Mars, viewing lunar soil and real asteroid pieces, exploring many exhibits and galleries, and eating space food in the Food Lab!
Students used their creative thoughts to build a model of a lunar space landing and then tested their design with a toy astronaut. The kids also attended the Destiny Theater, which showcased the history of space exploration.
One of the greatest things they got to do was the NASA Tram Tour. The tour included a behind- the-scenes view of NASA Johnson Space Center, where astronauts train and prepare for current missions. Since 1980, every astronaut that has been to space has trained there. NASA’s next-generation humanoid robot, R5, was seen in the training facility. The students all saw Orion, NASA’s next-generation space exploration space vehicle. They even passed Rocket Park where on display is one of three Saturn V rockets in the world.
On the ride back in the tram tour, the students passed one of NASA’s buildings which on top flies an American flag. They learned that the flag had been flying every single day and that there had been someone in space.
This flag has been flying for 23 straight years.
Amanda Oppermann, the grant-recipient teacher who organized this enriching trip to NASA, expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Columbus Education Foundation, saying, “We had an incredibly fun and exciting hands-on learning experience. We are truly grateful to you for making this possible.”
