Area students contribute to NASA’s Mars mission
This still from a NASA broadcast shows West Greene student, Madison Renner, asking a question at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Thursday.
This still from a NASA broadcast Thursday shows Washington high school students Elizabeth Gysi and Zhiere Parmon presenting their research findings at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
This still from a NASA broadcast Thursday shows the failure of launching Morpeus, used as an illustration to show students how to overcome obstacles.
This still from a NASA broadcast Thursday shows Washington high school student Elizabeth Gysi presenting to NASA officials and students at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
One of NASA’s highest priorities is sending astronauts to Mars. A mission obstacle is the ability to accurately land spacecraft on the planet, which, on average, is 140 million miles away from Earth.
In project Morpheus, NASA created a vehicle for the sole purpose of testing landing sensors, technology they hope to use on Mars. The first launch of that craft from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., broadcast around the world, exploded in a fantastic blaze of defeat.
“This is not typical of NASA. We act like, ‘You can’t fail.’ But you have to fail sometimes,” said Jason Crusan, NASA director of advanced exploration systems.
Less than a year after the failure and using the same engine, NASA was able to successfully land Morpheus, bringing them one step closer to sending astronauts to Mars.
Crusan illustrated the concept of overcoming obstacles for students and teachers from 12 Pennsylvania school districts, including Washington, Carmichaels, Mapletown and West Greene. Other students across the commonwealth were able to observe via a live broadcast Thursday.
Sponsored by Beating the Odds Foundation’s Quarterbacks of Life Student Success and Leadership program, the students from the four area school districts were in Washington, D.C., to present research they’ve been conducting during the school year. Their mission: study the effects of radiation on spacecraft and design a shield for the Orion spacecraft, which one day will take astronauts to Mars in a two-year mission.
Using a football analogy, the Quarterbacks program teaches students how to become team players and develop mental toughness to achieve goals. It was presented through the Beating the Odds Foundation – founded by a former Altoona police officer – which aims to help students overcome obstacles.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon addressed the group Thursday and imparted some of the wisdom he gathered in his career.
“It’s about thinking about what you want and fulfilling that with your actions. It was a tough journey for me … sometimes because of the color of my skin,” Moon said. “Things don’t always happen in the order you want. Stay on course and don’t let negative influences take you away from what you want to accomplish.”