Students rocket off to NASA space school
A GROUP of Toowoomba students has rocketed towards a career with NASA.
Dubbed “youth astronaut training”, eight Fairholme College students travelled to the US for the HASSE Space School program in December.
“I went on the HASSE Space School trip which was basically girls from all over Australia who went to Houston, Texas and went and visited NASA and did space school and all these other space-related activities,” Year 11 student Maggie Grigg said.
“I didn’t even know what we were going to be doing exactly but I knew that it was going to be awesome and it’s just such an amazing opportunity.”
Maggie said one of the highlights was a five-day Mars-related mission at NASA. It was also a highlight to see astronauts working in real life, including at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory - a large pool which simulates the weightlessness of space travel.
Six middle school and two senior students went on the two-week trip. Year 9 student Maddie McDonald Smith said it was a wonderful experience and something she hoped to do again.
“I have always been interested in space and space exploration and astronomy and stuff like that so I just wanted to expand my knowledge,” she said.
Maddie hopes to become an astrophysicist, hopefully with NASA. Maggie also hopes to end up working in the space industry, perhaps as an engineer, and said the best part about space was how unknown it was.
“We have almost discovered everything on earth but we know almost nothing about what is out there and it’s so strange to think of.”