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The group of about 16 college students and their families, as well as some members of the public, gathered in a conference room with presenters Caitlin Nolby, Deputy Director of the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium and coordinator Marissa Saad, a space camp facilitator after school for 20 middle school girls as part of the "SciGirls in Space" project, during the spring semester 2019, on the UND campus.
The SciGirls in Space event was the culmination of a partnership with SciGirls, an Emmy Award-winning TV show and PBS website, to engage children's interest in science, technology, engineering and technology. mathematics (STEM).
"We were partners of the SciGirls PBS program, and the goal of SciGirls is to get girls ages 8 to 13 to really get involved in science and STEM. Our goal, of course, is to encourage them to pursue these areas, "said Nolby. "I think a lot of them were interested in science, which is why they signed up for the space camp, but giving them the opportunity to get into the real world and take on some of the challenges they would face." confronted in the real world. . "
The Space Camp program included awareness programs for children and professional development for educators, who engaged children in STEM career paths.
"It was really fun, it was a really unique opportunity for all the girls in the area to actually work in STEM, and they were able to call on an astronaut," Nolby said. so a lot of team work, lots of team challenges, launching rockets and building objects with neutral buoyancy, I think they had a great time. "
Students took advantage of a pre-recorded interview with Italian astronaut and engineer Luca Parmitano while waiting for the downlink – a one-way call from the ISS – to five schools in the United States, including UND , host of the SciGirls in Space project, was one.
After the recorded interview of Parmitano, Koch came live. The born astronaut in Michigan appeared on a big screen in the conference room and answered questions for about 20 minutes while she was floating aboard the station, sometimes speaking upside down .
The students from the five schools sent out questions and the list was reduced to 12. The children of a New York high school were selected to read the questions, questions to which Koch responded, while items that She was showing them floating in weightlessness around her, before being connected in.
The questions ranged from the type of personal items that she had brought aboard the ISS (sketchbook), how she was brushing her hair (in the air), how she slept in the # Space (attached in a sleeping bag hanging on the wall). , Mentioned Koch), how they water the plants used for air purification and oxygen production experiments.
After Koch accepted to resume his duties, the children tried virtual reality headsets programmed with a number of different scenarios. They then had a pizza meal.
Twelve-year-old Madison Johnson, who attends Schroeder Middle School, liked the virtual reality headset, even if it made her feel a little shady.
"I'm walking in space right now. It's so hard. My stomach is like, "Woah, what's going on here?", She said, taking a short break with the camera.
"It was really, really cool. I'm very happy to have done that, "said Della Phillips, 12, of Grand Forks.
Although she may not be interested in going into space for the moment, she would like to help, from Earth to Earth, although a journey into space is not excluded.
"I think it would be interesting to learn more and maybe help to set the stage for humans to live on Mars or Moon," Phillips said. "And then maybe go live there someday."
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