Forty-three rising seniors from high schools across the Commonwealth will culminate an intensive three-month program with a simulated mission to Mars.
The final challenge of the inaugural Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars program is the week-long residential Academy hosted by NASA’s Langley Research Center July 27 through Aug. 1.
During this week, teams of students who have been communicating and learning via the Internet will implement their plans for a human journey to the red planet — solving how to get there, how to live and work there, and how to integrate mission requirements with the constraints of the Martian environment.
Reporters are invited to a demonstration at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 31, as the scholars program and test robots then task them to accomplish specific maneuvers. To view the demo, contact Emily Outen at 864-7022 or Matt Coffey at 864-4413 by noon to arrange for badging and escort onto the Center.
The Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars program is modeled on a distance-learning program designed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Texas. The Virginia pilot program was initiated by Langley Center Director Lesa Roe and is administered by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.
