A Spaceport Experience for Classrooms
By Mark Wagner, Ph.D., Space Educator
The Human Space Program (HSP) advocates for sustainable, ethical and inclusive stewardship of the solar ecosystem… a long term vision that must be deliberately and systematically passed on to the future generations. Tapping into the excitement young people feel about space exploration can be a great starting point… and a visit to a spaceport can have a powerful lifelong impact. But how might this sort of experience also be shared with people who can’t (or won’t choose to) visit a space center?
Last week I attended the Space Port Area Conference for Educators (SPACE) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which I had never visited before — despite being a lifelong space enthusiast myself. Most of the event was hosted in a building literally called the Center for Space Education. I was thrilled with the whole week, and grateful for many of the extraordinary learning experiences I had. And I find myself wondering how these experiences might be replicated in schools around the world that are not near enough for a field trip to KSC.
The conference program itself was stellar. The inspiring opening keynote speaker was Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, who was the first woman to serve as launch director at Kennedy Space Center and who oversaw the launch of the Artemis I mission last year. Among the three days of concurrent sessions that followed, a highlight was a hands-on session about solar sail propulsion from Kaci Heins, Education Director at the Limitless Space Institute (LSI). The closing speaker (at the “Galactic Gala” which honored the teachers in attendance) was community college educator and Inspiration4 pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, who uplifted attendees with her stories of experiencing Earthlight from Orbit. Naturally, speakers such as these can be shared with students and teachers everywhere via live video conference (like Zoom) or in recordings (on YouTube for instance). The HSP’s free online Space Education Summit and the accompanying YouTube channel are one attempt to do this.
For me, the most impactful part of my visit to KSC was the “behind the gates” tours arranged for the conference attendees. I was lucky to be able to visit Launch Pad 39B, site of the Artemis 1 launch as well as numerous space shuttle and Apollo missions. I was able to walk around at the base of the pad where we were able to see damage caused to the flame trench by the powerful Artemis 1 launch, and around the top of the pad where we could inspect the crawler path in detail. The next day I joined a tour of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and was very lucky to be taken up to the 16th floor, where we could gain a better perspective on the scale of the building and current operations there (in preparation for Artemis 2). A sort of trilogy of tours was capped on with a tour of Crawler-Transporter 2 (CT-2), the massive vehicle that transports rockets (including the Saturn V, Space Shuttle, and now SLS) from the VAB to the launch pad. Again, our tour was lucky to be taken inside the vehicle where we learned about the control room, engine room, and pilot’s cabs — and how they’ve changed over the decades. It was awe inspiring and perspective shifting to physically be in those places. Certainly video tours (such as those on the pages linked above) can be used in classrooms, but perhaps there are other ways to recreate the experience for students… maybe a launch pad for model rockets can be built, complete with a raised earth platform and flame trench. Or, since I felt like I was in the Kerbal Space Program (KSP) game when I was in the VAB, perhaps the game or other simulations can be used to give students a similar experience.*
Perhaps similar solutions could be used to share the experience of a rocket launch with students. Last week conference attendees got to see a night launch of a Delta IV heavy… and a day launch of a Falcon 9. This was my first time seeing a launch in person, and I’ll acquiesce that there is no way to recreate the visceral experience of a blinding white trail of flame and rumbling sound that rattles the building even miles away, but video coverage can provide close up views that watching live cannot. Launching model rockets (or simulated rockets in KSP) might provide exciting analog experiences that are accessible to schools everywhere too.
While there may be no way to truly equal the experience of touring a space center, perhaps a field trip to a local space museum or planetarium might come close. Don’t forget local astronomy clubs… looking through a telescope for the first time can change a person’s trajectory in life. Also, there are a wide variety of programs meant to bring these experiences to students and teachers in their classrooms, such as the ISS National Lab’s Space Station Explorers, the Space Force STEM program Stellar Explorers, or the Aldrin Family Foundation’s Giant Mars Map. Some commercial space companies are even providing education resources or professional development opportunities for teachers, including Blue Origin’s Club for The Future, Virgin Galactic’s Galactic Unite, Rocket Lab’s Ambassadors, and the Limitless Educator Program from LSI.
If you’re ready to take the next step as a space educator, you might also be interested in the online Space Education Course offered by ARES Learning. (And if you can physically make the journey, perhaps the Astrogeology Experience for Educators is for you.) Here too is a spreadsheet of additional space education resources I compiled with the help of Space Prize interns about a year and a half ago… I’ve kept adding to it, and it’s still far from comprehensive. You are also invited to join the free Space Educator Network on Facebook.
Get Human Space Program’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
It is up to each of us to engage kids’ excitement about space, ready them for the growing space economy, and introduce them to space philosophy (from the Overview Effect to ethics, inclusion, and sustainability) so we can truly prepare them for humanity’s rapidly approaching multiplanet future.
* I was also lucky to be invited along on a Club for The Future tour of the New Glenn production facilities at KSC the day before the conference. The heavy lift rockets that Blue Origin is building are awe inspiring… and I can’t wait until they are sharing more about what they are doing. They are building the future right alongside the SpaceX Starship… and the competition is good for everyone. Ad Astra!
–
Human Space Program is a central project to develop a citizen-authored blueprint for conscious space migration and stewardship of the solar ecosystem. We invite you to join us! Visit us at Human Space Program.
