NASA just in case

Published 12:11 pm Saturday, July 23, 2022

Summer camps for kids bring visions of running around, activities, a pool and nature hikes.

For 111 students in grades 3 to 6 as part of the Iberia Parish School District, camp meant meeting a real NASA astronaut, building helicopters, space ships and planes, watching them work and not work, and of course, making astronaut ice cream.

Cheryl Broussard, a Curriculum Supervisor for Iberia Parish was the program coordinator for the Summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Astro NASA Camp.

Broussard and her team of dedicated camp counselors did something amazing: they taught and watched the kids fail. Each project the kids struggled to build something that would fly, they had to figure out on their own, using math and science, the correct angles and chemicals until they were successful.

We really encouraged our kids to persevere,” Broussard said. “We want them to know that solving problems in the science community is not easy, but scientists continue to work diligently to solve problems. And sometimes they don’t succeed, but they must persevere.

“They did virtual reality activities, they made several rockets, they made a solar powered rover, they experimented with circuits, solar energy,” she continued. “They also made astronaut ice cream and focused on chemical reactions.”

Students also built a working robot, planned a lunar colony and explored the surface of Mars. They spoke directly to Dr. Sian Proctor, who piloted the first all-civilian mission into orbit. Proctor was the captain of the hSpaceX spacecraft that orbited the Earth for three days.

There was a lot of excitement about this camp, which took place at over 1,000 other schools across the nation this week. Students were able to have video conference calls with other schools across the country.

Joseph Battle is just 8 and going into third grade. He talked about life on Mars and building flying objects like a graduate student in college.

“It was mega fun. We actually made ice cream,” Battle said. “As the week started, we were making lights, then helicopters and helicopters with balloons. We made cool themes, we made a helicopter and exploding goo, it was really fun. The rockets we made actually went really high.

“I made a lot of new friends this past week and that was really fun. I also met up with old classmates. Together, we enjoyed eating our vanilla ice cream we made,” he continued. “We got to meet a bunch of astronauts and an astronaut engineer. I want to go into space, travel and see new life forms.”

Dr. Proctor is a geoscientist, explorer, space artist, and astronaut and one of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty People Changing the World. Her motto is called Space2inspire where she encourages people to use their unique, one-of-a-kind strengths, and passion to inspire those within their reach and beyond. She believes that we need to actively strive for a J.E.D.I. space: a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive space as we advance human spaceflight.

The students learned how she used her afrofuturism space art to encourage conversations about women of color in the space industry. She’s also an analog astronaut and has completed four analog missions including the all-female SENSORIA Mars 2020 mission at the Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation Habitat. She promotes sustainable food practices used in space exploration as a way to reduce food waste on Earth.

It wasn’t all work, though. The kids were fed by local restaurants thanks to community donations and support from the school.

“This was a joint venture between NASA, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Iberia School District Center of Creativity,” Broussard said. “We want to thank Westgate for allowing us to be here and Superintendent Heath Hulin for funding this program, in addition to the community. They were so generous and gracious. Each day we were able to feed the kids, free of charge and we are eternally thankful.”