An Orion Exploration Flight Test (EFT) educator workshop was held at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Office of Education’s Resource Center located at the AERO Institute in Palmdale, California, on Tuesday, December 2.
Sixteen regional teachers participated in a professional development workshop that was presented by Education Specialist Barbara Buckner, who holds a doctorate of philosophy in curriculum and Instruction in mathematics education from Kentucky’s University of Louisville.
“I wanted the educators to understand that Orion EFT-1 is the first astronaut capable module to go beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972,” Buckner said. “To continue being a nation that explores, we must inspire the students within today’s classroom with science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM. After all, it is today’s student who will be the ones leading us to Mars.”
The workshop featured Orion mission related videos and classroom activities from the ExploreDeepSpace.com website. Educators built parachutes, assembled Orion capsules, and designed and tested Space Launch System, SLS, straw rockets.
NASA’s Orion capsule coupled with the Space Launch System rocket will provide the capability to launch crew and cargo beyond low-Earth orbit, and extend human presence to Mars and beyond.
Buckner also conducted a session on the use of social media in the classroom. An exclusive hashtag #EDonBoard was created for the teachers to tweet their Orion student activities when they were back in their classroom.
