U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin made a stop at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia this week, bringing a group of middle school students with him to learn about wind tunnel models and the engineering design process by making complex paper airplanes.
McEachin also toured Langley facilities where researchers are studying Earth’s atmosphere as well as developing a supersonic passenger plane and contributing to the development of a launch vehicle to explore space.
He told the students, in grades five through eight, that the key to their success “starts with finishing school.”
“Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do math,” McEachin said. “Seize it, and take advantage of it, and maybe one day I’ll be watching you land on Mars.”
Student Israel Dixon, 11, said the visit to Langley inspired him.
“Being here today is making me feel like I am important to the environment and society,” said Israel, who attends the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts in Richmond, Virginia.
“It’s going to help me throughout life,” he said, “and maybe I will be able to come here one day to help with modeling, creating – and I would like to say that it would be fun to go to Mars, Pluto or the Moon.”
The student trip was facilitated by the Richmond chapter of the Continental Societies, Inc., whose mission is to create environments that empower children to reach their potential.
“The visit to NASA today allowed the Richmond Chapter of Continental Societies to continue to reach, teach and educate our children” said Nkechi G. Winkler, chapter president.
McEachin, Continental Societies members and students also toured the 14 x 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel and the Research Aircraft Hangar to learn more about Langley’s aviation research and flight operations.
They also stopped by the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility, named after one of the agency’s first black “human computers.” Mary Jackson, a human computer featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” along with Johnson, was a founding member of the Continental Societies and first president of the Newport News/Hampton chapter.
For more about Langley, go to www.nasa.gov/langley.