NASA Tour 2024

2024 EDSC NASA/STEM Tour

On Saturday 14 September, 37 students and 5 staff members gathered at EDSC at 6.30am to embark on the long journey to Hunstville, Alabama in America.  This group was headed to the NASA Space Camp to learn about space missions, experience the life of astronauts, understand how mankind is able to send lots of metal and people into space.  I was lucky enough to be part of this group.  And despite being an English teacher, this program got me all excited about designing spacesuits as well as the physics behind how to build rockets that launch successfully. The students tried really hard to explain G-Force to me at Space Camp and at Universal Studios as they climbed on some really frightening looking roller coasters.  I think they decided it was just too much of a challenge!

I would like to thank Steve Hoffman for his dedication to planning the very successful tour and Brigid Fahey, Kate Leaumont and Paul Basford for their care of the children so far away from home.

Jasvinder Kaur

Assistant Principal

Student Report

As I sat, on the bus, next to Harrison and Jethro, I saw her... I immediately recognized the F-14 Tomcat on sight. My first glace of her was on our way to the Challenge Course, where we worked on teamwork and communication, but she was far away at that time. As we drove past the plane, I could not stop myself from using the shutter function of my phone, capturing every millisecond of this experience, in case I didn’t get to see her again. But I did. 

We were not given our schedule for the day at space camp, so we always had this overhanging suspense of what we were doing next.  This made the experience fun but also pushed us out of our comfort zones which was the aim of this experience.  We just had to be ready to jump into whatever activity was planned for us. 

After an F-15 Eagle simulation, Our Crew Trainer, knowing Harrison and I were  head over heels for this plane, immediately took us to appreciate this piece of aviation history. After her short explanation, we were free to roam around the F-14, as well as the other planes they had on display. I first let the crowd take their photos and move on, then, I went on to hug the plane, fulfilling my childhood dream of interacting with a fighter jet. The metal airframe of the plane felt warm and welcoming under the heat of the Alabama sun. Harrison and I took photos of/with the nose, engine intake, afterburner, arresting hook, belly, hardpoints, landing gear, and finally, the signature variable wing design. Needless to say, fulfilling one of my childhood dreams was definitely my favourite memory of the trip. 

The EDSC NASA/STEM tour of 2024 opened our eyes to countless experiences:

Travelling internationally as a group

Long haul flights with United Airways

American Cafeteria experiences with trays

Fried food

American Milk

American Cereal

A lot of museums

Space Shuttle Pathfinder

Multiple Launch Rocket Systems

Bell UH-1

Boeing Chinook

Huntsville Alabama Rocket Park

History & future of Space suits

F-14A Tomcat

Use of multiple materials to protect the apple from danger in space – designing space suits

Teamwork & communication through many activities

Gravity Chair

Aircraft Museum

SCUBA Diving, handsigns and safety procedures

Presentation skills

"Seeing the invisible" presentation on different types of waves and the different telescopes used to see them

Principles of Flight

Thermodynamics through heat shields

Star gazing

Constellations that are only observed from the Northern Hemisphere

Missions where we role play as various crew members

By Sean 11C