Local students get to practice with rocket sciences
September 29, 2009
By Christopher Huber
By Christopher Huber
David Pedroni loves math and physics. He tries to get his hands on anything related to aerospace and outer space. The Skyline High School senior took a physics of outer space class as a junior and has been interested in space exploration since he was little, he said.
That’s why he thought it was so cool to get the chance, over the summer, to work with a team of 40 Washington students to simulate a human mission to Mars.
Pedroni, along with Skyline classmate Taylor Chin and Eastlake senior Erick Lo, spent an entire week with the Washington Aerospace Scholars program at the Museum of Flight in July.
“My brain kind of works in a math-physics kind of way,” Pedroni said. “And I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid.”
The weeklong residency is a competitive educational program for high school juniors. Its purpose is to immerse young students in science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related fields of study and to expose them to working professionals at NASA, Boeing and other aerospace companies and organizations, said program administrator Melissa Edwards.
“They see some amazing things and it really gets them connected with what’s going on in the real world,” Edwards said.
During the residency, held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, the students worked in groups to plan, finance, build and execute their own simulated mission to Mars, Edwards and Pedroni said. Pedroni, Lo and Chin received guidance from scientists and astronauts such as Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, a retired NASA astronaut and current CEO of the Museum of Flight.
“Many of them come through and are extremely motivated,” Edwards said.
Pedroni said he helped administer a payload test for the Mars rover and built model rockets, among other things.
“(Building) rovers with robot kits was a lot of fun,” he said.
The boys also toured Boeing’s Everett airplane assembly plant and engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.
“I thought it was a lot of fun and I definitely learned a lot about aerospace and outer space,” Pedroni said.
At the Boeing plant, the students stood under a 777 engine, Edwards said.
“It’s like a work of art,” she said. “It was really inspiring for the students. It reaffirms for them that there are many other things that are happening with Boeing.”
Washington Aerospace Scholars began in 2006 and saw its first graduating class in 2007, Edwards said. She said it was formed in response to a growing 20-year trend of waning enrollment in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
It’s based on the 10-year-old Texas Aerospace Scholars program and is funded by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation. Students attend free of charge, according to the organization’s Web site.
Pedroni, Chin and Lo were three of approximately 150 students from around the state to be selected for the residency, Edwards said. Program officials selected them out of 260 applicants, who completed 10 weeks of NASA- and aerospace-related reading and math tests last fall.
Of the 242 program graduates who are in college now, 70 percent of them are in related fields of study, she said.
“Even though it’s only the fourth year, we’ve seen pretty good success,” Edwards said.
The program is still accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. To apply, a student must be a Washington high school junior and maintain a 3.0 grade-point average.
Phase one of the program begins at the end of December and cumulative weekly test scores determine a student’s spot in the summer residency.
Download an application at www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars.
“I had never done anything like it,” Pedroni said. “It was all really exciting stuff.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.sammamishreview.com.
David Pedroni loves math and physics. He tries to get his hands on anything related to aerospace and outer space. The Skyline High School senior took a physics of outer space class as a junior and has been interested in space exploration since he was little, he said.
That’s why he thought it was so cool to get the chance, over the summer, to work with a team of 40 Washington students to simulate a human mission to Mars.
Pedroni, along with Skyline classmate Taylor Chin and Eastlake senior Erick Lo, spent an entire week with the Washington Aerospace Scholars program at the Museum of Flight in July.
“My brain kind of works in a math-physics kind of way,” Pedroni said. “And I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid.”
The weeklong residency is a competitive educational program for high school juniors. Its purpose is to immerse young students in science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related fields of study and to expose them to working professionals at NASA, Boeing and other aerospace companies and organizations, said program administrator Melissa Edwards.
“They see some amazing things and it really gets them connected with what’s going on in the real world,” Edwards said.
During the residency, held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, the students worked in groups to plan, finance, build and execute their own simulated mission to Mars, Edwards and Pedroni said. Pedroni, Lo and Chin received guidance from scientists and astronauts such as Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, a retired NASA astronaut and current CEO of the Museum of Flight.
“Many of them come through and are extremely motivated,” Edwards said.
Pedroni said he helped administer a payload test for the Mars rover and built model rockets, among other things.
“(Building) rovers with robot kits was a lot of fun,” he said.
The boys also toured Boeing’s Everett airplane assembly plant and engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.
“I thought it was a lot of fun and I definitely learned a lot about aerospace and outer space,” Pedroni said.
At the Boeing plant, the students stood under a 777 engine, Edwards said.
“It’s like a work of art,” she said. “It was really inspiring for the students. It reaffirms for them that there are many other things that are happening with Boeing.”
Washington Aerospace Scholars began in 2006 and saw its first graduating class in 2007, Edwards said. She said it was formed in response to a growing 20-year trend of waning enrollment in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
It’s based on the 10-year-old Texas Aerospace Scholars program and is funded by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation. Students attend free of charge, according to the organization’s Web site.
Pedroni, Chin and Lo were three of approximately 150 students from around the state to be selected for the residency, Edwards said. Program officials selected them out of 260 applicants, who completed 10 weeks of NASA- and aerospace-related reading and math tests last fall.
Of the 242 program graduates who are in college now, 70 percent of them are in related fields of study, she said.
“Even though it’s only the fourth year, we’ve seen pretty good success,” Edwards said.
The program is still accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. To apply, a student must be a Washington high school junior and maintain a 3.0 grade-point average.
Phase one of the program begins at the end of December and cumulative weekly test scores determine a student’s spot in the summer residency.
Download an application at www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars.
“I had never done anything like it,” Pedroni said. “It was all really exciting stuff.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
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