Student trip to NASA Space School, Texas

NASA Trip

Following a test and interview process I was selected to represent Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy in the student summer programme at NASA, in Houston, Texas. It is an international programme that is run annually and this year fifty two students were selected to attend, representing twenty four countries. All six continents were represented, with students from New Zealand, Chile, Columbia, Russia, India, France and Mexico, to name a few.

On Sunday 26^th of July, following a six-hour flight to Philadelphia and a four-hour flight to Houston,  I arrived in Texas. On leaving the cool air-conditioned airport, I was rather unprepared for the severity of the heat, especially with it being 11pm at night on arrival. It definitely beat the rainy conditions in Irelands hands down! Throughout the two weeks I spent in America, the average temperature was thirty eight degrees Celsius and the air humidity was around 120%. For the duration of my trip I stayed with a host family. This was one of my favourite parts of the experience as I was totally immersed in the Texan culture. Every night we ate typical Texan dishes and because my host mother was such an exceptional cook the food was amazing. Our daily routine consisted of waking up at 6:30am, being driven by one of the host parents to University Clear Lake Houston, where we would spend the day before returning to the host family home at 5pm. Following a quick dinner we would have activities each night from 7-9pm.

The objective of the programme was to design a hypothetical Mission to Mars and to then present our work at the end of the two weeks to a panel of experts. The students were divided into five teams, each responsible for a different aspect of the mission. I was a member of the Gold Team and our task was to co-ordinate the entire mission, to design a mission control room and to keep track of the overall budget. The other teams were the red team (in charge of transit to Mars), the maroon team (responsible for organising landing and launching from the Red Planet), the green team (devised a suitable habitat for the astronauts staying on Mars) and the blue team (tasked with exploring the planet).

Most days we had three or speakers from around the world, who are experts in their respective fields of study. We met many astronauts including Chris Stott, an expert on Space Law and Paul Gosling who spent 11 years working as a spacecraft flight controller in NASA. The majority of the day was spent with our teams preparing for the final presentation.

We went on three day trips with the group, the most memorable being our visit to the Johnston Space Centre, where we visited the Mission Control Room responsible for the Apollo Mission and saw the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, where astronauts train to prepare themselves for the experience of zero gravity. On the other two trips we visited an observatory, RICE University and Adastra, a private company developing a modern propulsion system for rockets.

We spent most evenings attending group activities where we really got to get to know each other. There were a variety of different activities organised for us from games night to visiting an amusement park. The best group activity was a soccer game where the students played against the the University team. I am proud to say that  it was the first time that the space school student team beat the University team in the history of the programme! It was a brilliant night enjoyed by all. Every evening we did something different and on four of the nights we got the opportunity to spend time with our host families who also brought us places, like go-karting, shopping and swimming.

While in America my host father retired from the army and the retirement ceremony was organised for the first weekend of my stay. This was a fascinating experience, as I was fully able to appreciate the sense of American patriotism that is very evident throughout the country, but that is particularly prevalent in Texas I believe. That first weekend was very busy, as a culture fair has also been organised for the Sunday. Here, the students brought native dishes from their countries and either told us about their cultures or performed a native dance or song. I really enjoyed this part of the trip as I really got a taste of cultures from around the world.

The final weekend was probably the highlight of the trip. On the Saturday, after the final presentation, we attended a soccer game where the Houston Dynamos were playing. We got the opportunity to carry the American Flag out onto the pitch while the National Anthem was sung. On the Sunday we attended a Graduation ceremony where the astronaut Michael Fossum presented us with our certificates. Following this, we went to a pool party to mark the conclusion of our spectacular trip. I returned to Ireland on Monday August 10th, already looking forward to our planned reunion to Amsterdam in 2016. I met so many amazing, talented people whilst in America and I now have friends all over the world. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life and I won’t hesitate to return as a mentor in the future so that I can relive this exceptional trip. I wish to thank my teachers for providing me with all the skills required for this experience & Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy for this amazing opportunity.

Rioghnach Hyland- 6th year