Space Day

Last week Friday I volunteered to help with the Space Day for area and local middle school and high school students. My job was to make sure students and teachers were at the correct station; a very tough job. The really cool part of the day was being able to listen to the speakers.

The first speaker I heard was Mike Fossum. Mike was part of the crew of astronauts who brought supplies to the space station lab this summer. They added another "wing" or lab to the space station AND brought the necessary supplies and equipment to fix the Russian toilet that had not been working properly on the space station. Mike is a native of Sioux Falls, SD and has relatives in Watertown. His video and presentation was very interesting to the students and adults.

The second speaker I listened to was a Dr. Bacon. He shared there are two second generation astronauts in the space program; Sputnik happened 51 years ago; and solar purification developed by NASA and used in Africa. Dr. Bacon is a member of the environmental team from NASA that helps find ways to use NASA's space discoveries to help people on earth. This past summer a team went to Rwanda and installed solar purification cells in the water wells in villages so the people in areas of Rwanda would have clean water for cooking and drinking. It is the job or chore of the children to go to the wells and get the water for the family. The wells have such polluted water, the children travel for miles on foot looking for cleaner water. The solar purification cells will allow the children to spend less time on the roads searching for clean water and more time in school.

The other really cool benefit of the day was seeing former students, many of whom I had not seen since their elementary days. It was fun to see them, recognize faces and then have to ask for names, because I had no clue! The Space Day was a very organized event and an excellent educational opportunity for the students in the region.