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| Standing from left are, St. Helena College & Career Academy Principal Reginald Douglas, NASA Blueberry Alyssa Carson, Science Teacher Prasanna Epuri and SU Ag Center Assistant Area Agent Nicolette Gordon. |
Baton Rouge, LA – In
honor of 4-H National Youth Science Day, students at the St. Helena College
& Career Academy received a surprise visit from 15-year-old NASA Blueberry
Alyssa Carson on Oct. 10th.
Alyssa, who has dreamed of becoming an astronaut
since the age of three, had some very encouraging words for the academy’s 8th,
9th and 10th graders.
Carson, who is an active NASA Blueberry shared with youth that she
spends a substantial amount of time researching various topics on Mars. Her main goal is to be one of the youngest astronauts
to go on a short mission to Mars, by the year 2020. As with many goals, preparation is the key
ingredient and Alyssa’s long list of impressive accomplishments puts her right
on target.
Carson also advised youth
interested in aerospace to begin training at NASA Space Camps. These camps provide simulated missions,
engineer challenges, and sharpen leadership skills. She stated that she has
already completed Space Camp Turkey, Space Camp Canada and will soon be
one of the first to complete all NASA Space Camps in the world. Students were in awe, as Carson demonstrated
with a basketball and string how far Earth is from Mars. The best analogy that Carson gave, was to
think about 300 football fields.
Certainly, that raised many questions and peaked a lot of interest
throughout the auditorium.
There
are so many technological advances taking place daily in space, and she
concluded by reminding all youth that they are the “Mars Generation.”
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Article written by Nicolette Gordon, SU Ag Center Assistant Area
Agent.
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