Powerhouse: Future Space connects Stage 5 students from six Western Sydney local government areas to the International Space Station and a global network of learners through the ExoLab-10 mission.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy joined high school students from Western Sydney who are part of Powerhouse: Future Space to launch their next mission – a student-designed experiment which will be conducted on the International Space Station in 2024.
The Lang Walker Family Academy In-Schools Program, with Powerhouse: Future Space, Magnitude.io, and the New South Wales Department of Education, is currently in its second year of a three-year venture.
The initiative is providing students from Western Sydney and other regional areas with unprecedented access to cutting-edge technology, educational chances, and exposure to foreign experts in the fields of science, engineering, and business.
The 2022 program ‘Carbon Farmer’ utilised research to instruct scholars regarding the significance of the carbon cycle on both Earth and in the cosmos.
This year, learners will utilise design thinking strategies inspired by NASA to plan their own experiments in space and on Earth between February and August, and then present their ideas to a committee of specialists at the 2023 Sydney Science Festival.
The winning plan will be chosen for ground tests and experiments on the International Space Station at the beginning of 2024.
The esteemed guest for the launch event, Melroy was one of only two female commanders of NASA space shuttle missions. She went on three space shuttle assembly missions in 2000, 2002 and 2007 to help build the International Space Station
She is also a pioneer for the Australian Space Agency, having spent a significant amount of time in Australia, inspiring the future of space undertaking.
Powerhouse connected 150 students from Hurlstone Agricultural High School, East Hills Girls Technology High School, Arthur Phillip High School, Jamison High School, Seven Hills High School and Casula High School with the distinguished leader to hear her inspiring recollections from an outstanding STEM career.
Christine Castle, Principal of Hurlstone Agricultural High School said, “We are thrilled to be a participating school in the Powerhouse: Future Space program and supporting the launch of the 2023 mission,”
“It has been a rewarding journey to see Future Space students applying their learnings from the world-class immersive STEM education program to prepare an actual space mission on the International Space Station,” said Castle
Sophie Poisel, Head of Lang Walker Family Academy says the Lang Walker Family Academy is excited to have Pamela Melroy to launch the next mission for the Powerhouse: Future Space program.
“Inspiring students in Western Sydney and regional NSW by connecting them with industry experts and providing hands-on experiment opportunities is at the core of the program,”
“It is exciting that this year students can apply their learnings to design their own experiment which will be conducted both on-ground and on the International Space Station,” said Poisel,
The program was developed in partnership by Powerhouse, Magnitude.io and the NSW Department of Education, with support from Fizzics Education and presented as part of the Lang Walker Family Academy In-Schools Program.
