Five Northport middle school students had the opportunity to travel to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in August, taking away invaluable experiences and knowledge in the process.
The six member Northport team called the “Lunar Leapers,” was made up of students from both seventh and eighth grades: Lilly Gmoser-Duhamel, Lele Raphael, Alayah Jones, Jace Kohler, Elsie Purdy Teahen, and Jack Scripps. Scripps was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
The Lunar Leapers were selected as one of the winning teams in NASA’s 2024 Artemis ROADS II National Challenge announced earlier this year. The all-expenses-paid trip was covered by the program, allowing students from across the country to learn from NASA scientists in the field about space and the future of the Artemis program.
“I loved the fact that it was an away from home experience for some kids who have never even experienced homesickness,” Mission Advisor Karen Trolenberg said. “To me, that is a very important thing for young people to experience because it will then give them confidence when they do launch into the world that they can go off and do something, have fun, and they’ll be okay… The exposure for these kids was absolutely priceless.”
While students gained so much from the experts, they also took away just as much from the trip itself, as they were able to interact with other kids interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Being able to swim in the ocean, make new connections, and travel on an airplane for the first time were also highlights students had the chance to experience.
“They saw so much that they don’t have here, and they tried their hand at surfing because one of the lead scientists rented a surfboard, so that was fun…” she said. “We’re in a small village and we don’t often have the opportunity to be thrown into a situation where we don’t know everyone, so they thrived. I’m really proud of the way they handled themselves, they were respectful to the people putting it on, the staff at the hotel, the bus drivers, and me.”
Other highlights include the group getting a VIP tour at the space center and learning about what happens behind the scenes. The morning of their VIP tour, Trolenberg said they also witnessed a SpaceX rocket launch using the facilities on site, something the whole team both saw and felt.
“We had to get up extra early to go see that, and they did,” she said. “It was far away, but they did get to see that. Then we all felt and heard right through our bodies the sonic boom, so that was really cool.”
Trolenberg worked with the team since February to complete eight lunar mission objectives at school based on NASA Artemis Missions that aim to send humans back to the moon. The Lunar Leapers is one of 14 teams that qualified for the trip after completing all of the program’s mission objectives in the allotted time frame.
This year, Trolenberg said she plans to run the program again, along with her science club and new elementary STEM lab, to give another middle school team the chance to learn about the Artemis mission, with help from potentially two Lunar Leaper returnees.
“The trip was awesome, but honestly it was the whole challenge that we did, and it’s from February till May. We got lucky in winning the trip, but they were eligible for the trip because they completed the challenge,” she said. “So the challenge itself is cool and interesting and a considerable amount of work worth doing.”
