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Maureen Reardon, Calif. School for the Blind: This is a glorious experience for our students, because for them, most museum experiences are pretty meaningless.
It’s standing behind a velvet rope while you listen to somebody else describe what they’re seeing.
In this instance, they’re here, they’re touching things, they’re hands-on and they’re operating equipment like a flight simulator.
That’s a very unusual experience for them and it gives them a much more meaningful sense of how things work
and what they do and how it all fits together.
Student 1: My favorite part…is driving the car! That’s what I call that thing.
Matt Everingham, NASA Ames Volunteer: It’s been really rewarding to share the rover driving experience with these students
and to show them a little bit about what exploration is all about and why we explore.
And give them an opportunity to see, hands-on, what it’s like to do some exploration.
Anthony Intravaia, NASA Ames Volunteer: It’s been pretty exciting. We’ve got a, certainly a bunch of young people enthused about motion and the idea of inertia.
Getting involved with a piece of equipment that does something and moves…it then motivates them to study this more.
We don’t often get to do this, so we’re pretty happy to do this really.
Student 2: It’s just like a once-in-a-lifetime experience and an experience that I’ll always remember.
I’ll probably never ever get this chance again.
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Lewis Braxton III, Deputy Director, NASA Ames: We’re supposed to be reaching out to the community,
whether it’s national, international, local and try to make sure that we reach out and inspire young people, so they can understand what it takes,
what is required in order to be able to explore the universe.
Traveling Space Museum is the perfect organization to make that happen.
They give hands-on opportunity for young people to see what it’s like to deal with technology and science from all over the world.
Once you sit inside the cockpit of a vehicle, see how the space toilet works, understand how moon walks are taking place, it’s absolutely fantastic.
We’ve got to keep stimulating these young people to understand - hard work, perseverance, commitment – that’s what it’s about.
And it’s a lot of fun and we’re trying to make sure they don’t lose the fun.
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Off-Camera Voice: 3…2…1… (Sound of air rockets popping off launchers)
Diane Porter, Teacher, Burnett Academy: This is so great, because the students can actually see what NASA is up to, hands-on.
To actually have them interact with you guys and to see the cool equipment is just so much more powerful
than anything I can show them on the Internet or in a book.
Off-camera voice: Have you every wanted to be an astronaut?
Student 3: Yeah.
Off-camera voice: So what’s this experience been like for you?
Student 3: Awesome! It’s been so cool!
Off-camera voice: What’s your favorite thing you’ve done today?
Student 3: This. This. I got to put on a helmet!
Sahar Leaupepe, NASA Ames Volunteer: You can be anything and work at NASA and it really appeals to kids that,
giving them an opportunity to say “Hey, that possibly could be me.”
One kid asked for my autograph and I’m like: “I’m not really like an astronaut.”
And he’s like “I don’t care. I want somebody’s autograph from NASA. This is so cool!”
Kristin Luz, Assistant Principal, Burnett Academy: Our students do some hands-on labs in their science classes, for example.
However, certainly getting to experience something on a scale like this is not something they normally get to do.
I just think it’s a really great opportunity for our students and I think that they will remember this as a great day at school.
Group of students: Go NASA!
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Ben Chavis, Founder, American Indian Model Schools: Most people want these Indians and Blacks and Mexicans to be social workers.
We want them to be scientists, economists, business people. We want them to contribute to the diversity of science.
Not because of their color, but because of their training.
How many Blacks, Mexicans or Indians or poor Whites do you know have PhD’s in physics? That’s what we want. That’s diversity!
Student 4: We tried on spacesuits, but not like the real one, the one that you wear after you launched. And so, yeah, that was cool.
And now we’re doing this and that was really fun. That was really fun. I felt like I was about to fall. Stop laughing! (Laughs)
And then I did that. It’s like the satellite thing. And like it tells us…it’s like, it tells us how to study Pluto and stuff.
And how Pluto’s like a dwarf planet and stuff like that.
Sophath Mey, Director, American Indian Model Schools: Everything that they’re learning, that there is value in everything
and that they can take it with them in the long term.
I think that this is a great opportunity for them to see and understand why these things are important.
Ben Chavis: One day, one of them may be an astronaut or in charge of NASA, I don’t know.
But it all begins with a dream. NASA gives them the dream about where they can go…and that’s great!
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Nichelle Nichols, Spokesperson, Traveling Space Museum: What I see in their eyes when they experience this is great awe.
That's what…because they’ve seen it go up, they’ve seen it come down, somebody has spoken at them about it, but suddenly, it is real.
And so I see them looking at it, studying it and going “Ooohhh…” and “What is this for?” and they have so many questions.
It’s not enough to expose kids to something, they need to learn what is it.
And if you’re not teaching them, they’re still having questions.
So, they want to learn and they want to know and they want hands-on experience and they want to have fun doing it.
And that’s what the Traveling Space Museum is all about.
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Alberto Solorzano, Principal, Cesar Chavez Middle School: A lot of our kids have been talking about “Well, what is NASA? What do they really do?”
So, really, this is going to answer most of their questions. They’re about exploration, they’re about innovation, but they’re also about problem solving.
Student 5: My favorite part actually has been the space toilet, it’s really interesting.
The rovers, yes, the rovers. Those are really neat. Just how it could go anywhere and jump over stuff.
Student 6: The NASA people are making it more interesting. Like having more activities with it and and like, they laugh with us, they talk with us.
It makes school more interesting, like, the things that the teachers be teaching, they’re using these big, old words and everything.
But, like, with them, they sit there and like, demonstrate it to you, so it makes it even cooler.
Student 7: It helped me and said if I learned more in mathematics, I could become a…make a robot or something.
Student 8: I like that they gave a chance for inspiration to kids.
Ivor Dawson, Founder, Traveling Space Museum: What Traveling Space Museum does is a concept that I call “Learning Like an Astronaut.”
Astronauts learn by using simulators and having experts in front of them and that’s what we do for students.
And by having NASA people involved in that, this is the epitome of what I’ve been trying to do for 12 years.
This is the high point of my career as a space educator.
Carolyn Aguirre, Teacher, Cesar Chavez Middle School: It’s been really great. And I mean, I’m seeing them have a really good time.
And also, they’re learning some good science, asking some good questions, so it’s good.
I’m looking forward to getting back into the classroom tomorrow and hopefully, take some of that further.
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Gayle Calhoun, Principal, Toyon Elementary School: What you’re doing here today is extremely important.
The children are learning what they need to know for the future, cause they are going to have to know what to do when they grow up
and this is the only way they’re going to find out.
So, the more NASA’s involved, the better.
Student 9: I like the moon boots because it makes you go really high. It makes you go in the sky. Eeee! Eeee! Eeeeee! (Laughs)
Student 10: The Pluto probe has been in space for about 5 to 10 years or so. And it’s only halfway to Pluto…halfway!
Student 11: I learned that the rovers in space run off of solar panels and they store power in the batteries overnight.
Paul Agnew, NASA Ames Volunteer: The reason that we’re doing this is to make sure that we actually continue to invest in science and technology
within NASA and for the benefit of NASA.
So when we reach out for kids, they’re also reaching back to NASA in trying to provide a benefit for the current Agency as well as in the future,
when we need our scientists and engineers to continue the space programs and the aeronautics programs.
David J., Parent and Volunteer: It makes their dreams kind of a little closer to reality.
When I went to school here, it was during the Apollo time, during the 60’s, and I remember going to the library and wanting to read the books about space.
Here, these students are able to take it step further and actually touch the rockets and see a hovercraft.
And it just allows them take that extra step toward making their dreams a reality.
(Music - Sounds of kids laughing and playing)