Source: The Houston Chronicle
Houston astronaut asks youths to give views on exploration
Houston’s only native astronaut is reaching out to the next generation of Space City children to learn what NASA can do to motivate them.
Shannon Walker, who will launch in June for a six-month mission to the International Space Station, has asked students to submit videos that respond to a single question:
Why should the United States explore space?
Walker says the video contest is part of an effort to engage more children in the space program through a medium most of them understand: video.
“This is a way to reach kids in a medium they are comfortable with,” Walker said.
Answers to the questions must be recorded on video and posted to YouTube at: www.youtube.com/reelnasa. They are due by May 14.
There are no time limits, and Walker said there are no specific criteria for a video, she’s simply hoping to see a flowering of creativity.
Two winners, one up to middle school age, and the other a local high school student, will be announced during the week of May 24.
Winners will get to see Walker’s launch live from Johnson Space Center, get a behind-the-scenes tour and receive a patch flown in space after she returns from the space station.
Walker is the first NASA astronaut to be born and educated in Houston.
As a student at Westbury High School, Walker said she drew inspiration from the beginning of the space shuttle program, which is now winding down. “NASA is now moving off into other directions and I’m interested to see how kids feel about that,” she said. “I’m really anxious to see what the kids come up.”
