Join us at the Challenger Learning Center to participate in a simulated mission to the Moon and to build and launch compressed-air rockets. We will participate in the Return to the Moon mission: “The year is 2020. For the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, a crew of astronauts is returning to the Moon. Their mission is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to observe, explore, and test the feasibility of off-Earth settlements. Supported by a team of people back on Earth, astronauts must construct and launch a probe to the lunar surface and select a site for establishing a permanent Moonbase. All this must be completed while avoiding meteor showers, chemical leaks, and other potentially damaging situations.”

After our trip to the Moon, we will enjoy boxed lunches from St. Louis Bread Company, a favorite casual cafe that originated in St. Louis in 1987. Next, we will blast off with the Great Rocket Design Challenge! Small teams will work through the engineering processes to budget, design, build, launch, and refine a compressed-air rocket. This program is being especially designed for ISDC attendees, ages 11 to 111.

Learn more about the Challenger Learning Center from their website: “The Challenger Learning Center St. Louis is part of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, an international not-for-profit education organization founded in April 1986 by the families of the astronauts tragically lost during the Challenger space shuttle mission.”

Photo Credit: Challenger Learning Center