Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff hosted an evening of NASA STEM activities Friday at the Naval Observatory for military families and local students and their families, which included a special screening of Disney Pixars Lightyear.
NASA provided three hands-on STEM activities to inspire students from 4th to 8th grade to engage with the science, technology, engineering and math behind NASAs missions. Former astronaut and former NASA Associate Administrator of Education Leland Melvin and astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Stephanie Wilson, and Tom Marshburn answered questions about their time in space. Marshburn recently returned with NASAs SpaceX Crew-3 from the International Space Station and was the NASA technical consultant on the film. Also in attendance were Lightyear actors Keke Palmer and Uzo Aduba.
It was wonderful to work on these STEM activities with a bright young group of future leaders showcasing the exciting work were doing at NASA in STEM and in space, said NASA Astronaut Thomas Marshburn. This next generation the Artemis Generation will build on the work were doing today to get us to the Moon and Mars, and it all starts here with inspiring young people on Earth.
Through NASAs Office of STEM engagement, the agency makes investments in engaging students, educators, and educational institutions to attract diverse groups of students to STEM for a diverse set of students to contribute to NASAs work and build a diverse future STEM workforce. OSTEMs Next Gen STEM project focuses on NASAs efforts to engage K-12 students, including those traditionally underrepresented and underserved, and provides support to informal educational institutions.
NASA also engages and inspires the next generation through STEM collaborations as the country prepares for human exploration of the Moon. NASAs Artemis program will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. NASA will then use what they learn to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.
U.S. leadership in science and technology depends on increasing student STEM engagement and as Chair of the National Space Council, the Vice President has made it a priority to ensure the Administration is inspiring future scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and explorers.
