Aerojet Rocketdyne Launches 800+ Huntsville Area Students to Space

Thanks to a gift from Aerojet Rocketdyne Foundation, Challenger Center was able to bring its popular Virtual Missions to more than 800 students in the Huntsville, Alabama metropolitan area. We were thrilled to take students from Discovery Middle School in Huntsville and Austin Junior High School in Decatur on journeys to Mars and the Moon.

In our Destination Mars mission, students analyze data and determine which of the Red Planet’s moons is the best location for building a research base. In Destination Moon, students collaborate to launch a rocket to the Moon and then explore the Moon’s surface using a lunar lander. Destination Mars and Destination Moon are a fabulous way to make the work of America’s space companies real and accessible to students.

According to Lee Shaw, Development Office Coordinator at Madison City Schools, “Madison City Schools was fortunate to work with Challenger Center to provide a mission to the Moon for our students. In a time where many of our regularly scheduled activities [were] unable to happen and many field trips [could] not be taken [due to the pandemic], this provided our students with a challenging and interactive experience! Our students enjoyed taking concepts that they learned in class and applying them to a scenario that they could possibly use in the future. In public education, we truly rely on community partners to help our students experience things that they may not have the opportunity to otherwise. We appreciate that Challenger Center prioritizes bringing these experiences to our students.”