From Darwin to NASA
Twenty-Eight Darwin High School students and three teachers spent the last week of term and the week break travelling America.
The biennial trip is part of Darwin High School's Centre for Excellence (C4E) Program. Students from Year 10, 11 and 12 participated in mission simulations and space exploration activities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, North America.
Students spent an entire day exploring and touring NASA areas and being immersed in the NASA space program. Students undergo an authentic day of hands-on activities designed to prepare them for the rigours of space flight and have the opportunity to meet Astronauts.
The visit involved the students in a rocket launching experiment, an orbital simulator and Trajectory Chair simulator, training with the Micro-Gravity Wall and Multi-Axis Trainer, a mock space mission in a replica space shuttle flight deck, and instruction in a shuttle landing simulator.
Other places visited during the 18-day US excursion included the Grand Canyon, Universal Studios, Las Vegas, the California Science Center, Hoover Dam and Beverley Hills.
Darwin High School’s Centre for Excellence program began in 2011, and attracts students aspiring to careers in engineering, mathematics and science. Places are limited, and participants are selectively drawn from Year 9 students distinguishing themselves in tests of general aptitude, and aptitudes in science and mathematics.
