JSC kids follow in parents’ footsteps
2016-08-05
Hundreds of #JSCKids visited Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston (SCH) to learn about what their parents do each day during JSC’s annual Bring Our Children to Work Day.
JSC partnered with SCH to provide a unique showcase for JSC employees and their children to learn about science, space and NASA jobs. Besides the main exhibit “MythBusters,” based on the popular TV show, kids and their families had the chance to explore Independence Plaza, learn science through explosive interactive shows and take a tram tour of JSC. For some youngsters, ordering customized frozen yogurt from a robot was the highlight of their visit.
Mason Markee, JSC robotics engineer from Automation and Robotics Systems, delivered a riveting keynote presentation about vehicular and humanoid robots. He asked kids throughout the talk how they would go about designing the next generation of robots and guided them along the thought processes of engineering solutions to problems.
Kids also had the opportunity to create a paper astronaut in their own image, tackle the Train Like An Astronaut obstacle course, talk to real NASA engineers and play Loteria, a Spanish-English space-themed bingo game. JSC employees volunteered to help and, at times, it was hard to tell who was having more fun.
Joel Walker, director of Center Operations, welcomed parents and children at the start of the day. His last question to them was, “Is NASA an amazing place to work?”
The answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!”
Michelle Fraser-Page
NASA Johnson Space Center
JSC partnered with SCH to provide a unique showcase for JSC employees and their children to learn about science, space and NASA jobs. Besides the main exhibit “MythBusters,” based on the popular TV show, kids and their families had the chance to explore Independence Plaza, learn science through explosive interactive shows and take a tram tour of JSC. For some youngsters, ordering customized frozen yogurt from a robot was the highlight of their visit.
Mason Markee, JSC robotics engineer from Automation and Robotics Systems, delivered a riveting keynote presentation about vehicular and humanoid robots. He asked kids throughout the talk how they would go about designing the next generation of robots and guided them along the thought processes of engineering solutions to problems.
Kids also had the opportunity to create a paper astronaut in their own image, tackle the Train Like An Astronaut obstacle course, talk to real NASA engineers and play Loteria, a Spanish-English space-themed bingo game. JSC employees volunteered to help and, at times, it was hard to tell who was having more fun.
Joel Walker, director of Center Operations, welcomed parents and children at the start of the day. His last question to them was, “Is NASA an amazing place to work?”
The answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!”
Michelle Fraser-Page
NASA Johnson Space Center
