Rover inspires students as they head back to school
2018-08-22
On Aug. 4, NASA’s Johnson Space Center teamed up with the Clear Lake Division of the Houston Police Department (HPD) to make sure their first backpack giveaway was out of this world.
Not only did they give out more than 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies with help from local sponsors, HPD also helped transport the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) rover from Johnson to Grace Community Church at 3 a.m. to avoid impeding traffic. Everyone involved agreed that the extra measures to transport the SEV were well worth it when they saw the kids’ reactions.
Johnson SEV Chief Engineer Lucien Junkin said, “We are always trying to create sparks that will help our youth’s future.”
Sergeant Paulino Lozano said his own son wants to become an engineer after seeing the rover up close.
“It definitely affected my boys, that’s for sure,” Lozano said.
The idea to inspire the next generation of explorers came about after seeing the rover out at community events like air shows and parades. Johnson and HPD have enjoyed a strong relationship for many years, specifically in the robotics community through a robotics workshop held each summer for the Department of Defense’s Counterterrorism Support Office.
Officer Cesar Ortega said Johnson is always on board to help with requests from HPD.
“We want to thank them for partnering up with us and bringing out the SEV, which was a big part of this program,” Ortega said.
In addition to transporting the SEV, Johnson’s security team helped store the school supplies and backpacks for HPD, and many JSC volunteers, like Elmer “Bubba” Johnson, Mike Belansky, Alan Mather, Russ Tucker, David Knerr and Ryan Stockton, helped with the event.
Officer Ortega also thanked HPD Clear Lake Division Captain Dana Hitzman for supporting this effort to help the community from the time the idea was first brought up.
“Without her full support, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Ortega said.
Johnson and HPD plans to continue partnering on future community events. In fact, they’re already planning toward transporting the SEV to an event at the Lone Star Flight Museum in November.
Junkin believes it’s important to give the community chances to experience the rovers up close.
“Since we’re behind closed gates at NASA, it’s well worth it when we can take the rover out in public,” Junkin said.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center (along with the Space Exploration Vehicle) teamed up with the Clear Lake Division of the Houston Police Department to give away backpacks and school supplies before the start of the new school year. Image Credit: NASA
Hayley Fick
NASA Johnson Space Center
Not only did they give out more than 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies with help from local sponsors, HPD also helped transport the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) rover from Johnson to Grace Community Church at 3 a.m. to avoid impeding traffic. Everyone involved agreed that the extra measures to transport the SEV were well worth it when they saw the kids’ reactions.
Johnson SEV Chief Engineer Lucien Junkin said, “We are always trying to create sparks that will help our youth’s future.”
Sergeant Paulino Lozano said his own son wants to become an engineer after seeing the rover up close.
“It definitely affected my boys, that’s for sure,” Lozano said.
The idea to inspire the next generation of explorers came about after seeing the rover out at community events like air shows and parades. Johnson and HPD have enjoyed a strong relationship for many years, specifically in the robotics community through a robotics workshop held each summer for the Department of Defense’s Counterterrorism Support Office.
Officer Cesar Ortega said Johnson is always on board to help with requests from HPD.
“We want to thank them for partnering up with us and bringing out the SEV, which was a big part of this program,” Ortega said.
In addition to transporting the SEV, Johnson’s security team helped store the school supplies and backpacks for HPD, and many JSC volunteers, like Elmer “Bubba” Johnson, Mike Belansky, Alan Mather, Russ Tucker, David Knerr and Ryan Stockton, helped with the event.
Officer Ortega also thanked HPD Clear Lake Division Captain Dana Hitzman for supporting this effort to help the community from the time the idea was first brought up.
“Without her full support, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Ortega said.
Johnson and HPD plans to continue partnering on future community events. In fact, they’re already planning toward transporting the SEV to an event at the Lone Star Flight Museum in November.
Junkin believes it’s important to give the community chances to experience the rovers up close.
“Since we’re behind closed gates at NASA, it’s well worth it when we can take the rover out in public,” Junkin said.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center (along with the Space Exploration Vehicle) teamed up with the Clear Lake Division of the Houston Police Department to give away backpacks and school supplies before the start of the new school year. Image Credit: NASA
Hayley Fick
NASA Johnson Space Center
The Clear Lake community enjoyed the backpack giveaway event, which featured food trucks and, of course, NASA's own rover. Image Credit: NASA
This little tyke, the niece of Lisa Gurgos in Johnson's Center Ops, sports a backpack at the community event.