One Small Step to Space Camp, One Giant Leap for Palmerston College

Two Palmerston College girls havewon highly coveted spots on a US Space Camp thanks to their Science,Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills.

Palmerston College is one of justfour Australian schools invited to attend the six-day July camp at the US Spaceand Rocket Centre in Alabama.

This is the first time in theSpace Camps 37-year history that a Northern Territory school has been chosento attend.

Aspiring astronaut and Year 8student Krishi Patel, who hopes to one day work for NASA, and Year 7 studentElla Hite, who is interested in the geology of planets, are off on theonce-in-a-lifetime trip.

Over the six days, the pairwill join other students from all over the world to develop their STEM skillsby learning firsthand about the future of space travel, training like anastronaut, completing simulation space shuttle missions and designing, buildingand launching a team rocket.

Other schools with studentsattending this year include Aviation State High School in Brisbane, andSydneys Elizabeth MacArthur High School and Seven Hills High School.

Palmerston College scienceteacher Sharon Emery will accompany Krishi and Ella, and will also undertake herown NASA-inspired learning for use in the classroom when she returns.

The teacher and the twostudents will travel on scholarships fully funded by global aerospace andsecurity company, Northrop Grumman Australia.

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