If an Australian astronaut walks on the moon in the not-too-distant future, there’s every chance they’ll come from North Keilor.
A group of students and teachers from Catholic Regional College has embarked on a 12-day trip to America this week to attend a space camp, visit NASA and meet a retired astronaut, with the hope of inspiring careers in science, technology … and even space travel.
Sixteen students and three teachers left on Sunday, and organiser Maria Michieli was excited for the experiences ahead of them.
“The camp that we are going to is a fully inclusive, five-day program in Huntsville, Alabama,” Ms Michieli said. “They’re going to do flying, anti-gravity activities, eat and sleep at the site, and then a graduation ceremony.
“We will also visit Epcot, a science and technology theme park at the Walt Disney world resort in Florida, and then Cape Canaveral, where we will have lunch with a retired astronaut, which is pretty exciting.”
Ms Michieli said the hope was to look back on the trip as the starting point of careers in scientific discovery.
“My greatest desire would be that, in 20 or 30 years’ time, we know that there has been somebody who has made some sort of amazing discovery, or works in a scientific field … and all of that came from this trip,” she said.
“That would be the ultimate, that this is not just contained and just for now, but if down the track, something was born from this trip and the kids can contribute to our future and do something positive.”
The school plans to offer the trip every two years.
