HASSE Space School Experiences from St Clare’s students at the HASSE Senior and Junior Space School in December 2017: “A dream come true” was one of the most common phrases I heard in our two weeks visiting NASA in Houston as part of the HASSE Space School. The grueling 25 hours of travel and flights saw students on the Senior trip encamped at the Doubletree Hilton in Greenway Houston and the Junior trip in Huntsville Alabama. The space school was not only about space and STEM. It was about empowering young people to travel independently, learn to adjust to new situations, develop leadership skills and closely simulated astronaut training with projects, rocket building, heat shield and habitat construction, robotics, neutral buoyancy training with SCUBA gear and the common elements of sleep deprivation as we crammed it all into two weeks. Seeing a plasma rocket engine up close, building a two stage rocket and launching it and meeting the most amazing humans was terrific professional development and I made lifelong friends. It was a privilege to accompany the St Clare’s students who came away with two of the three prizes of the school with their team mates from Canberra Girls Grammar School. Some students had never been away from home let alone on a plane before and they met every challenge handed to them with maturity and curiosity. If you are interested in attending the HASSE Space School in 2018 there will be an information night at Merici College in late March with the Alliance of Girls Schools Australasia or see Mrs Major. Juliette Major ICT Coordinator
'The HASSE Space school was interesting and fun. We had to do many challenges like building a rocket, Martian habitat and working Mars rover. It was a great experience that I would recommend to everyone. We learnt so much and made great friends with people from all over Australia. Some tasks were hard and challenged us but with hard work and little sleep we completed and presented them, and even when we thought we were going to fail we ended up winning. The experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity and something I will take with me for the rest of my life!' Alexandra Edwards Year 11
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“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13