STUDENTS TAKE PART IN SPECIAL NASA PROGRAM

Clint Logan
Panola College - Pony Express Editor 

On Sunday April 14, 2002 two Panola College students had the privilege to participate in NASA’s Community College Aerospace Scholar Program. Karon O’Neal, a Panola College math instructor and the College’s contact person with NASA said “ This program is a unique opportunity for our students to see math and science cooperating in such a phenomenal setting”.

Sophomore, Kory Sharp from Carthage and freshman Christina Parks from Harleton TX represented Panola College at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston where the program is held. NASA’s Community College Aerospace Scholars is part of the Texas Aerospace Scholars Program and was created by the state of Texas, in partnership with JSC and the Texas educational community. 

The program is funded by the State of Texas, administered by NASA JSC and supported by the San Jacinto College District. It is designed to persuade community and junior college students to pursue careers in science and engineering. 

The program was only a two-day on-site event at JSC. It offered 300 community and junior colleges students from across Texas the opportunity to interact with one another. 

While at JSC Sharp and Parks participated in fictional companies that were interested in Mars exploration. Students from various colleges were in each group. Sharp and Parks were in two different groups. Sharp was in a group called Grumbo and Parks was in another group called Flectell.  

Each company or group was responsible for many things. Each group had to prepare a line drawing and mock-up of a Mars rover and build a stand-alone rover and also be responsible for the company’s infrastructure including budget, communications and final presentation. 

Since Sharp and Parks were in two different groups, they were assigned to do different projects. Sharp’s group was able to design and help make the mock up of the rover. He did such an excellent job that his group won. Sharp and Parks got to see some of the most restricted areas of NASA. They got to tour Mission Control  and they saw where the astronauts are trained. Sharp and Parks said they even saw some of the astronauts on their visit. 

Parks’ group did just about everything, from helping to designing to helping with the budget. "I was really amazed on how expensive everything was," said Sharp. "It was intense," said Parks. 

They both said that they had excellent tours and enjoyed lectures from NASA  personnel and astronauts as well. They would encourage other students to go and participate if given the opportunity.