Panamanian girls graduated from NASA

For five days, 10 Panamanian girls from the first crew of the program “She is an Astronaut” developed by the Colombian She is Foundation, immersed in
the fascinating world of science and technology at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The participants experienced a unique and magical experience that formed them as agents of change and future astronauts or engineers of the earth.

The first mission “She’s an Astronaut” has started. 5 months ago with virtual academic sessions that provided 10 girls and youth from Panamá Oeste, Chiriquí, Veraguas, Colón, Panamá, Panamá Este and Coclé with tools and knowledge in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) as well as software skills, preparing them for a week of academic immersion at NASA.

From December 4 to 8, the crew had iintensive academic program with 20 girls mission members of Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, facing various challenges that tested their knowledge and skills. This included building and launching rockets, an exclusive menu for the mission’s astronauts, designing sustainable lunar habitats for human life, building and programming robots, building landers and a protective barrier against the sun’s rays for astronauts.

They also had the opportunity to meet each other space vehicles, the mission control center, this is the facility where NASA monitored the nine Gemini lunar missions and all the Apollo missions, including the historic journey of Apollo 11 to the Moon and the final journey of Apollo 17 to the same lunar body and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory: an indoor pool 12 meters deep and 180 square meters designed specifically for astronaut training, it is considered the second largest in the world with an exact replica of the International Space Station in terms of its depth, which is powered by perfectly zero gravity. In addition, they visited and learned details about the Saturn 5 rocket, the Falcon 9, and explored exhibits related to the Apollo missions, Artemis II, and more.

With hands-on activities in STEAM, the girls were inspired cwith life stories of notable figures such as William T. Harris, President and CEO of the Space Center; Iván Rodríguez, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Houston Space Center; Alma Stephanie Tapia, materials engineer at NASA; Bárbara de Figueiredo Vera, aeronautical engineer; Jorge Sotomayor, Head of Research Portfolio Artemis I, II and III; Leonardo Parra, operational engineer for the construction of spacesuits for astronauts. To complete this magnificent experience, they met two astronauts, Mike Foreman, who carried the Japanese Experiment Module and the Canadian Dextre to the International Space Station, and Anna Lee Fisher, the first astronaut mother to go into space.

They spent five days full of emotions and learning, and as they finished the program at the Space Center with the shout “Mission Accomplished”, the effect of the program continues.

The director of the She Is Foundation, Nadia Sánchez, points out that the program has a transformative impact on the lives and visions of these girls.