Space Burritos Anyone?

Photo By Master Sgt. David Loeffler | Students, instructors and parent volunteers set up a “practice” weather balloon as part of the STARBASE II curriculum. Mar. 31, 2021, at Sacramento, California. At the culmination of the course the team will launch the actual weather balloon with the payload as chosen by the students.  

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES

03.31.2021

Story by Master Sgt. David Loeffler 

195th Wing

The STARBASE Academy may just be training a future astronaut headed for Mars, and is certainly training future leaders. Focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), the Department of Defense’s STARBASE program helps local children, in sixth through eighth grade, embrace STEM as it fosters their love of science. Although there certainly is neither a requirement nor pressure on the students to consider careers in the military service, with the 195th Wings specialty career fields in space and intelligence, this program could develop futures leaders for the Wing.

“The STARBASE II program keeps that love of STEM and curiosity going.” Said Genevieve Saulter, STARBASE II Instructor.

For over 26 years STARBASE has been positively influencing children through their hands-on, minds-on experiments and technological activities. The enthusiastic, credentialed instructors provide positive role modeling, giving students an often needed boost of confidence and a passion for learning. Guest speakers from the California National Guard and local science based organizations introduce students to a wide array of career opportunities.

“A big piece of our program is our mentors. We’ve had mentors from the Society of American Military Engineers, meteorologists from the National Weather Service and even an Airman from Beale AFB who attended STARBASE as a young student.” said Saulter.

Students participate in the weekly meetings, either in person when possible, or via Zoom. At the culmination of the course the students will launch a weather balloon to 100,000 feet, the balloon will then burst and the payload will return to the earth via a deployed parachute. Students send up a variety of items, from bubble wrap to burritos, to see how the difference in elevation, temperature and pressure may affect the items as compared to their counterparts remaining on terra firma.

“I hope ten years down the line, they (students) look back and say, ‘Man, STARBASE was a really awesome time in my life and I got to do this experiment and send stuff up,” said Saulter. “They’ve heard of SpaceX, they’ve heard of NASA, they know things are being sent into space and now they get to be a part of that and that’s really cool.”

STARBASE provides educational opportunities at no cost to students. Additional information on their programs can be found at their website https://www.starbasesac.org

• Date Taken: 03.31.2021
• Date Posted: 04.16.2021 16:36
• Story ID: 394094
• Location: SACRAMENTO, CA, US