It was an out-of-this-world experience for students of Charles E. Perry Wednesday, as youngsters were given the opportunity to be NASA engineers for the day, while learning specific age -riendly lunar attributes that coincided with the students’ studies.

According to NASA aerospace education specialist Dynae Fullwood, of the Langley Research Center, the Aerospace Education Services Project engages students in order to avoid another generational workforce gap, which, in return, will prevent NASA from having to outsource engineers from other countries.

Rubestene Fisher, Charles E. Perry Alumni Association school adoption project coordinator, chimed in, “The program was age-friendly and geared towards the N.C. Standard Course of Study. It’s not like someone coming in and just talking. We aim it at what the state is requiring, and to enhance what the teachers are teaching.”

In keeping with the state’s standards, Fullwood’s presentation was focused mainly on the theory of STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

“Even though we service K-12, on any topic, we like to focus on STEM because that is where our needs are,” Fullwood explained, adding that the program therefore supports teachers of science and math.

During her time with Casey Bush’s fourth-grade math/science class, Fullwood presented and thoroughly discussed NASA’s new way of getting to the moon — Ares I and Ares V — in order to intrigue the minds of the youngsters and in hopes to eventually close the “generation workforce gap.”

Fullwood first gained the potential space cadets’ attention by identifying the basics of the moon, such as its rough beginning, distance from the Earth and its composition.

“What is the moon made out of?” Fullwood asked the wide-eyed students.

“Igneous rock,” fourth-grader Chris Torres announced.

Fullwood expanded, “Lava cooling makes igneous rock, so the moon is basically made out of igneous rock.”

Then she expounded on how the astronauts complete their mission to the moon.

“It takes the astronauts three days on a (space) ship to get there,” Fullwood stated, moving on to introduce the new rocket system.

Currently, the astronauts travel to the moon by the space shuttle; however, the NASA engineers, Fullwood said, have developed a two rocket system, which will ensure safety, one of its many positive attributes.

“The first rocket will carry a lander inside,” Fullwood illustrated. “This is the part that will actually go to the surface of the moon.”

Because NASA has discovered it to be safer to send the astronauts at a different time than the initial launch, a second rocket will be blasted off three days later to rendezvous and dock with the first rocket in orbit.

After the two ships lock together, they will lift off for the three-day trip to the moon, which is roughly 240,000 miles away from the Earth.

On the approach to the moon, Fullwood told the youngsters, the astronauts will move into the lander and complete one orbit around the moon and continue until they find the right position to prepare for landing.

Displaying on the projection screen was a simulation of this exact landing, which showed a bright blue fire shooting from behind the lander.

“This is a retrorocket,” Fullwood shared. “It makes them slow down to zero miles per hour to ensure a safe, soft landing.”

“What would happen if they were going fast (while landing)?” she quizzed the students.

“They could die or their ship could break so they couldn’t get back to Earth,” student Brittany Brock correctly answered.

Next, Fullwood noted that since the moon has no atmosphere, it’s prone to radiation and encounters servere dust storms, the rock would not make a pleasant home.

“Is there water on the moon?” young Daniel Tatum asked Fullwood.

“There is water on the moon,” she answered, adding that much like our planet, the water on the moon is frozen at that south pole.

Finally, Fullwood described the astronauts’ trip back to the Earth’s surface.

Because they are moving faster than air, she said, friction through the atmosphere causes a fire reaction between the ship and the layers of the atmosphere; therefore, the ships are guarded by heat shields, parachutes and landing airbags to ensure safety.

After learning about the moon, exploration and travel, the present fourth grade students were given the opportunity to put two astronauts (marshmallows) into a lander (cup) and use the materials on the table (straws and folded index cards) to decipher how their ship can absorb energy and land safely.

In addition to this experiment, the kindergarten students learned how to recognize senses, first-graders designed pop rockets, third-graders made straw rockets and fifth-graders studied land forms on the Earth and moon.

Although the students were the focus of the presentation, last week the school’s library was filled wall-to-wall with Sampson County Schools teachers to learn about NASA educational resources.

“I think everyone’s goal is to do what is best for the kids and bring in as many resources to the school as possible to help them be the best they can be,” Fisher expressed.

In order to continue that trend, Fisher emphasized that the Alumni Association’s hope is in bringing astronaut Leland Melvin to the school as well.

Fisher also noted that Melvin’s father graduated from Charles E. Perry.

Jessica Wagner can be contacted at 910-592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com