I was contacted on December 16 by the Director of Aerospace Outreach Programs for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium asking me if I would like to attend the Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC), all expenses paid. After contacting the principal of my school (who enthusiastically said “GO!!!!”) and talking with my family, I happily accepted this opportunity. Let me tell you, I am SO glad I did! It was an experience unlike any other I’ve had before!
The conference takes place at Space Center Houston, and is a 3-day event. During this time, you are treated to sessions that teach you about all of the current space missions, International Space Station experiments, and how to implement space lessons in your classroom. You also have the opportunity to tour areas of NASA that the public does not have access to. My favorite thing about this conference is that at every session you go to, you are actively DOING something. Each main session is 90 minutes long, and I have never seen an hour and a half go so quickly.
The very first day started with a Keynote session that was delivered by a panel of 4 astronauts. Before they even began, however, the astronauts on the ISS (International Space Station) had recorded a special greeting just for us, welcoming us to the conference! Talk about a first for me! I’m normally not a huge Keynote session fan, but we had one each day of this conference, and they were not to be missed! Every single one was inspiring, informative, and flew by!
On the first day, I signed up to take a tour of the “Rock Yard,” which is where NASA has created a simulation of the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. Even though it was raining, we were a bus full of enthusiastic teachers, ready to brave the elements to go ‘stand on the Moon,’ and ‘explore Mars.’
So after a bang-up first session pick, my next session was lunch, where I ate underneath a giant, lit moon. The food was delicious, and the conversations were amazing. After lunch, I had a session about Funding and Programming a Space Lab. This session was awesome, because I learned how to grow plants in Moon and Mars soil-simulants. Not that I can grow plants on Earth, but it was fun to experiment with anyways!
After this session, I took a tour of Mission Control. I had taken a tour the day before, but my friends that I was hanging out with at the conference said the tours for the conference attendees are a little greater in depth and experience. They weren’t lying – we got to go in many areas the public isn’t allowed in, and our ability to take pictures and videos was not limited at all. It was really neat.
My next session was also a tour. This time I got to see the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, which is where the astronauts train for weightlessness and get used to wearing their spacesuits. They have a very large, and very deep pool with a mockup of the International Space Station submerged within. When we arrived, they were done training for the day, but they were still removing the submarine they use. We also got to buy shirts if we wanted at the only location in the world that you can buy NBL gear from! Of course I bought a T-shirt!
After all of that fun, we loaded into buses to take an excursion to downtown Houston for the Infinite Exhibit. This event was a virtual reality experience in which each attendee gets to feel what it would be like to be on the ISS. I was eligible for this because I joined a group called the Space Station Ambassadors, which is a free organization to join and focuses on the experiments going on the ISS. They also have put on virtual workshops on a number of topics, and I even attended one already since I’ve come back from SEEC. The Infinite Experience was amazing. It really felt like I was on the ISS, and I loved looking back down on our planet, manipulating objects on the space station (including a juice box I tried to hold onto for the duration of my time ‘aboard’), and just experiencing what it would be like to be an astronaut. When we got done with the experience and looked back into the room we had just walked around in, we couldn’t believe how small it looked, as it felt like we were in an endless room!
After the experience, the Space Station Ambassadors got aboard the bus and were treated to food at a local brewery. The food was good, and we even got more swag. As if the experience, food, and swag weren’t enough, they had raffle prizes as well, and I walked away with a cute book that was read on the ISS, and a matching doll that was a character in the book. I was super tired when I returned to my hotel room, but my head was spinning with all I had learned and experienced! I checked on my space plants and went to bed!
The next day started with another INSPIRATIONAL keynote speech on “Launching the Next Generation of Lunar Explorers” by Mike Kincaid (Associate Administrator of NASA STEM Engagement) and Howard Hu (Deputy Program Manager of NASA’s Orion Program). After that, I caught the beginning of a session on Pocketlab Rovers, but then those of us in the Embedded Teacher program rallied to cheer on our friend Kellie Arenz during her virtual presentation on our program. Not surprisingly, it was time for a meal after that session!
After lunch, I got to try my hand at being a ROCKET SCIENTIST. I went to a session called “Launch Your Classroom into the Stars!” You’ll never guess what my spot looked like when I got into the room….
We got to work building rockets, and then went to the parking lot to launch them. I was very determined, but unfortunately my Sparkly Unicorn Missile landed in a tree. If you ever find yourself on the backside of Space Center Houston, let me know if my rocket is still there….
My next session didn’t end as tragically, thankfully (although my straw ‘diver’ disagrees). It was called “An Astronaut’s Perspective on Training in a Neutrally Buoyant Environment,” and it was fascinating. It featured a dive trainer who works with the astronauts to train them in the pool that I visited yesterday. We got to see the diver take an empty water bottle all the way down to the bottom of the pool and see it get flattened by the pressure. She also talked about some of the exercises they do and the many challenges to training in this environment.
After this session ended, it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for the banquet. Since it was my first time, I did not participate in the theme that some tend to go all out for. This year the theme was to dress in fashions of the future. It was fun to see other conference attendees in light-up clothing and other fun variations on that idea. The banquet was fun, and took place in Space Center Houston. It was really cool to wander around the exhibits with a beverage in my hand, sitting next to moon rocks and real astronauts, hearing stories from NASA employees, and networking with teachers from around the world, all while listening to a live band.
After the later night from the banquet, the next morning does not feature a keynote session. Instead, the Embedded Teacher crew met up for breakfast to discuss some details for our upcoming flight. Then it was off to our final day of sessions. My first session up was a session that was supposed to be done by a NASA flight controller (Jerry Woodfill, who passed away a few weeks before the conference) giving us a tour of the exhibits while telling stories of his experiences, but it got changed. We got to become Honorary Flight Controllers, taking the oath and everything! I also learned a cool technique for Go-No Go for my students to let me know if they need more time/more help/don’t understand. And, I got a blue marble with the continents printed on it and a bracelet that says “Failure Is Not An Option – I Have the Right Stuff.” There were a lot of amazing lessons packed into this session!
My next session was called “Bring the Art of Space Into Your Classroom,” and was put on by two amazing women from the National Space Foundation. I knew them from my Embedded Teacher Program. In this session, we learned how to help students create zines (which are like mini books/magazines with artwork) to display their knowledge about a subject matter. In our session, we were divided into groups and created an entire zine in our session time. It was really cool and something I an imagine my students really getting into.
I was super excited about lunch today, as I had opted to eat with an astronaut. I got to have lunch with Col. Brian Duffy, and it was sooooo cool to hear all about his missions and the crew that he flew with. His stories were amazing, and I could have listened to him talk all day!
My last session before the close of the conference was “Exploring Sound with NASA Aeronautics and the X-59.” This session was really neat, as we got to create our own sound experiment and then work to implement it, collecting data, testing hypotheses, etc while in Space Center Houston. We learned how to use the free Arduino app to record many different kinds of scientific data. My group wanted to analyze the decibel readings of the different spots in the museum to see if any of the noisier locations could reach levels of damaging hearing. You will be happy to note, that a science museum such as Space Center Houston did not reach dangerous decibel levels, except right next to a toilet when flushing. Good to know, right?
The final event at the conference was a keynote session given by Audrey Powers, the President of New Shepard Mission & Flight Operations for Blue Origin. She talked about her space flight and where her company is going. It was VERY inspiring. At the end of her talk, they raffled off a trip to go see the next launch for Blue Origin. You will not be surprised to hear that I did not win that. However, I didn’t even feel badly not winning after having such an amazing time at this conference. I felt so inspired and so in awe of this experience that I got to have. I am so very grateful to the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, as this experience wasn’t one I even had on my radar. A music teacher at a space conference? Really? And I got so much out of it that I can’t wait to take back to my students and my whole school. It was a very powerful experience that I really hope I can have again in the future!
Car Full of Harmony 
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