Latest news with #AviationChallenge
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tyler young marine graduates from NASA rocket program
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — A Rose City Young Marine was one of only 36 teenagers in America to graduate from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aviation program. SFA to receive six figure trail rehabilitation grant Rose City Young Marine Mason Ainsworth completed the fast-paced and challenging program known as NASA's U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge Mach 2, which tests young marines on aeronautics, aerial combat, aviation history and more. Photo courtesy of the Young Marines Ainsworth was selected among several other young marines across the country who were taught the values of leadership, teamwork and self-discipline, according to the Young Marines. The program lasted six days in Huntsville, Ala., where young marines were joined by former NASA astronaut Kenneth D. Cameron, in completing the following tasks throughout their training: Learning about aeronautics, propulsion and aviation history. Flew in a UAV drone simulator to reinforce lessons learned at static displays and artifacts. Mastered aerial combat and competing to be the best of the best in 'Top Gun.' Embarked on a search and rescue mission to bring a downed pilot back from behind enemy lines while communicating as a team and evading hostile forces. The Catch, Roost restaurants donate profits to Kerrville flood survivors Cameron has extensive experience as an astronaut, logging more than 561 space hours throughout three space flights, making him a great role model to guide the young marines during hands-on activities. The young marines gained a lot of knowledge during the course that could benefit them in the future. 'Completion of this difficult course is a major accomplishment and a life-changing experience for these Young Marines,' Col. William P. Davis, USMC (Ret.), national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines said. 'Our Young Marines enthusiastically answered the challenge that the NASA camp put before them. With purpose, creativity and strategic thinking, our Young Marines completed every task assigned to them.' Phones Down, Heads Up: East Texas districts to enforce cell phone ban in new school year To learn more about the Young Marines and their programs, visit their website. You can now stream KETK and FOX51 News live 24/7 on your smart TV our brand-new app! No antenna, cable, or satellite needed—Just download it on your Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV and start streaming. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
UPI
11-07-2025
- Science
- UPI
Ex-astronaut, one-time Trump nominee Jared Isaacman gives $15M to rocket center
Jared Isaacman speaks during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on at the U.S. Capitol in April. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 11 (UPI) -- Ex-NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman has donated $15 million to support the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's under-construction Inspiration4Skills Training Complex in Huntsville, Al. The Space & Rocket Center's Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex is named after the all-civilian space mission that Isaacman, 42, led over three days as part of a SpaceX endeavor in September 2021, according to The Inspiration4 mission was the first space mission that used an all-civilian crew to orbit the Earth, and its namesake training complex is scheduled to open in early 2026. "The Inspiration4 Skills Training Complex and the Polaris Dawn mission activities will transform Space Camp," Space Camp Vice President Robin Soprano told in an emailed statement. "Through this extraordinary investment, we are building cutting-edge experiences to take our programs and our students into the future." Isaacman announced the donation on Friday, which will help fund the construction of the training facility in Huntsville and a new dormitory for Space Camp students. It also will help to pay for Space Camp mission operations and activities for students who are participating in Space Camp Robotics and the U.S. Cyber Camp. Such activities include simulated moon and Mars missions and are named after the Polaris Dawn mission, which was Isaacman's second spaceflight with SpaceX and occurred in September 2024. Isaacman also donated $10 million to the Space & Rocket Center in 2022. The center is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and is the visitor center for the Marshall Space Flight Center. The campus also is home to several educational programs, including the Space Camp Institute, Space Camp Robotics, U.S Cyber Camp, Aviation Challenge and the INTUITIVE Planetarium. Isaacman attended the Aviation Challenge program at the center when he was 12, which inspired him to earn a pilot's license. He briefly was President Donald Trump's nominee to lead NASA earlier this year and in September 2024 led the five-day Polaris Dawn mission for SpaceX. That mission included the first spacewalk performed by a civilian. Isaacman underwent months of vetting and was only days away from a Senate confirmation vote when Trump withdrew his nomination as NASA administrator due to "prior associations."
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
In Alabama, NASA's annual rover vehicle challenge drives inspiration for the moon and beyond
April 8 (UPI) -- NASA will kick off its 31st annual Rover Competition this week in Alabama, giving students from around the world a chance to show their engineering prowess in the space agency's "" obstacle course games. On Friday, student teams will gather for NASA's annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge near the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to compete at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge course for events through Saturday. Expected to participate at the free event open to the public: Some 35 colleges and universities, along with 38 high schools and two middle schools from 20 states, including Puerto Rico and 16 other nations. The event is free and open to the public. According to NASA, hundreds of students from around the globe will -- with their teams -- attempt to navigate NASA's self-described "complex" obstacle course by piloting a vehicle of their own design and production in the traditional human-powered rover division. This year's competitive event expanded to include a remote-control division. Rover excursions will be seen from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT each day, or until the last rover completes NASA's obstacle course. On Saturday, NASA officials will host an in-person awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. local time inside its Space Camp Operations Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where multiple awards will be be given out to winners in the project's eight-month-long engineering design and construction. NASA says the annual challenge, launched in 1994 and managed by its Marshall's Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement, "reflects the goals" of the Artemis campaign and is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges. The goal is to "put competitors in the mindset of NASA's Artemis campaign," which aims to establish the first long-term presence on the moon and pave the way for eventual missions to Mars. Last year, NASA's first mobile robotic lunar rover deployed with the help of commercial partners had a goal to locate lunar ice that might be similarly used to support long-term missions on the moon. Teams pitch an engineering design for a lunar rover that would simulate an astronaut exploring the lunar surface while overcoming its various obstacles on a different planet in space. The competition expanded in 1996 to include high school teams -- only to evolve again in 2014 as the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. It now has seen more than 15,000 student participants.
