22-04-2025
Brunswick students sent scientific instrument into space on Blue Origin
Apr. 21—A little piece of Brunswick entered space last week onboard the all-female Blue Origin rocket flight.
Partnering with nonprofit Teachers in Space, Karin Paquin's middle school students at St. John's Catholic School designed an experiment that flew on the New Shepherd rocket during the historic launch on April 14.
The CubeSat, a type of small satellite, flew with other experiments — including many designed by students — in the payload of the rocket. It had also been on an unmanned flight leading up to the one captained by Lauren Sanchez.
Students proposed hypotheses and schematics and selected sensors for the CubeSat. Their experiment measured temperature, UV radiation and other environmental conditions in the cabin as the rocket launched into suborbital space.
Fiona Sharp, now a freshman at Brunswick High School, helped design the Blue Origin CubeSat last year when she was in eighth grade at St. John's. She programmed sensors that went into the Blue Origin experiment, including one that measured radiation.
"There's really no words to describe it; it was just surreal," Sharp said. "It's crazy to see something that you touched with your own hands and put so much time into fly."
St. John's students watched the launch live at school last week.
"It was really really cool having something that kids we knew built, and it was on a flight with all of these influential women," said seventh grader Aria Golletti, who didn't work on the Blue Origin experiment but is working on St. John's next space project now.
The hands-on experience shows students that "everyone can do science," Paquin said. It was possible through a grant Blue Origin provided to Teachers in Space, she added.
"Companies like (Blue Origin) make experiences for my students possible, because this is not something that a teacher or a small school could afford, so that's pretty exciting — companies that put education first, knowing eventually, we're going to have to fill positions," Paquin said. "And so how do you get kids started?"
Sharp said her experience in Paquin's class helped solidify her love for science, and taught her the importance of trial and error.
"Just because you don't get the results you want back the fist time, you should keep experimenting and maybe try something else," Sharp said.
Paquin's science classes over the years have had several experiments onboard space flights. She said that the Maine Space Grant Consortium, Teachers in Space and Space for Teachers have been invaluable resources in helping bring space education to Brunswick and beyond.
Work from students at St. John's will also be on board a Zero-G flight in May, on which Paquin will be a passenger.
"The coding was tough," said seventh grader Jesse Davis, who worked on the upcoming experiment. "I was not totally sure what I was doing, but with lots of help, I got through."
Zero-G planes, or reduced gravity aircrafts, simulate the feeling of weightlessness and are used for astronaut training, research flights and tourism. Paquin went on one such research flight two years ago.
"All of a sudden, you just feel weightless," Paquin said about her experience.
Some former students have taken their research even further by competing in the University of Southern Maine CubeSat Design Competition. St. John's students Wesley Agnor and Gabriel Grondin placed first in the competition's middle school category last year.
Paquin will also lead workshops this summer on space education at the CS Summer of Fun conference in Bangor.
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