This week we plan to launch our first two Go For Launch! Full STEAM Ahead payloads into space. I say plan because, well, launches don’t always go when we intend them to so we will wait and see when the rockets launch! Our Full STEAM Ahead payloads are a different payload than our science payloads that have headed to the International Space Station (9 so far!) in a variety of ways…
The Go For Launch! Full STEAM Ahead events are the same premise from an event standpoint of the general Go For Launch! events (find out more at www.GoForLaunch.space if you are not familiar with this event) but instead of designing a science experiment that will fit inside a cube and fly to space to be conducted for science data results, the students have to use science and engineering principles to determine how they can utilize microgravity to create artwork… in space!
About 2 and a half years ago we came up with this idea while staying at a 21C hotel (where the hotel is also an art museum!) and further refined the idea in fall of 2017 at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia where we talked to some folks in orbital and suborbital launches about the idea and how to incorporate more Art into the program to perhaps reach more, and a different group of, students to use space to inspire them. We also recognized that creating science for a suborbital flight is very difficult to do in general and even more so when you only have 2 days (which is what you have with our program) to do so… even if you have an Astronaut as a mentor (which students do at Go For Launch!) It was decided that for our suborbital flights we would do Art in Space while for orbital we would keep doing science experiments.
We ran the first Go For Launch! Full STEAM Ahead in Seattle in January 2019 and then the first Durham Go For Launch! Full STEAM Ahead Series event later that month. It’s taken a little while to go from the genesis of the idea to actual art being created in space but this week… we take that leap! Or shall I say… we launch that idea!
We at Higher Orbits are excited to expand our mission profiles to include Art in Space to include even more students in our Go For Launch! program which is designed to use spaceflight to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) and prepare students for future academic and career success by building confidence, perseverance, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills.
We are excited to also expand our launch portfolio! Launching to suborbital space is new for us and we are excited to be working with space companies that are working towards the democratization of space.
So tune in with us and see what happens! We will be sharing about the students teams and the launches across our social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and you can tune in to webcasts of the actual launches!
Blue Origin is currently scheduled for launch December 10 at 10:30am Central. (Updated due to weather constraints.) You can view starting 30 minutes before that at www.BlueOrigin.com
Sugarhouse is currently scheduled to launch the morning of December 14th. We don’t have an exact time yet but when we do we will post it. They will show the launch live on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sugarhouseaerospace/
Go Blue Origin! Go New Shepard! Go Team Northern Lights!
Go Sugarhouse! Go Sugarhouse1! Go Team Pisces!
Go Art In Space!
