Over the past year, the world has grappled with the pandemic which has touched every part of our lives. Humanity spent the early days of the global shut down fumbling though the darkness, in unfamiliar and dangerous territory with a disorienting sense of imbalance. We might as well have been in outer space.

As scientists learned more about the virus, it became clear we would not be back to business as usual and would need to develop creative and safe ways to move forward. This was especially true for schools and other types of educational facilities such as the Challenger Learning Center (CLC). 

CLC strives to provide hands-on learning for K-12 students to explore the solar system. Typically, these are in-person experiences that students gain through field trips to the facility but, as the pandemic descended, it became clear that would no longer be possible. 

For Susan Borland, the Education Manager at CLC, the pandemic was a call to action. “When school first shut down, we realized that this would not be over soon. We didn’t know when we would be able to have kids come to the space mission simulator again, so we decided to pivot and come up with a virtual simulation.” 

CLC’s simulations approximate an actual space flight with a NASA-inspired Mission Control room and an orbiting space station modeled after the laboratory on the International Space Station. “They would come here and have a multi-faceted day where they would fly a mission, have an activity, they would build something and then see one of our IMAX shows. We had to figure out how to take that same enthusiasm for this simulation and do it completely virtually,” said Borland.

Beginning in March of 2020, she started working alongside CLC Flight Director and technology wiz William Figueroa to develop the “Europa Encounter,” a virtual space mission that retained the spirit of an in-person experience but could be accessed by teachers and students from anywhere, on any device. By the end of August, the finalized mission was being used locally and nationally, as CLC is part of a larger network of similar facilities across the country.   

Read the rest of the story by visiting the Tallahassee Democrat

or read more by downloading the article here.