NASA Astronaut Michael Fincke inspires Stevenson Middle School students at Challenger Center Hawaiʻi

NASA Astronaut Michael Fincke visited the Challenger Center Hawaiʻi on Tuesday to inspire sixth graders from Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School with his experiences in space.

Fincke’s theme of “Going to Space… (if it happened to me, it could happen to you)” conveyed to the students the potential they have to become the next generation of astronauts and emphasized that the path to space requires science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning, physical fitness and people skills like teamwork, leadership and adaptability. 

Stevenson Middle students then took part in a hands-on Expedition Mars simulated mission to the Red Planet in the Challenger Center, playing roles as the mission crew and ground control personnel, to learn about the teamwork required for successful space exploration. Challenger Center Hawaiʻi, located at Barbers Point Elementary, has served over 145,000 students since 1993, inspiring future generations with the Challenger crew’s story and resilience. 

Astronaut Fincke is a veteran of four space flights and has accumulated 549 days in orbit, placing him fourth on the all-time list for NASA astronauts. He has also worked with NASA’s Commercial Crew program which developed two new crewed spacecraft, Space-X Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner.